Prominent pianist, music teacher Roetter dies at 79

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

Renowned pianist Silvia Roetter had a sensitive touch -- whether it was playing a duet with her late concert pianist husband, Guido, or teaching hundreds of students who came to her Las Vegas home during the last five decades.

"I hate the old saying that those who can't do teach because Silvia was a marvelous pianist and a wonderful teacher," said pianist and Music World store owner Don Kemp, a friend of more than 40 years.

"She instilled in her students a discipline for the art but (she) was not a disciplinarian. She was lighthearted and had a great sense of humor as well as optimism, enthusiasm and a vibrant style," Kemp said. "Her work has had a remarkable impact on the musical life of our city."

Roetter, a Las Vegas cultural pioneer whose piano students included those who became orchestra leaders and music teachers, died Saturday at St. Rose Dominican Hospital's Siena Campus after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 79.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 44 years will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Viator Catholic Church.

"My mother got an equal joy out of performing and teaching as long as the music was performed beautifully and with the correct technique and impression," said daughter Mara Lieberman, a violinist and owner of the Violin Outlet in Las Vegas.

"But no matter how many excellent students she had or how many scholarships she helped them win, her family always came first," she said. "Music was very important to her, but it never got in the way of her family."

Liana Roetter-Turello, Silvia's other daughter, who is a professional opera singer and voice coach, said her mother's secret to success in music was "her incredible sensitivity."

"She was able to get a wide range of color and sound from the piano," Roetter-Turello said. "She had such a wonderful touch."

Known primarily as a classical performer, Roetter in the early 1960s gained a local following as part of a duo that featured her husband. They performed semi-classical music and popular Broadway show tunes in the Tropicana hotel's Blue Room.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Roetters performed at several classical music events at Nevada Southern University -- today the University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- including one concert that drew 1,500 fans to hear them play Mozart's Concerto for dual pianos.

The Roetters were associates of renowned Las Vegas cellist Ennio Bolognini, and several of Silvia's students won the local competition that was named for him.

One of Silvia's top piano students was fashion designer Randolph Duke. In 1974 she coached the then-Valley High student to the Music Teachers National Association state piano championship in the high school division.

Other Roetter students of note include Garold Whisler, who today is an opera conductor, and Las Vegas High graduate Gregory Pepetone, who today is professor of music at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Ga.

"Silvia and Guido were not only my music teachers, but they also were like surrogate parents to me," said Pepetone, who earned a scholarship to Oberlin (Ohio) Music Conservatory under the Roetters' tutelage and later performed in England and the United States.

When Guido Roetter died in 1977, Silvia devoted much of her time to teaching, making occasional solo guest appearances at local classical music concerts.

Born Silvia Maranzana on April 4, 1925, in Trieste, Italy, she was the eldest of five children of Mario Maranzana and the former Salvatorica Cadoni. Silvia began playing piano at age 6. At age 14, she became a student of Guido Roetter.

Eleven years later, Silvia, a graduate of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, married Guido.

Silvia Roetter, who was a part-time Italian teacher at UNLV in the early 1980s, was a founding member of the Las Vegas Music Teachers Association.

Although she was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, Roetter continued teaching until she became too ill about a week ago, her family said.

In addition to her daughters, Roetter is survived by a sister, Mariella Buda of Triest; two brothers, Mario Maranzana and Franco Maranzana, both of Rome; and four grandchildren, David, Sarah, Lara and Anna.