PRESS RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION
October 30, 2013
CONTACT: Neil Rutman, (501) 450-5767; neilr@uca.edu
PIANIST NEIL RUTMAN TO BE IN CONCERT NOV. 18
By Brandon Riddle
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY – Neil Rutman, University of Central Arkansas Artist in Residence in piano and professor of music, will perform his annual concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18, on UCA’s campus.
The concert — a mix of classical, jazz and chamber music — will be in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. It is free and open to the public.
“It makes a change from a traditional piano recital, and I felt like a change was in order this semester,” Rutman said.
Rutman is a California native who graduated from the Eastman School of Music and Peabody Conservatory. He has won top prizes in several international events such as the Busoni, Kapell, Casadesus, Joanna Hodges, Concert Artist Guild and International Johann Sebastian Bach competitions.
During his career, Rutman has appeared in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan and the Schola Cantorum in Paris.
He was invited to give the closing concert at the World Conference of the 2011 European Piano Teachers Association Conference in Serbia.
At 7:15 p.m., Rutman will give a talk containing historical anecdotes and stories about the music to be performed. Rutman’s program will be recorded for UCA-based television station Channel 6.
The program will include the Brahms F major Cello Sonata with guest artist David Gerstein, a cellist from Chicago.
“Mr. Gerstein is the principal cellist in the Arkansas Symphony [Orchestra], a fine player, and a good friend,” Rutman said. “It was on that basis that we decided to collaborate.”
Gerstein and Rutman will perform together at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock later this year.
He will play solo during the second half of the UCA program and offer works by Liszt, Gluck, Rachmaninoff, a jazz transcription from Duke Ellington and an American Hoe Down Folk Transcription.
To conclude the concert, he will perform Edvard Grieg’s Ballade, a work considered a transformation for the composer.
Rutman said listening to it and watching its performance is a very moving experience for any audience, along with being a very difficult and showy piece to perform.
“Outside of Scandinavia, the Ballade is practically unknown among professional pianists,” he said. “It is, however, a very important work and needs to be heard.”
In addition to his work as artist in residence, Rutman coaches the UCA Boxing Team and is a volunteer probation officer for juvenile offenders in Faulkner County.
For more information, contact Rutman at (501) 450-5767 or neilr@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
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