MARJORIE M. RUSCHE 

 

RESUME​

​

EDUCATION:

 

D.M. in Music Composition, minors in Music Theory and Music History, Indiana University Bloomington Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, IN. 

M.A. in Music Composition and Theory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.  

B.A. in Political Science, minor in History, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN. 

 

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:  

​

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Indiana University South Bend, IN, 1997 - 2002, Fall 2004 - present.   

 

Individual Composition Lessons: 

 

Graduate composition majors, undergraduate composition majors, and elective music students.  

 

Individual Piano Lessons: 

Music majors and elective students, beginning - intermediate levels.

 

Courses:  

*    Form and Analysis (Graduate & Undergraduate)

*    Art, Aesthetics & Creativity:  Exploring Music Composition (Elective and    Majors)  

*    Exploring Musical Genres:  Opera (Elective and Majors)

*    Graduate Music Theory Review

*    Instrumentation/Orchestration (Undergraduate)

*    Composition Seminar (Graduate & Undergraduate)

*    Sightsinging and Aural Perception I (Undergraduate) 

*    Music Theory III:  Late Romantic – early 20th century harmony (Undergraduate)

*    Music Theory IV:  18th century Counterpoint (Undergraduate)

*    Introduction to Music Theory (Elective)

*    Contemporary Music:  Since 1945 (Graduate & Undergraduate)

*    Graduate Music History Review

*    Class Piano (Elective and Majors)

*    Music Appreciation (Elective)

 

Piano, Theory, and Composition Instructor, Preparatory & Continuing Studies in Music, University of Notre Dame, IN, Fall 2000 – June 2013. 

 

Instructor, Saint Mary’s College, IN, Fall 2008 – Spring 2009.  

Course and Individual Piano Lessons:  Class Piano (Elective) 

 

Instructor, Columbia College Chicago, IL, Fall 2007.   

Course:   Introduction to Music Theory (Majors) 

 

Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame, IN, Fall 2000, Spring 2002, Spring 2003.  

Courses:   

*    Graduate Music Theory Review for Performers

*    Orchestration (Undergraduate)

*    Musicianship I and III: Sightsinging and Ear Training (Undergraduate)

 

Adjunct Faculty in the Arts, Southwestern Michigan College, MI, January 1998 - December 1998.

Courses:   

*    Music Theory: Sightsinging I and III (Undergraduate)

*    Music History (Undergraduate) 

*    Music Appreciation (Elective)

 

Teaching Internship in music composition (level of students ranging from doctoral minors in composition to undergraduate elective), Indiana University Bloomington School of Music, 1994 - 1995.  

 

Music Teacher in Kenya while serving in the U. S. Peace Corps. 

​

GRANTS, HONORS, AND AWARDS: 

​

FY2024 Indiana Arts Commission Arts Project Support Grant

2021-2022 South Bend Symphony Orchestra commission

2019-2020 Indiana Arts Commission funding for chamber composition commission 

2023-1985 yearly ASCAP Plus Standard Awards Grants

2018 and 2017 Indiana Arts Commission grants - Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites Music Composition Creativity Workshops

2017 University of Notre Dame Children’s Choir Commission

2016 Calliope’s Call - International Composition Competition - Honorable Mention

2015-2016 Indiana Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship - Music Composition; University of Notre Dame Chorale Commission

2015-2016 Masterworks Chorale Commission, Muncie, Indiana

2014 South Bend Chamber Singers Commission

2013-2014 and 2012-2013 Associate Faculty Music Composition Professional Development Grants, Indiana University South Bend

2012 Music Composition Commission from USA Projects, Artists2Artists Fund, USA Open Matching Fund, Cheswatyr Music Commissioning Fund (American Composers Forum) and 30 individual donors

2012 Associate Faculty Merit Status, Indiana University South Bend

2010-2011 IU South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future Sustainability Fellow

