Background
DMA, Northwestern University
Rodolfo Faistauer earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where he studied with James Giles. He wrote his dissertation under the supervision of Danuta Mirka, exploring the piano music of Franz Schubert through the perspective of 18th-century music theory. Faistauer regularly performs solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Europe, North and South America. He recently recorded Hugues Dufourt’s work Meeresstille in the presence of the renowned French composer (Coviello Classics, Darmstadt). He is also the recipient of fellowships and scholarships from various musical and cultural institutions, including the Gilmore Piano Festival, Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, Brahms-Gesellschaft Baden-Baden, the European Union’s Erasmus Program, Région Alsace in France and the National Council for Scientific Development in his native Brazil. His curiosity for diverse musical traditions has led him to undertake various enriching projects over the years. These include the first Portuguese translation of the Liszt-Pädagogium, written by F. Liszt’s pupil Lina Ramann; research for the documentary film “Artur Schnabel: Composer in Exile” for TV channel ARTE (Berlin); a publication on performance practice in Schubert’s piano music for the Ad Parnassum Journal (Italy). Furthermore, he performs and promotes the music of Brazilian composers.
Born in Brazil, Faistauer studied in his home country with Dirce Knijnik and Cristina Capparelli. He then pursued studies with Amy Lin at the Académie Supérieure de Musique in Strasbourg, and with Margarita Höhenrieder at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich. During his time in Europe, he received invaluable artistic advice from Cristina Ortiz and Débora Halász.
Rodolfo Faistauer teaches Piano Repertoire at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. He has been invited to give lectures and masterclasses at universities abroad and regularly adjudicates in local and state piano competitions.