Thursday, February 26, 2004

Eric Ruske is Inducted as National Patron

French hornist Eric Ruske was inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity on February 26, 2004 at the Emory Inn in Atlanta, Georgia. Past President Dr. Kay Wideman officiated at the induction. In attendance were members of Eta Lambda Alumni Chapter and Omicron Delta.

Eric Ruske is an artist of established international acclaim. Named Associate Principal Horn of The Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 20, his impressive solo career began when he won the 1986 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, First Prize in the 1987 American Horn Competition, and in 1988, the highest prize in the Concours International d’Interprétation Musicale in Reims, France.

Performances as soloist include appearances with the Baltimore Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Shanghai Radio Broadcast Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the European Camerata, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic and a tour with the Israel Chamber Orchestra throughout Israel. His recitals have been presented in venues such as the Louvre in Paris, the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Dukes Hall in London.

An active chamber musician, he has appeared at the Newport Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the OK Mozart International Festival, the Evian Festival, La Musica in Sarasota, Bargemusic in Brooklyn, and the Festival Pablo Casals both in Puerto Rico and in France. Mr. Ruske is in great demand as a teacher and clinician. In addition to having worked at many universities in the United States, he has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, and the College of Music at Seoul National University.

His discography includes solo recordings for Telarc, Musical Heritage Society, Fleur de Son, and Albany Records. His most recent recording, a second disc of horn and piano virtuoso transcriptions was released on Albany Records in October, 2003. Of his recording of the complete Mozart Concerti with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the New York Times stated, “Mr. Ruske’s approach, firmly positioned with the boundaries of balance, coherence and good taste that govern the Classical Style, enchants by virtue of its confidence, imagination and ebullient virtuosity”.

A native of LaGrange, Illinois and a graduate of Northwestern University, Eric Ruske has been the recipient of grants from Boston University, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the International Institute of Education. A member of the faculty of Boston University since 1990, Mr. Ruske also directs the Horn Seminar at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

Following his induction, Mr. Ruske performed with the Southeastern Louisiana University Wind Symphony at the Southern Division Conference of CBDNA. He again performed Concertino for Horn and Wind Symphony which Omicron Delta helped to commission this past year.