Mauricio Starosta

Doctor of Musical Arts | Piano Performance and Pedagogy

Mauricio Starosta was born in the city of Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. Started studying music when he was six years old, learning the violin and, three years later, the piano. At age 15, started taking lessons with Dirce Bauer, a concert pianist who encouraged him to pursue a professional career in music. 
 
Dr. Starosta recently graduated with his DMA in Piano Pedagogy at Texas Tech University, under Drs Nataliya Sukhina and Carla Cash. He also holds a Baccalaureate in Music: piano performance, and two Master degrees, one in Performing Practices: piano from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil; and a Masters in Piano Pedagogy from Texas Tech University, under Lora Deahl. 
 
To complement his academic training, Dr. Starosta took masterclasses with Peter Feuchtwanger in Europe, and private lessons with Edna Golandsky and John Bloomfield on the Taubman Approach for piano technique, as well as workshops in Eurhythmics and Alexander Technique. 
 
From 2018 to 2021, Dr. Starosta was part of the Texas Tech University MTNA chapter, where he also worked as treasurer. During this period he helped promote activities for the piano students at TTU School of Music, and helped organize the Piano Plus Festival, a piano-four-hands and two-pianos festival realized in collaboration with local piano teachers in Lubbock, TX.
 
In Brazil, Dr. Starosta taught applied lessons and served as a staff accompanist at the Federal University of Pelotas. He also taught group piano and music theory at the Catholic University of Pelotas. 
 
In his leisure time Dr. Starosta likes to do Contra Dance, to sing karaoke, and to skateboard