News

2024

Roberta Rust has developed two inspired and informative lecture-performance topics this season that are captivating audiences. They are Einstein’s “Beloved Piano-Witch”: Harriet Cohen and Native American Piano Music. These presentations include commentary interwoven with piano music performances.

July-August 2023

Critic Richard Whitehouse surveyed important recordings of Villa-Lobos’s large-scale virtuosic work Rudepoêma in the July/August 2023 edition of INTERNATIONAL PIANO. He wrote “…the Rudepoêma of Roberta Rust is eminently appealing and one that points to antecedents in piano music of an earlier generation (notably Albéniz and Debussy)…an account deserving wider dissemination”. Read article

May 2023

The Elevar Foundation, home to the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC), is thrilled to announce that pianist Roberta Rust will join the board of the Elevar Foundation. The foundation believes in the transformative power of music and music education.

March 25, 2023

Roberta Rust delivered a lecture-performance, NATIVE AMERICAN LEGACY: THE MUSIC OF LOUIS W. BALLARD (QUAPAW/CHEROKEE), at the 2023 MTNA National Conference held in Reno, Nevada.

January 2023

Roberta Rust served on the juries of three piano competitions this month: The Bösendorfer-Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition on the campus of Arizona State University, the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) South Central Division Competitions, and the 3rd Annual Festival of the Arts Boca Music Competition.

September 12, 2022

Rust’s recording MOZART MATURES receives Gappelgate review:

“The juxtaposition of this thoughtful sampling of later Mozart piano works coupled with a kind of lovingly meditative set of performance by Roberta Rust leaves you appreciative and gratifyingly satiated with it all.” — Gapplegate Classical-Modern, Music Review

July 18, 2022

“The Inside Story” Roberta Rust and A CITY OF SILVER & A CITY OF FIRE is live now on the PARMA blog. Here is the link.

June 22, 2022

A City of Silver & A City of Fire, Roberta’s latest recording release, has received its first review.

“…artistically compelling and historically noteworthy…Rust rises to the occasion with a balance of energy, precision and lyricism…this album challenges the classical music field to re-examine its habitual conceptualizations of ‘American classical music’ and ask how that canon can more faithfully include the contributions of indigenous artists of the Americas.” — John Dante Prevedini, Classical Music Daily

May 8, 2022

MOZART MATURES recording hailed by Take Effect Reviews:

“The incredibly talented pianist Roberta Rust interprets the work of Mozart here with an unparalleled amount of attention to detail, where every keystroke is carefully performed and absorbed with much intrigue…it makes for a Mozart experience you’re not going to hear anywhere else.” — Take Effect Reviews

May 4, 2022

“The Inside Story” MOZART MATURES interview is now live on PARMA blog. Here is the link.

March 13, 2022

Roberta’s MOZART MATURES recording has received a rave review from Singapore.

“This marvelous recital disc by American pianist Roberta Rust covers the years 1782 to 1789…Rust has a good feel of this elegant music, and performs most persuasively…Rust’s approach to these works is one of total clarity and tonal coherence, shunning cheap tricks and sensational effects, all without diminishing the music’s impact…Heartily recommend.” — Chang Tou Liang, PIANOMANIA (Singapore)

February 2022

Rust’s new Mozart Matures recording received it’s first review from the UK.

“Rust plays these pieces with all the emotion and tenderness that you'd expect a lover of the source material to pour out. It's remarkable. It's obvious she knows each piece intimately, but she still manages to convey a freshness of one discovering the pieces for the first time.

It goes without saying, but lovers of classical music really do need to add this to their library. A wonderful collection of some of Mozart's most intriguing pieces.” — Review Graveyard (UK)

January 31, 2022

Roberta’s new recording, MOZART MATURES, reached the top 20 best selling classical albums on Amazon today.

Fall 2021

Roberta Rust was appointed for a two-year term to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DEI) of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)

March 10, 2020

DIRECT CONTACT continues to receive glowing reviews. In its spring 2020 edition, The Piano Magazine (Clavier Companion) hailed it as follows: “Roberta Rust’s artistry stretches across the Americas and bridges many sonic worlds...Rust showcases her own versatility and depth in her bluesy drawl (Rochberg’s Blues), jazzy lyricism (Anderson’s Thirteen Plus 4), dry and crisp touch (Brouwer’s Choco), virtuosic runs (Prado’s Halley), playful declamations (Sharpley’s Doodle), and musical introspection (Zwilich’s Lament). This valuable catalog of compositions spans seven decades, and follows Rust’s career over the last thirty-three years.”

June 10, 2019

New CD DIRECT CONTACT, ROBERTA RUST PIANO (Navona Records)

• Featured on Classical New Releases: Spotify Picks
• GenNextClassical//ClassicalDNA “Album of the Week” on Twitter

June 3, 2019

"The Inside Story" interview is now live on the PARMA blog. Here is the link.

May 24, 2019

Roberta's latest album on Navona Records entitled "DIRECT CONTACT" is now available to order on Amazon.

Listen to a sample track here.

“Rust is a virtuoso of the highest order and the best possible advocate for this music. She has masterly control of tone...her technical control in difficult passagework is clean, the direction of each phrase clear and always musical. This is a memorable program.” — American Record Guide

“The programming of the various pieces is excellent and she plays everything very well, providing a nice recital that is beautifully recorded (the piano sounds as if it’s right in your living room)” — The Art Music Lounge

“Rust’s own catholicity of taste is evident in her choice of these pieces...Rust plays everything on the CD with fine technique and obvious dedication” — Infodad

“The piano has the perfect presence and this further enhances her delicate performances of the lyrical music on this album. This is an excellent collection of pieces all well worth hearing and further exploring for anyone interested in accessible contemporary piano music.” — Cinemusical

“It's a diverse and entertaining release, which wonderfully showcases Rust's versatility at the piano.” — Review Graveyard