2011 Stickley Foundation Grant for Music Composition

2011 Curriculum Development Grant, Indiana University South Bend

2010 Associate Faculty Travel Grant, Raclin School of the Arts, IU South Bend

2009 Raclin School of the Arts IUSB Faculty Development Grant for Music Composition

2007-2008 Follett Fellowship, Columbia College Chicago

2004-2005 Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir Commission

2003 Indiana Music Teachers Association State Convention Commission

2002 Leighton-Oare Foundation Commission - South Bend Symphony Orchestra

1999 American Music Center’s Margaret Fairbank Jory Copying Assistance Program

1998-1999 American Composers Forum-Chicago Commission for DuPage Chorale

1998 Stickley Foundation Non-Academic Scholarship for Opera Composition

1996-1997 Indiana Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship – Music Composition

1996, 1987 & 1983 Arts Midwest - Meet The Composer Awards

1996 Workshop Participant - 2nd InterAmerican Composition Workshop, Latin American Music Center, Indiana University Bloomington School of Music

1994-1995 Indiana University Bloomington School of Music Scholarship

1994-1995 Indiana University Bloomington Foundation Scholarship

1994 Workshop Participant - 1st InterAmerican Composition Workshop, Latin American Music Center, Indiana University Bloomington School of Music

1993 Meet The Composer - New York Composers Performance Fund Award

1987-1988 Individual Artist Fellowship/Music Composition - Minnesota Arts Board

1987-1988 McKnight Fellowship; Minnesota Composers Forum

1985 Minnesota Composers Forum Demo Tape Grant

1983 Bush Foundation Composer Fellowship Finalist

1983 Minnesota Composers Forum Commissioning Program Award; Jerome Foundation

 

SIGNIFICANT COMMISSIONS AND PERFORMANCES: 

​

Our American Odyssey. Premiered by South Bend Lyric Opera in piano-vocal form. 90 min. Two acts, seven scenes. Penelope, Mary Martin, soprano; Odysseus, Seth Johnson, tenor; Circe, Elizabeth Schleicher, soprano; Clea, Emma Sorenson, mezzo; Calypso, Eleni Taluzek, mezzo; Antinous/Cyclops, Carl Ratner, bass-baritone; Ellis Anderson, piano; Emanuel-Cristian Caraman, SBLO Artistic Director; Carl Ratner, Stage Director; JuanCarlos Alarcon, Conductor; Damen Mroczek, Set Design; Emily Chidalek, Costume Designer; Ethan Brentlinger, Lighting Designer; Hannah Counsellor, Graphic Designer.  S.A.T.B. Chorus: Brittney Hale, Danni-Jo Rausch, Kaitlyn Meyer, Quin Wezeman, Casey Constant, George Zielke, Dan Newton, Tim McFeeters, Victoria Schemenauer. Production support from: Ziker Family Donor Fund, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Carleton Inc, Network for Good, First Source Bank, EcoOwl Press, Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, Indiana Arts Commission and individual donors.

10/20 & 10/21/2023.

​

Dreams and Visions (Searching the Shadows). Jennet Ingle, oboe; Jiwon Han, piano. Excerpts from a three movement chamber work for oboe, viola, and piano. 10 min. Commissioned by Jennet Ingle, oboe, with partial funding support from the Indiana Arts Commission. University of Wyoming Double Reed Concert, March 25, 2023.

​

II. An Irish Airman Foresees His Death (William Butler Yeats)  from Songs of Love and Death song cycle performed by Eleni Taluzek, mezzo and Mariah Boucher, piano, on “Composed by Women – An Evening of Song,” Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall, Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, IN. 4/1/2022.

​

The Gamboling Girl, chamber orchestra, inspired by the girl in George Seurat's painting A Sunday Afternoon

on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 3'15". Commissioned by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. Premiered at DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN.  1/9/2022.

​

Our American Odyssey, Act Two, Scene 2, Calypso’s Cayman Islands luxury resort. Libretto by the composer with text contributions by Laurel Thomas and Hannah McDermott. Anna Board, mezzo; Emanuel Caraman, tenor; Mariah Boucher, Music Director/Piano. Dur: 18:20; recorded at LangLab, South Bend, IN. 12/30/2020.   

