Cellist David Russell to Present Guest Recital Sunday Evening

Free public performance to be held at The College of Wooster's Scheide Music Center

Cellist David Russell will present a guest recital at The College of Wooster's Scheide Music Center on Sunday, April 6.

WOOSTER, Ohio - David Russell, cellist, will present a guest recital in Gault Recital Hall of the Scheide Music Center (525 E. University St.) at The College of Wooster on Sunday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. The program will include the Three Suites for Solo Cello, Opus 72 (1964), 80 (1967), and 87 (1971) by Benjamin Britten. Admission is free and open to the public.

Russell, a former Wooster resident and the son of John and Susan Russell, is currently a member of the faculty at Wellesley College, where he teaches cello and music theory, and coaches chamber music. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He also holds degrees in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Akron, and the Artist's Diploma from Brandeis University. His early teachers in Wooster were Terry Ling, Joseph Hruby, and Madalena Burle-Marx.

Russell, who plays a cello crafted in the 18th century by the English instrument maker John Betts, maintains a vigorous performance schedule, both as soloist and as collaborator in the U.S. and Europe. He was appointed to the position of Assistant Principal Cello with the Tulsa Philharmonic in 2000 and served on the teaching faculty of Oklahoma City University from 2001 to 2003. As a member of the Grammy-nominated Eaken Trio, formerly in residence at Dickinson College, he has toured extensively in France, Germany, Italy, and England. He also serves as Principal Cellist of Opera Boston and makes regular appearances with such ensembles as Pro Arte Chamber orchestra of Boston, the New England String Ensemble, Cantata Singers and Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music.

A strong advocate and performer of new music, Russell has performed with Phantom Arts Ensemble for American Music, Dinosaur Annex, Collage New Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Music on the Edge, AUROS Group for New Music, Firebird Ensemble, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, and the Fromm Foundation Players at Harvard. He is a founding member of Furious Band, an ensemble devoted to the exploration and performance of works by young composers. Furious Band was the 2000 contemporary ensemble in residence at the Aspen Summer Music Festival.

Russell has premiered numerous works by living composers, such as Eric Moe, Tamar Diesendruck, Andrew Rindfleisch, John Fitz Rogers, Laurie San Martin, Edward Cohen, Eleanor Cory, Kurt Rohde, Allen Anderson, Roger Zahab, Roshanne Etezady, Jerome Miskell, Alton Clingan, Edwin London, Shi-Hui Chen, and Francis Thorne. Recent projects include the premiere of Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon's chamber opera Comala at the Bellas Artes in Mexico City; performances at Miller Theater at Columbia University, the American Academy in Rome, and the Rotterdam Conservatory; U.S. premieres of works for solo cello by Harold Meltzer and Judith Weir; recordings of new works by Eric Moe, Eric Chasalow, Laurie San Martin, Allen Anderson, and Edward Knight; master classes at the University of California-Davis, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks; and residencies at the University of South Carolina-Columbia and Tufts University. His performances can be heard on the Albany Records, New World Records, and Composers Recordings labels.

Additional information about Russell's recital is available by phone (330-263-2419) or e-mail (dswartz@wooster.edu).