1^st lesson free

Marisa

Rate $60
Response 15h
Students
Number of students Marisa has taught since their arrival at Superprof
8
Number of students Marisa has taught since their arrival at Superprof

$60/h

1^st lesson free

Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
Classical Guitar
Flamenco Guitar

Since establishing a virtuosic career, Marisa has emerged as one of today’s exciting concert artists. She teaches in English, Italian, and Spanish.

Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
Classical Guitar
Flamenco Guitar

Lesson location

- online

About Marisa

Since being awarded in over 20 international competitions, Chicago-born guitarist Marisa Sardo has emerged as one of today’s most exciting young artists to see perform live. Born in the United States from Italian parents, she holds a dual-citizenship and is an active musician in music scenes all over the world. Her unique programs include a variety of diverse music, including music from Europe, African music, music from South America, music written by women, world premieres, and music written for her. She began playing at the age of 4, and at a young age, she started competing in and winning local competitions. In 2022, she was one of the only classical guitarists to win 1st prize in the New York Laureate International Music Competition. In 2021, she won 1st prize in the Twisted Spruce International Music Competition. In 2019, she won 1st prize in the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Competition, and performed in Amsterdam and Salzburg in the winner’s concert tour. She also was the 2nd prize winner and only American competitor in the 2023 Tabula Rasa International Guitar Competition, 2nd prize winner in the 2022 IYMC International Classical Music Competition, and 3rd prize winner in the 2021 University of Memphis International Guitar Competition. She has performed in numerous venues around the world as a guest soloist, including the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands, San Simone church, and Accademia Chigiana concert hall in Siena, Italy, various venues in Milan, Italy, Museu da República in Rio de Janeiro, Casa Museu Ema Klabin and Escola Municipal in São Paulo, Museu de Arte in Salvador, and other venues throughout Brazil and South America.
Marisa has been selected as a guest artist in multiple concert series around the world for solo concerts and masterclasses, including Violão e Ponto in São Paulo in 2023, the MSU Denver Classical Guitar Concert series in 2022, the PeakFrequency Classical Music Series at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2022, the Chicago Guitar Festival in 2022, and the Associazione Culturale Alirio Diaz Concerto di Chitarra in Costacciaro, Italy in 2018. She has also performed in multiple operas as the on-stage performer, including Beatrice and Benedict and Le Avventure du Roi Pausole. Marisa has been featured on several radio programs and podcasts, including the Rádio Nacional de Brasília, The Writing of the Book Podcast, Shoutout LA, and she has also had a television program broadcasted about her musical life at the TV Senado in Brazil. Marisa released her debut album with Frameworks Records in 2023, which included groundbreaking works by Sor, Mertz, von Sehrwald, and more. Marisa actively works with modern composers to commission new music for the guitar. Some of her commissions include Guitar Sonata No. 2 by Anton von Sehrwald, Consortium by Samuel Parnin, and A Sardonic Fantasia by Thatcher Harrison (in progress).
In addition to performing, Marisa is also an active teacher. She is the classical guitar and music theory instructor at Arpeggiato Music School and NEMPAC music school, and she held the Associate Instructor position for classical guitar at Indiana University from 2020-2022. She teaches in English, Italian, and Spanish to an international student body.
Marisa received a postgraduate Performer Diploma from New England Conservatory in 2023. She received her Master of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in 2022. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 2020, and she also studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan, Italy in 2018, and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy in 2018, being the youngest person that year to receive a Diploma di Merito. Past teachers include Eliot Fisk, Anne Waller, Mark Maxwell, Senio Diaz, Paola Coppi, Oscar Ghiglia, Richard Matthews, Nathan Fischer, Daniel Duarte, Ernesto Bitetti, and Sergio Assad. Marisa plays on custom-made rosewood guitars by Marshall Brune, Wilson Burnham, and James Baur.

About the lesson

Learning to play a new instrument should be easy. Anyone can learn to speak the language of music, regardless of age, ability, gender, or background. This is what I tell my students and what I instill in my lessons. With this philosophy, I hope to demonstrate confidence, creativity, and commitment of learning to my students. I see the virtual classroom as an opportunity for students to develop a musical understanding into a passion that will stay with them forever.
I am very detail-oriented as a teacher. I begin my first lessons with a review on posture, positioning, and theory. I have my new students begin by positioning the arms without the guitar, and understanding the three points of contact on the body, the right leg angled slightly towards the hip, the left leg closer to the middle of the thigh, and the middle of the sternum. I tell my students to position the right arm at a 90 degree angle extended horizontally from the body, and then to let the wrist fall with gravity. I then tell my students to move the arm so that the elbow is in line with the side of the ribcage, with a triangular distance between the elbow, wrist, and ribs. For the left hand, I tell my students to allow their left arm to fall with gravity, and then to turn the arm so that the palm is at a 45 degree angle from the body. From there, I tell the students to close their arm by the elbow loosely until the wrist is able to fall inwards. I bestow that this is the natural position and proper posture for playing the classical guitar. I then allow my students to retrieve that positioning with the guitar on their bodies, maintaining the 3 points of contact and making sure that the guitar neck is at a 45 degree angle and the upper bout resting on the sternum. I strongly encourage my students to remember the natural positioning of the body and the arms, because music and instrumentation should be natural and not forced. I give my students the knowledge that there should never be unnatural tension when we play, because to be able to create the most projecting, resonating, and unique sound requires relaxation, confidence, and musical creativity.
To encourage students like this to develop their musical creativity, I use analytical and theoretical learning strategies to model a deep understanding of the macroanalysis versus microanalysis within music. To be able to express the emotions and passion that exist within a musical work, the students must develop an innate understanding of the music they are playing. The macroanalysis consists of the understanding of form, rhythmic structure, phrase structure and sequences, and musical patterns, and the microanalysis consists of harmonic analysis, chordal relationships, microphrasing, and historical performance. When I teach music theory concepts to my students, I start with the macroanalysis of a musical work, encouraging the students to think about form and rhythm independently. After the student has developed an understanding of the macro, I teach the students the microanalysis of music, further implementing musical confidence. I encourage the belief that music is a creative art within a historical structure, and that passion and emotion is the final key to unlocking musical understanding. This practice is productive, because it allows the students to think of music as multi-dimensional.
I hope to continue to share my experiences and exercises with my students, because like them, I find joy and passion in music, which is what creates uniqueness, strength, creativity, and beautiful art.

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

5h: $300
10h: $600

online

$60/h

free lessons

This first lesson offered with Marisa will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.

30mins

Since establishing a virtuosic career, Marisa has emerged as one of today’s exciting concert artists. She teaches in English, Italian, and Spanish.

Lesson location

About Marisa

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

free lessons

Marisa's Video

Other tutors in Guitar

Jake

Jude

Nirvaan

Alex

Jose

John

Mila

Reyansh

Vitalii

Lila

Yahseph

CAROLINA

Adam

Kyle

Cassian

Kyler

Kyler

Tyler

Henry

Mira

Since establishing a virtuosic career, Marisa has emerged as one of today’s exciting concert artists. She teaches in English, Italian, and Spanish.

Lesson location

About Marisa

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

free lessons

Marisa's Video

Other tutors in Guitar

Jake

Jude

Nirvaan

Alex

Jose

John

Mila

Reyansh

Vitalii

Lila

Yahseph

CAROLINA

Adam

Kyle

Cassian

Kyler

Kyler

Tyler

Henry

Mira

Share

Verified teacher profile

levels

All languages in which the lesson is available

Review

Évaluations

Recommendations

free lessons

Report this posting