 

Songs of Love and Death for soprano and piano. I. Wild Nights (Emily Dickinson), II. An Irish Airman Foresees His Death (William Butler Yeats), III. This is Just to Say (William Carlos Williams), IV. After Reading St. John the Divine (Gene Derwood), V. Love Comes Quietly (Robert Creeley). 10 min. Ball State University Faculty Artist Series recital livestream, Kelci Kosin, soprano and Cara Chowning, piano, 10/4/2020; Fourth Annual International Music by Women Festival, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus, MS., Kelci Kosin, soprano; Cara Chowning, piano, 3/6/2020; A Powerful Force: Women in Music, A Conference Celebrating the Diverse Contributions Made by Women in Music, March 12-14, 2020, Ball State University and the Cornerstone Center for the Arts, Muncie, IN., canceled due to COVID. Excerpts from this song cycle premiered by Miran Robarts, soprano and Michael Fennelly, piano on Underworld Productions Opera CrossCURRENT program of contemporary and traditional vocal music, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo, New York, New York, 3/7/14. Adapted from the earlier Songs of Love and Death song cycle for soprano, Bb clarinet, violin, and cello. 20 min. Commissioned by the Gotham Ensemble, New York, NY. Presented on the Sundays in the Park With Music concert series, American Composers Forum-Chicago Chapter & Chicago Park District, IL, 10/14/01; performed by Joan Metelli, soprano; Caroline Hartig, Bb clarinet, David Blakley, violin; Roger Malitz, cello; FESTIVAL 30: NEW MUSIC, Ball State University, IN, 3/30/00; premiered by Dawn Waggener, soprano, Indiana University Bloomington, IN, 11/13/94.

 

Dreams and Visions (Searching the Shadows) for oboe, viola, piano. 11 min.

Commissioned by Jennet Ingle, oboe, with funding support from the Indiana Arts Commission. Jennet Ingle, oboe; Rachel Goff, viola; Mariah Boucher, piano. Crystal Valley Chamber Series, First United Methodist Church, Middlebury, IN., 9/13/2020, live and live-streamed; included in the International Double Reed Society 1st Virtual Symposium 7/27/2020 using the live stream of the 3/1/2020 Michigan City Chamber Music Festival performance; Buchanan Chapel, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL. 5/1/2020 performance canceled (COVID); First Presbyterian Church, Michigan City, IN., 3/1/2020; Converge Church, New Buffalo, MI., 2/28/2020; LangLab, South Bend, IN, 2/27/2020; Duesenberg Recital Hall, Valparaiso University Center for the Arts, IN., 1/26/2020.  

​

A Modern Odyssey opera excerpts demo recording. Libretto by the composer. Act One, Scene 2, Penelope’s Lament; Jessica Bush, soprano; Junghwa Lee, piano; 7 min. Act Two, Scene 1, Calypso’s Island; Stephanie Solis, mezzo; Nathan Kistler, baritone; 10’24”. Carmen Tellez, conductor; Daniel Stein, audio production and engineer; 11/8/17.   

 

Easter Springs for SAB, violin, cello, piano. 12 min. I. Auguries of Innocence (William Blake), II. Easter Morning (gospel quotes), III. Easter Week (Charles Kingsley). Commissioned by the Notre Dame Children’s Choir; Mark Doerries, Artistic Director.  Premiered by the Seraphim Choir; Erin Donegan, Music Director; Daniel Stein, violin; Petra Rantanen, cello; Mitchell Garcia, piano; Children’s Choir Festival, South Bend, IN, 5/6/17; performed at Olivet African Methodist Episcopal Church, 5/7/17. 

 

Middletown Chronicles (the making of Middletown, America)

Documentary of the Middletown event broadcast on public television, WIPB-TV 49.1.  

Includes the 30 min. Middletown Chronicles Cantata, other works performed by the Masterworks Chorale, and interviews with conductor Andrew Crow and composer Marjorie Rusche, 6/16/16. 

 

Middletown Chronicles (the making of Middletown, America)

Cantata for SATB Chorus, soprano solo, tenor solo, and chamber orchestra. 30 min.  Texts arranged by the composer from source material from “Middletown Studies” archives. Commissioned by the Masterworks Chorale; Andrew Crow, Director.  Premiered by Kelci Kosin, soprano; Ganson Salmon, tenor; the Masterworks Chorale and chamber orchestra, 5/14/16, 7:30 p.m., Muncie Central High School, Muncie, IN.  

