Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein, a faculty member at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and one of the world’s foremost pianist soloists, will present a concert at the the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center Thursday, March 11.
The program begins at 8:15 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (Room 200A) and will feature works by Scriabin, Debussy and Schumann.
Rutstein also will present a master class Friday, March 12, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.
Rutstein’s remarkable ability to grasp the very essence of diverse musical styles and the strength, energy and brilliance of her performances have received critical acclaim in the United States, Europe, Russia, Hong Kong and China.
The New York Times called her New York recital aradiant successand went on to say,she has forceful interpretative ideas and the technique to carry them out.
The Washington Post described her asa contemporary pianist in the best sense of the word, demonstrating enormous strength, but little effusiveness.
Rutstein was born and raised in the former Soviet Union. A child prodigy, she commenced her piano studies at age five and gave her first public recital the following year, including works by Mozart and Beethoven. She was accepted at Leningrad’s Special Music School for Gifted Children and completed her undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate studies at the renowned Leningrad Conservatory of Music.
Her repertoire encompasses a vast array of compositions, spanning the early 18th to the late 20th centuries, and including the works of all major European and Russian composers. In addition, she has been a pioneer in the complete cycle of J.S. Bach’sThe Art of Fugue,which she later recorded on both piano and harpsichord. She also presented the world premiere of an early, unpublished piano concerto by Robert Schumann.
Her highly acclaimed recordings have been released by Melodia, Orion Master Recordings, Music Heritage Society, Albany Records, Compositor and SZR Productions. In 1996, Fanfare magazine declared her recording of Boris Tishchenko’s Sonata No. 5 to be one of the top five releases of the year.
For more information, contact the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841, Ext. 3108.