About

Roberta Rust has concertized to critical acclaim, appearing in recital at prestigious concert halls worldwide and collaborating with leading ensembles. Her artistry has been enthusiastically hailed for recordings on the Navona, Centaur, and Protone labels. Rust has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, New York's Merkin Concert Hall, Rio de Janeiro's Sala Cecilia Meireles, Washington's Corcoran Gallery, Havana’s Basilica and Seoul's KNUA Hall. She has appeared with the Lark, Ying, Serafin, Amernet and Fine Arts String Quartets and as soloist with the Houston Symphony, New World Symphony, Philippine Philharmonic, New Philharmonic, Redlands Symphony, Boca Raton Symphonia, Knox- Galesburg Symphony, Frederick Symphony, Lynn Philharmonia, and orchestras in Latin America. Festival appearances include Miami's Mainly Mozart Festival, the Philippines’ Opusfest, the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, Festival Miami, Long Island's Beethoven Festival, and France's La Gesse. She served as Artistic Ambassador for the United States, was awarded a major National Endowment for the Arts grant, and also received recognition and prizes from the Organization of American States, National Society of Arts & Letters, and International Concours de Fortepiano (Paris).

Dr. Rust serves as Artist Faculty-Piano/Professor and head of the piano department at the Lynn University Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida. During the summers she has served on faculty at the Adamant Music School in Vermont and the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival in Tampa, Florida. She has given master classes throughout the Americas and Asia including at Northwestern University, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, the Yong-Siew Toh Conservatory at the National University of Singapore, and the Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories. She is also a widely respected adjudicator and has served on the juries of several noted competitions including the Bösendorfer- Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition, Florida Young Artist International Competition, MTNA competitions, at the New World Symphony, Chautauqua and Brevard Festivals, and at the Colburn School’s Music Academy. Rust has been presented in performances and master classes at the Fondation Bell'Arte International Certificate for Piano Artists program, the Manila International Piano Masterclasses Festival, and the University of Florida International Piano Festival.

Roberta Rust was born in Houston, Texas, resides in South Florida , and is a Lakota descendant. She studied at the Peabody Conservatory, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, and earned performer's certificates in piano and German Lieder from the Mozarteum in Salzburg. A student of Ivan Davis, Artur Balsam, John Perry, and Phillip Evans, she received a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a doctorate from the University of Miami. Master class studies were with Gary Graffman, Leon Fleisher, Carlo Zecchi, and Erik Werba.

“Roberta Rust is a powerhouse of a pianist--one who combines an almost frightening fervor and intensity with impeccable technique and spartan control.” —The New York Times

“There was tremendous bravura, sweep, and power...Here was a virtuosa.” —The Miami Herald

“She proves herself a first-rate Debussy player...This is quite simply one of the finest Debussy discs I have heard in recent memory.” —Fanfare Magazine