I performed on the internationally televised Vatican Christmas Day Concert with Maestro Beppe Cantarelli in 1999, playing piano with the EUYO Orchestra, the Millennium Choir and the wonderful flutist Roberto Fabbriciani. The performance that day of Cantarelli's "Magnificat," under the direction of Renato Serio, was exaltant, and will remain with me throughout my life.
I've performed with the Millennium Choir, as a solo pianist, many times since that event.

But I'd rarely had the chance to hear Beppe perform as a soloist, playing his own pieces.

Recently, I had the opportunity to do just that: Beppe performed his music in a most perfect setting--solo guitar and voice in a beautiful church, Christ the King in Hollywood, CA. It was a beautiful afternoon, with the sun streaming through the stain glass windows, and an afternoon I'll not soon forget. While performing his amazing "Magnificat," his haunting "Padre è Giunta l'Ora" (Father The Hour Has Come), and a pleading work to the Virgin Mother--his own setting of the "Ave Maria"--this performance was incredibly moving. It was an epiphany in music that day.

Besides the obvious strength of Beppe's writing and singing (and he's a very tasteful guitarist by the way), I heard songs of pure passion and intense emotion, combined with the very authentic and real musical talent of a dynamic performer. The music was striking in a straight-forward, honest way, filled with drama and color.

There was a connection between Beppe and his audience on that beautiful afternoon, that can only be described as poetry and magic. This man's music and work is extraordinary, and it's rare to hear sounds like this, in a day and age of sterile, overly produced "radio" fare.

If you've not heard Beppe Cantarelli, you're missing out.
His performance is a reaffirmation of music...and of the spirit.

John Rusnak
Pianist and Composer
February 18, 2004
Burbank, California

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