Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein

Professor of Pianoforte

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION

Doctor of Music                      Piano Performance,
                                                 Leningrad State Conservatory,
                                                 Leningrad, USSR

Master of Music                       Piano Performance, Teaching, Ensemble, Accompaniment,
                                                 Leningrad State Conservatory, Leningrad.
                                                 Graduated with honors.

Special Music School, a branch of Leningrad State Conservatory, Leningrad, USSR

 

TEACHING

Professor of Piano (tenured), Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, OH, 1976 to present
Visiting Artist and Professor, Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, 1975 to 1976
Artist-in-Residence, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, 1974 to 1976
Faculty Member, Leningrad State Conservatory, USSR, 1962 to 1973
Visiting Professor at Shanghai State Conservatory, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (PRC), 1990, 1992 and 1995
Visiting Professor at Central Conservatory, Beijing, PRC, 1992
Faculty Member, International Music Festival, Casalmaggiore, Italy, annually, 1998 to present
Faculty Member, International Festival of Conservatories, 2003 and 2005, State Conservatory of Music, St. Petersburg, Russia

PERFORMANCES

Faculty Recitals: annually at Oberlin Conservatory, both piano and harpsichord.

The World Premier Performance
of newly found Robert Schumann’s early Piano Concerto in F (1831), at Oberlin Conservatory, March 17, 1992

Public Recitals (partial list)

New York City, Alice Tully Hall
Washington, D.C., Arena Theater
Performing Arts Society of Philadelphia, PA, Mandel Theater (twice)
Chopin Society Festival, Minneapolis, MN
Grand Hall, Grand Rapids, MI
Grand Philharmonic Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia
Hermitage Theater Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia
Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong
Shanghai Center Theater, Shanghai, PRC
Des Moines Arts Center, Des Moines, IA
Art Museum, Cleveland, OH
Severence Hall, Cleveland, OH
Concert Hall, Indianapolis, IN
Omaha Arts Center, Omaha, NE
School of Music, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Little Rock Chamber Music Society Series, Little Rock, AR
Maverick Concerts, Woodstock, NY
Concert Series at the University of Texas, Abilene, TX
Concert Series at the University of Oregon, Corvallis, OR
Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, PRC
Yunnan University, Kunming, PRC
Baptists College, Hong Kong
University of Oregon, Portland, OR
Loyola University, New Orleans, LA
University of Charleston, Charleston, WV
Miami University, Oxford, OH
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL
University of South Dakota, Brookings, SD
Louisiana State University, Lafayette, LA
Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Italy
St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society, St. Petersburg, Russia

Public Radio Performances

National Public Radio, Washington, DC
Voice of America, Washington, DC
Leningrad Radio and TV, USSR
St. Petersburg Radio and TV, Russia
National Radio, Paris, France
Hong-Kong Radio
WCLV, Classical Music Radio Station, Cleveland, OH

MASTER CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS (partial list)

Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Oregon State University, Portland, OR
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Shanghai State Conservatory of Music, PRC, 1990 and 1992
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, PRC
Loyola University, New Orleans, LA
St. Petersburg’s Conservatory, Russia
Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, Italy

LECTURES: “Piano Technique,” “The Art of Pedaling Piano,” “Music of Scriabin,” and “The Timing as Artistic Means in the Piano Performance,” given at various music schools.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Competition Juries (partial list):

International American Scholarship Competition, Cincinnati, OH
International Competition, Midland/Odessa, TX
International Piano Competition, New Orleans, LA
Member of the Screening Committee for R. Cassadesus International Piano Competition, Cleveland, OH

First piano performance of J.S. Bach’s complete “The Art of Fugue” in USSR

Piano performance of the same work at Oberlin in October 1985.  Work later performed also on harpsichord.

RECORDINGS, PIANO AND HARPSICHORD
15 Solo Albums Released

        Melodia Label
        Laurel
        Orion Master Recordings
        Musical Heritage Society
        Albany Records
        SZR (Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein) Productions (launched in 1991)
                       

           
                       
REVIEWS (Partial List)

The New York Times; Washington Post; Musical America; New Records; Ovation; Fanfare; Inquirer and Mirror, MA; World-Herald, Omaha, NE; Philadelphia Musical World and Times; Niagara Gazette; Audience, Grand Rapids, MI; The Grand Rapids Press; The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH; Musical Heritage Review; Buffalo News; Leningradskaya Pravda, Leningrad, USSR; Smena, St. Petersburg, Russia