Recitals & Lectures Faculty Recitals An Evening of Music for Winds and Strings /sites/default/files/styles/event_featured_image/public/2025-01/side_by_side_website.jpg?itok=tJjb8wcz

Robert Morgan and Carlie Meeker, oboe
Todd Levy and Kathryn Jarvey, clarinet
Dennis Michel and Alexander Lake, bassoon
Gail Williams, Eden Stargardt, and Lily Kern, horn
Kay Kim, piano
Desirée Ruhstrat, violin
Aurélien Pederzoli, viola
David Cunliffe and Joseph Johnson, cello
Andrew Raciti, bass  
Robert Taylor, conductor (Dvořák)

Bienen faculty and student performers come together for a performance featuring music by Antonín Dvořák and Ernst Dohnányi.  

Ernst Dohnányi, Sextet in C Major, Op. 37 
Antonín Dvořák, Serenade for Winds in D Minor, Op. 44, B. 77 

Is Not Featured 1219037 No On Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.

Off https://ci.ovationtix.com/36542/performance/11550117?performanceId=11550117 Yes No Off 1219037 Monday, March 3, 2025 at 7:30pm CST Pick-Staiger Concert Hall On https://www.music.northwestern.edu/live/pick

Bienen School alumni, faculty receive 2025 Grammy nominations

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Professor emeritus Donald Nally has received his tenth Grammy nomination to date and several Bienen alumni are also among the 2025 nominees.

Recitals & Lectures Visiting Artists Faculty Recitals /sites/default/files/styles/event_featured_image/public/2023-11/jan10_evening_french_music.jpg?itok=I4P53w92

Desirée Ruhstrat, violin; Aurélien Fort Pederzoli, viola; David Cunliffe, cello; Henry Kramer, piano

Bienen faculty violinist Desirée Ruhstrat and special guests present a program highlighting French favorites. Desirée Ruhstrat has appeared as soloist with the Berlin Radio Symphony, Radio Suisse Romande, Gottingen Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra, and National Repertory Orchestra, among others. She has made multiple recordings on the Cedille Records label as a member of the Grammy-nominated Lincoln Trio. Also a member of the Black Oak Ensemble, she is joined by her ensemble colleagues Aurélien Fort Pederzoli and David Cunliffe, as well as pianist Henry Kramer. Kramer is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a top prizewinner in Belgium’s Queen Elisabeth Competition.

Henri Tomasi, String Trio
Maurice Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte
Han Lash, Caspar PM
Maurice Ravel, Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit
Maurice Ravel, Toccata from Le tombeau de Couperin
Gabriel Fauré, Piano Quartet No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 45

Is Not Featured 1184801 No On Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID. Off https://ci.ovationtix.com/36542/performance/11389619?performanceId=11389619 Yes No Off 1184801 Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 7:30pm CST Galvin Recital Hall On /live/galvin

Forst Quartet advances in St. Paul Competition

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Forst Quartet, an ensemble of Bienen School of Music undergraduate students, has advanced to the finals of the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition.

Bienen ensembles perform works by Nemmers Prize winner William Bolcom

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This April, the Bienen School of Music will feature three performances of works by William Bolcom, the 2021 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition winner.

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/04/bienen-ensembles-perform-works-by…

Springing into Remote Learning

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On Monday, April 6, the Bienen School of Music began a historic spring quarter. Rather than meeting in classrooms, studios, and rehearsal halls, students and faculty gathered virtually.

Two Bienen ensembles compete in virtual Fischoff

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Two student chamber ensembles from the Bienen School of Music – Fuse Quartet and Trio Noré – advanced in the 47th Annual Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, which moved to an online format for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tackling chamber music’s ‘naughty bits’ in the time of COVID-19

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Chamber music students will advance their proficiency with infamous solo passages under the Spring Quarter teaching model developed by Bienen School’s String Chamber Program Coordinator Desirée Ruhstrat.

Two Bienen ensembles to compete in MTNA Finals

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Two Bienen School of Music student ensembles have advanced to the finals of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Chamber Music Competition.

Two Bienen School ensembles advance to Fischoff Competition

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Two Bienen School student ensembles – Fuse Quartet and Galvin Trio – have been invited to the 46th Annual Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

Desirée Ruhstrat

Desirée Ruhstrat is the String Chamber Music Coordinator at the Bienen School of Music.

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​​​​Bienen School alumni win Grammys

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Third Coast Percussion won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for “Steve Reich” (Cedille Records).

Grammy nominees include Bienen School faculty, alumni

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Two Bienen School of Music faculty members and several alumni have been nominated for 2017 Grammy Awards.