An Indiana Bicentennial celebration event.

 

Justus ut palma florebit--Occupy the Land--Occupo for SATB chorus, soprano solo, piano. 5 min. Texts arranged by the composer. A modern motet for the stewardship of creation. Commissioned by the University of Notre Dame Chorale, Alexander Blachly, Director. Funded by an Individual Artist Grant in Music Composition from the Indiana Arts Commission. Premiered on a University of Notre Dame Chorale concert “from Saint Francis to Pope Francis - Songs for the Earth and Its Creatures,” Leighton Concert Hall, de Bartolo Performing Arts Center, Notre Dame, IN, 11/1/15. Also performed on subsequent 4/16/16 and 5/13/16 concerts by the University of Notre Dame Chorale.

 

A Christmas Pair 1. Little Lamb  2. Ring Out, Wild Bells for SATB chorus, harp, chimes.  7 min. Texts by William Blake and Lord Alfred Tennyson. Commissioned by the South Bend Chamber Singers, Nancy Menk, conductor. Performed by the South Bend Chamber Singers, Christmas at Loretto, Saint Mary’s College, IN, 12/21/14; premiered at Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church, South Haven, MI, 12/20/14.

​

Dzisiaj w Betlejem (Today in Bethlehem), Polish folk carol arranged for mezzo and piano. 1’30”. Premiered by Katelyn Marie Andrysiak, mezzo and Mariah Mlynarek, piano, Raclin & Ruthmere Series, Ruthmere Museum, Elkhart, IN, 12/4/14.

 

Warm/Hot for violin, cello, piano and percussion (marimba, suspended cymbal, vibraphone). 3 min. Performed on Ensemble CONCEPT/21, Performance Hall, Indiana University South Bend. Zofia Glashauser, violin; David Machavariani, cello; Jorge Muniz, piano; Ben Runkel, percussion; 11/14/14. Premiered as part of Access Contemporary Music Chicago’s Ten x Ten 2013 project exploring visual and auditory interaction, in collaboration with Homeroom and Spudnik Press. The music, written for the Palomar ensemble, was recorded August/September 2013 and released November 16, 2013, on a Release Concert and Exhibition hosted by the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL. Warm/Hot is included in a vinyl LP in a packet which also contains a booklet with the corresponding prints. Chad Kouri, visual artist. On the recording: Jeff Yang, violin; Alyson Berger, cello; Michael Miller, piano; Isaac Stevenson, percussion; Francesco Milioto, conductor.

 

Variations Vortex (Into the Swirling Storm) for violin and piano. 18 min. Commissioned by USA Projects, Artists2Artists fund, USA Open Matching Fund, Cheswatyr Music Commissioning Fund (American Composers Forum), Indiana University South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future, South Bend Area Music Teachers Association’s Elnora Hartman Stickley Foundation and 30 individual donors. Premiered by Jacob Murphy, violin and Nicholas Roth, piano on a Music Faculty Recital, Raclin School of the Arts, Indiana University South Bend, 4/12/14.

 

Paranormal Transits: Cosmic Clowns for narrator, oboe, double bass and percussion (congas, tambourine, bell tree, maracas). 15 min. Musicians for Michiana Chamber Music Series, Jennet Ingle, artistic director and oboist; Jason Gresl, narrator; Ed Randles, double bass; Lana Wordel and Marc Churchill, percussion. Benefit concert for The Music Village, South Bend, IN, 4/6/14.  Premiered at the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago Composers Forum MUSICIRCUS event as an interdisciplinary work for narrator, oboe, percussion, doublebass and dancer with text by the composer. Mark Wooldrage, narrator; Pat Morehead, oboe; Catherine Barnes, percussion; Kells Nollenberger, doublebass; Betty Salamun, dancer; Marjorie Rusche, conductor; 10/7/07.

