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Dominick D’Alessandro brings his lifelong love of classical music to Rutgers University–Camden as a teacher and performer
Fantasia Bætica, a 1919 composition by Spanish pianist Manuel de Falla, is notable for passages of sweeping arpeggios that alternatingly ascend and descend. The piece proved a stirring finale to Dominick D’Alessandro’s debut performance in the Mallery Concert Series, but it more subtly reflected a key element of his teaching philosophy: No matter where his students may find themselves amid the highs and lows of mastering their instrument, he is committed to meeting them where they are.
“It’s really important to be able to adapt to the student you have before you,” said D’Alessandro, an applied piano instructor in the Department of Visual, Media, and Performing Arts (VMPA). In his case, those students range from Rutgers–Camden music majors to younger learners outside of the university, who begin taking lessons as early as age five. “How we approach each student is different. We can never assume what they have going on in their lives or where they are coming from.”
D'Alessandro knows this well: Even as an instructor, he must continually learn and grow as a pianist. Born in Northeast Pennsylvania to a piano teacher mother and a piano technician father, D’Alessandro took a career path that may have seemed inevitable when he began learning at three years old. But D’Alessandro, who now holds a master of piano performance and pedagogy from Temple University, knows most students do not share such a deep familial connection to the instrument. He joined the Rutgers–Camden faculty in January 2024, taking on the responsibility to uncover and nurture potential wherever he may find it.
The Mallery Concert Series is both a showcase of seasoned instrumentalists and a way to inspire those with burgeoning interest in classical music. Led by artistic director Joseph C. Schiavo, teaching professor of music and associate dean for undergraduate education, the slate of weekly performances has brought accomplished classical musicians to the Rutgers–Camden campus since 2008.
“Professor Schiavo first mentioned the opportunity to perform last year,” D’Alessandro said. “I emailed to check in, and he had a cancellation. I had a program in my hands that I’m currently preparing for doctoral auditions.”
The Mallery Series draws a wide range of audience members, from devoted classical music fans throughout South Jersey to curious students, some of whom are attending their first classical concert. In addition to Fantasia Bætica, the audience for D’Alessandro’s performance heard pieces composed by Bach and Beethoven.
“Having that performance hour built into the schedule during the free period on Wednesdays is a great opportunity for students to come and listen,” D’Alessandro said. “If we expose students to classical music and composers, especially those from underrepresented groups we haven’t paid enough attention to in the past, they can see how much variety is in the music. In Fantasia Bætica, you can hear a Spanish guitar style, which is in extreme contrast to the two German pieces I played.”
While D’Alessandro’s young career has seen him log time behind the piano as a performer, composer, and arranger, teaching has emerged as his central focus. In a 2023 essay published in Piano Magazine, he described teaching as an improvisational performance that shifts in response to everything from students’ direct feedback to subtle changes in their body language and facial expressions.
“I always said when I was younger, I would never teach, but I love teaching,” D’Alessandro said. “As I teach more, my main message for all teachers is to be understanding of students. Sometimes, they’re having a great week; other times, they’re not. If a student doesn’t practice from one week to the next, adapt your teaching. This is supposed to be enjoyable. Stereotypical classical music teaching gets put in a box as very strict and regimented. I don’t want to perpetuate that stereotype.”
D'Alessandro performs J.S. Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor
Rutgers University–Camden is proud to support the performing arts as an anchor institution in the city of Camden. Learn more about the Mallery Concert Series and the upcoming Year of the Arts initiative.
