 Christine
Rutledge
Violist Christine Rutledge has appeared as soloist, chamber musician,
and orchestral musician throughout the United States and abroad. Her
performances and recordings have been praised in such publications as
The Strad, Fanfare, The New York Times, and
The New York Concert Review. Recent solo performances and master
classes include those at four International Viola Congresses in the
US, Germany, and Sweden; the University of Michigan; the Oberlin Conservatory;
Arizona State University; the University of Arizona; the University
of Northern Arizona; the University of Kansas; and Bowling Green State
University.
Rutledge's repertoire spans major works from the standard repertory
to lesser-known and obscure works for the viola, particularly those
for viola in unusual combinations. She also performs many of her original
transcriptions of Baroque compositions on both modern and Baroque viola,
including the Bach Cello Suites and Sonatas for viola da gamba. During
the 2002-03 concert season she performed these complete works as a four-recital
cycle. As a champion of new works she has commissioned many new compositions
including Chimera for Viola and Harpsichord by C.P. First,
Nudged Along on Time’s Notched Stick for Flute, Viola,
and Guitar by Zae Munn, Hamadryad for alto flute, viola, and
guitar by Jeremy Dale Roberts, and a duo for viola and percussion by
Claude Baker with a Center for New Music Commissioning Grant, which
will be premiered in the 2003-04 concert season.
Currently Rutledge holds the position of associate professor of viola
at The University of Iowa. She serves on the executive board of the
American Viola Society, and is president of the Iowa Viola Society.
For six years she served as Assistant Principal Viola of the Louisville
Orchestra and violist of the Ceruti Chamber Players and the Kentucky
Center Chamber Players. She has also been a member of the faculty at
the University of Notre Dame. Festival appearances include the Roycroft
Music Festival, the Sewanee Summer Music Center, "Brunch with Bach"
series at the Detroit Institute of Art, the Manitou Music Festival,
the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Interlochen Center for the Arts,
and the Fontana Chamber Arts Festival.
Rutledge is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music as a student
of Karen Tuttle and Michael Tree, and The University of Iowa with William
Preucil, Sr. She is also a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy,
where she was honored as Valedictorian and recipient of a Young Artist
Award. Among her many honors are Prizewinner in the Aspen Festival Viola
Competition, an Indiana Arts Commission Individual Artist’s Fellowship,
recipient of an Eli Lilly Foundation grant for undergraduate teaching
development, as well as several awards from the Institute for Scholarship
in the Liberal Arts at the University of Notre Dame and the Arts and
Humanities Initiative at The University of Iowa.
Excerpts from selected reviews:
"Christine Rutledge was most impressive -- for the large tone
she produced and the command that she brought to her many solo passages."
Robert Rhein, South Bend Tribune
"Violist Christine Rutledge seemed to capture perfectly the work's
[Rebecca Clarke Sonata for Viola and Piano] understated, veiled quality...Most
impressive was the rich tone achieved in the romantic, ala Ralph Vaughan-Williams,
last section." Matthew Steel, Kalamazoo Gazette
With the Notre Dame String Trio:
"A courageously enterprising and impressively well-played program...All
three players, viola especially, projected sumptuously." Harris
Goldsmith, New York Concert Review
"...excellent rhythmic articulation, spot-on intonation and superior
tonal blend (especially due to the plangent viola of Christine Rutledge)..."
The Strad
"Sunday’s performance was brilliant." Matthew Steel,
Kalamazoo Gazette
For the CD Chamber Works of David Diamond for Strings and
Piano
"...these are thrilling and deeply satisfying performances --
captured in crystal-clear sound -- that leave no margin for error or
improvement. An essential contribution to the American chamber-music
discography."
Paul A. Snook, Fanfare
"I can’t say enough about the high level of these performances...The
rhythmic acuity and dead-on intonation of each of the string-players
are nothing short of brilliant." Craig Zeichner, Fanfare
"The recording is as full of spit and vinegar as the playing;
it fairly leaps out of the speakers. Bravo to all concerned!" Lehman,
American Record Guide
For the CD Hindemith String Trios
"The individual players match reliable intonation with smooth
tone production, and their ensemble blend is marvelous. Warm, intimate
sound adds a final touch...this Centaur disc is highly recommended."
Fanfare
"The Notre Dame Trio...sounds as if they really enjoy playing
Hindemith...you will not be disappointed..." Tully Potter, The
Strad
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Last updated
21-aug-06
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