 

Comments for soprano and piano. 10 min. Excerpts from this song cycle performed by Miran Robarts, soprano, Leslie Tay, tenor and Michael Fennelly, piano on Underworld Productions Opera CrossCURRENT program of contemporary and traditional vocal music, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo, New York, New York, 3/7/14. The entire Comments song cycle for soprano and piano, poetry by Dorothy Parker, performed by Danielle Svonavec, soprano and Risa Okina, piano, Music Faculty Recital, Indiana University South Bend Campus Auditorium, IN, 9/18/11 and at the Raclin School of the Arts Fundraiser, Club LaSalle, South Bend, IN, 6/11/11; performed by Laurel Thomas, 

soprano and Jeffrey Jacob, piano, Composition Faculty Recital, Indiana University South Bend Recital Hall, IN, 3/29/07; Joan Metelli, soprano and Joe Kahre, piano, FESTIVAL 30: NEW MUSIC, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 3/30/00; Rebecca Arington, soprano and Kyomi Sugimura, piano, Michiana Composers Concert, IUSB Auditorium, IN, 3/15/00; Joan Metelli, soprano and Miko Kominami, piano, IUSB Recital Hall, IN, 11/23/99; Joan Metelli, soprano and Mark Riggleman, piano, IUSB Campus Auditorium, IN, 9/18/99; Susan Swaney, soprano and Raymond T. Feldman, piano, Bloomington Community Chamber Music Recital, IN, 2/15/98 and at the IU Bloomington Recital Hall, IN, 11/13/94; premiered by Vivica Genaux, soprano and Grant Wenaus, piano, IU Bloomington Recital Hall, IN, 4/16/92. 

 

Eclipse  I. Radiant Inferno, II. The Eclipse, III. Radiance Revealed, piano solo.  20 min. Performed by Barbara Podgurski, piano, Musica Reginae Productions New Music Composers Forum, The Church-in-the-Gardens, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, NY, 3/2/13; Jamie Caridi, piano, Saint Cecilia Club of Los Angeles, Pasadena, CA, 5/9/11; Mvt. 1. Radiant Inferno performed by Robert Coleridge, piano, 13th LONDON NEW WIND FESTIVAL, Regent Hall, London, England, 11/19/10. Commissioned by the Raclin School of the Arts, entire work premiered by Ketevan Badridze on her Faculty Recital, IUSB, IN, 3/3/10.

 

Piano Portraits: Nightwatch 1. In Memorium  2. Bluesy Cantabile, piano solo. 11 min.  Performed by Barbara Podgurski, piano, Musica Reginae Productions New Music Composers’ Forum, The Church-in-the-Gardens, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, NY, 3/2/13; Mvt. 2. Bluesy Cantabile performed by Robert Coleridge, piano, 12TH LONDON NEW WIND FESTIVAL AND WOMEN IN MUSIC UK JOINT EVENT, Regent Hall, London, England, 11/6/09; entire work performed by Tamar Mikeladze, piano, Recital Hall, Indiana University South Bend, 3/11/05; premiered by Maria Stablein, piano; College Music Society Great Lakes Composers Concert, Saint Mary’s College, IN, 4/4/03.

 

Tone Poems for Bassoon and Piano. 8 min. Performed by Glyn Williams, bassoon and Robert Coleridge, piano, 13th LONDON NEW WIND FESTIVAL, Regent Hall, London, England, 11/19/10; performed by Rafael Zanon, bassoon and Sergey Bezrodny, piano, MUSIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, The Conservatory of Asturias, Spain, 12/19/07; premiered by Doug Spaniol, bassoon and Bradley Haag, piano, Michiana Composers Concert, Indiana University South Bend Auditorium, IN, 2/25/99.

 

Voyageur d’Arctic  I. Midnight Sun, II. Glacier Bay, III. Ship’s Wake, IV. Sealight, chamber work. 15 min. Premiered by Mark Longo, flute; Elizabeth Choi, violin; Jay Pike, viola; Daniel Klingler, cello on the International Alliance of Women in Music-Midwest Recital, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL, 12/4/09. 

  

Modern Mixtures:  Piano Sonata. 20 min. Performed by Elisabed Imerlishvili, MUSIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, Indiana University South Bend Auditorium, 2/26/09; premiered by Hsiao-Ling Lin on the PianoForte Salon Series, broadcast live on Chicago Public Radio, WFMT 98.7 FM, Chicago, IL, 6/27/08.  

