SPRINGDALE -- When divine inspiration strikes Carl Leta during Mass, he shares the feeling with the whole congregation. He can do that because Leta is a pianist and a composer; he regularly plays for the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Raphael Church in Springdale and occasionally at the Saturday evening liturgy as well. And while he's composed many songs and even recently released a CD of his works, Leta can't always reproduce the pieces that come to him during the Eucharistic celebration. He truly believes those spontaneous melodies are "a work of the Holy Spirit." His musical partner at Mass, Dianne Phillips, agrees. It seems apparent Leta has a special gift for music, particularly the piano. He said he can barely read music, he dropped out of formal piano lessons after about three months, and, perhaps most amazingly, he has hearing in only one ear. "I really love it," Leta said. "I always have said music is my passion." Leta grew up in the St. Louis area. He was born with a birth defect, a deformity of his left ear that he is still self conscious about, perhaps because he still remembers playground taunts of other children. But when his sister, Paula, began taking piano lessons, Leta was drawn to the instrument. His parents signed him up for lessons, but the sessions soon went by the wayside because, like many children of all ages, he didn't like the work that went with lessons. "I enjoyed it, but didn't like practicing," Leta recalled. Leta may have been the best student his teacher ever lost -- he didn't give up the piano, just the lessons. "I would listen to Elton John" and other popular musicians on the radio, he recalled. He'd tape their songs on his cassette recorder and would patiently figure out by ear how to play the melodies on the piano. By the time he reached high school, Leta became interested in writing instrumental pieces after hearing music from the '70s horror film, "Carrie." (The horror genre shouldn't deter anyone; Leta's music is calming and pleasant, of a sort often referred to as "New Age" although he dislikes that characterization.) During his senior year, Leta returned to the formal music classroom again, this time taking music theory, a class that helped the young musician learn proper structure. In college, he wanted to learn about scoring music for films but was disappointed to hear there were no such classes available. "I've often wondered about going back and getting a degree in composition or orchestration," Leta said. Still, the lack of a music degree hasn't stopped him from pursuing -- or attaining -- some of his life's dreams. Leta's done film scoring for some documentaries, including one, "Together in Faith," about the Catholic faith. He worked in the music ministry at his former parish, Immaculate Conception in O'Fallon, Mo., for 16 years. And he's obviously earned a favored spot among parishioners at St. Raphael's as he's greeted warmly by everyone who knows him. Leta's only been in northwest Arkansas for three years, having moved here at the invitation of a friend. He arrived without a job and with few local contacts. He had little success landing clerical work of the sort he'd done at his father's Honda and Acura dealerships, but he did get an invitation to choir practice at St. Raphael's. Before long, Leta won a permanent -- if part-time -- spot with the parish's music ministry. When he sometimes muses about the possibility of returning to Missouri to be nearer his family, Leta said, he gets resounding "No, you can't do that" cries from his new friends. Still, he seems surprised that his CD, "Short Stories," is selling fairly briskly in the parish gift shop. The album includes 16 tracks, several of which are pieces Leta's composed for some of his 12 nieces and nephews, and even one done after the loss of a cherished pet. He initially dropped off five copies at the store and those sold through quickly. Next time, he brought 10 and those sold out also. Leta's sharing a portion of the proceeds of those CDs sold in the gift shop with the parish. The CD is also available through a Web site, www.geocities.com/carlpiano or by e-mailing Leta at carlpiano@yahoo .com. He's also sold some through Amazon.com and iTunes. - Patricia May - The Arkansas Catholic (Dec 5, 2009)