 

Chanting to Paradise, SSAA chorus. 10 min. Texts by Emily Dickinson. Excerpt performed by RARE, Lois Veenhoven Guderian, conductor,Chicago Composers Forum concert, Ossia Fine Arts Space, Chicago, IL, 10/25/08. Commissioned by the Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir, Nancy Menk, conductor; entire work premiered at the Moreau Center for the Arts, Saint Mary’s College, IN, 4/28/05. 

 

Mood Etudes, duet for Bb Clarinets. 8 min. Performed by Miguel Angel Font and Rocio F. Garin, MUSIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, The Conservatory of Asturias, Spain, 12/19/07; performed by Ton Bok and Miny Leeuw, Festival Nieuwe Muziek, Mueller Zaal, Amsterdam, Holland, 3/7/93; Mostly Women Composers Concert Series, Bloomingdale House of Music, New York, NY, 1/26/93; tape used by DANCECIRCUS, Milwaukee, WI, 4/16&23/92; premiered at IU Bloomington Recital Hall, IN, 11/11/92. 

 

Christmas Postlude, In Dulci Jubilo & Stille Nacht, arr., 3 min., Betty Woodland, organ, First United Methodist Church, South Bend, IN, 12/17/06.  

 

Arctic Voyager, for flute, koto, violin, viola & cello. 15 min. Tessa Brinckman and Ensemble East West, Global Voyages for Six, funding from the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR. Music and Art Series, First Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR, 9/10/06; Midland Regional Library, 9/12/06; Multnomah Downtown Library, 9/17/06. 

 

She Stoops to Conquer, one-act chamber opera adapted from the comedy by Oliver Goldsmith. 60 min. Libretto by Andrew Joffe. Commissioned by the American Chamber Opera Company, New York, NY; with funding from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Stickley Foundation, and the American Music Center. “When I Come of Age” aria performed by Keith Bertrand, baritone; Jane Kenas-Heller, piano; Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, 10/15/05; excerpts presented by Sonja Mihelcic, mezzo; Dustin Dougan, baritone; Paulo de Andrade, piano; Michiana Composers Concert, Indiana University South Bend Auditorium, IN, 3/20/01; premiered by the American Chamber Opera Company, June 10, 11, 14 & 15, 1999, St. Clement’s Church, 423 West 46th Street, New York, NY. Andrew Joffe, stage director; Douglas Anderson, conductor; Kate Hardcastle, Lynn Norris, soprano; Constance Neville, Pamelia Phillips, mezzo; Mrs. Hardcastle, Daniel Rawe, countertenor; Young Marlow, Mark Victor Smith, tenor; Tony Lumpkin, Mark Heimbigner, baritone; Mr. Hardcastle, Mark Sullivan, bass-baritone.  Scenes 1-3 presented at the Crossroads of Traditions: The Second InterAmerican Composition Workshop, convened by the Latin American Music Center, Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, IN, 7/13/96.

​

Hearing the Grass Grow, My Water Buffalo, song for soprano, cello, and piano. 10 min.  Commissioned by the Indiana Music Teachers Association for their 2003 state conference. Laurel Thomas, soprano; Wendell Miller, cello; Jeffrey Jacob, piano; Sauder Hall, Goshen College, IN, 11/22/03.

 

Dreaming the RagWaltz Blues, piano concerto. 14 min. Commissioned by the Leighton-Oare Foundation, South Bend, IN. Premiered by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Tsung Yeh, conductor; Jeffrey Biegel, piano; Morris Performing Arts Center, 4/26/03; broadcast on WAUS-FM, 5/11/03. 

 

Passages II:  Requiem, string quartet. 11 min. Performed by the Chester String Quartet, Michiana Composers Concert, Indiana University South Bend Auditorium, IN, 2/17/02; performed by Nanette Foley, violin; Emily Selke, violin; Rachel Bienemann, viola; Joanna Change, cello; Indiana University Bloomington Recital Hall, IN, 11/13/94; premiered at IU Bloomington Recital Hall, IN, 4/6/93.  Arctic Chill, string orchestra. 15 min. Commissioned and premiered by the Indiana University South Bend Philharmonic, Aaron Berofsky, conductor, IUSB, IN, 12/14/00.

 

Fanfare for the Millennium, full orchestra. 10 min. Commissioned and premiered by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Tsung Yeh, conductor, at the Morris Performing Arts Center, South Bend, IN, 4/8/00; broadcast on WAUS-FM, Berrien Springs, MI, 4/23/00.  

 

Colors, for violin and piano. 10 min. Performed by Kathryn Berofsky, violin and Christine Seitz, piano, Michiana Composers, IUSB, 3/15/00; premiered by Rachel Heineman, violin, and Jeremy Denk, piano, Indiana University Bloomington, 11/11/92. 

 

Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow, spiritual arr. for SATB chorus and brass quintet. 3’15”.  Performed by the DuPage Chorale, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, IL, 12/5/99; the Chancel Choir, Holiday Brass Concert, St. Louis Cathedral, MO, 12/12/95; the Chancel Choir, First United Methodist Church, Bloomington, IN, 12/3/95. Commissioned and premiered by the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Robert Porco, conductor, on “A Festival of Carols,” East 91st Street Church, Indianapolis, IN, 12/10&11/94.

 

Then Sunrise Kissed My Chrysalis, for SATB chorus, violin, cello, and piano. 9 min.  Text arranged by composer based on poetry of Emily Dickinson. Commissioned by the American Composers Forum-Chicago Chapter. Premiered by the DuPage Chorale, Lee Kesselman, music director; Rika Seko, violin; Larry Glazier, cello; Russell Stern, piano; McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, IL, 3/21/99.  

 

When the Shepherd Moon Shall Flee, song for soprano and piano. 4 min. Text arranged by composer from poems by East African poets Anna Yardeni and Willy David Kamera. Performed by Lisa Feurzeig, soprano and Marjorie M. Rusche, piano, Michiana Composers Concert, Indiana University South Bend, IN, 3/19/98; Westminster 

Presbyterian, Minneapolis, MN, 2/5/84; Walkabout Dance Studio Performance Series, San Francisco, CA, 1/23/81; premiered at the Kenya Music Festival, Nairobi, 5/76. 

 

Chrysalis, full orchestra. 10’30”. Premiered by the Concert Orchestra, Paul McGovern, conductor, Musical Arts Center, IU School of Music, Bloomington, IN, 2/1/98.  

 

Goddess Songs, chamber opera for SSA chorus, flute, oboe, bassoon, piano, percussion, and dancers. 1 hour. Premiered by Opera Millennium and The Southern Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 7/25-28/96. Text by composer adapted from Greek goddess myths. Angela Malek, artistic director; Kim Dienhelt, conductor; Linda Shapiro, movement director. Funded by The McKnight Foundation, Arts Midwest-Meet The Composer, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and the Jerome Foundation, St. Paul, MN.  

 

Mutability, for violin and piano. 9 min. Performed by Carolyn Balfe, violin and Matthew van Hoose, piano; Ford Hall, Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, IN, 4/20/96; Sophie Arbuckle, violin and Constance Moore, piano; Paul Recital Hall, Juilliard School of Music, New York, NY, 2/8/93; Leslie Shank, violin and Jon Kimura Parker, piano; Music in the Park series, St. Anthony Park, MN, 11/13/88; broadcast on KSJN, Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN, 3/14/89; premiered by Leslie Shank, violin and Heather MacLaughlin, piano, Minneapolis, MN, 1/17/88.  

 

The Scarlet Letter, an opera in 2 acts, libretto by the composer. 2 hours. Scenes in concert version presented at Words and Music: The First InterAmerican Composition Workshop convened by Carmen Tellez, Director, Latin American Music Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 7/9/94 & 7/15/94. Entire concert version piano-vocal work premiered at the Creative Arts Auditorium, Bloomington, IN, 3/29/93. Hester Prynne, Emily Howard, soprano; Pearl, Angela Malek, soprano; Arthur Dimmesdale, Fred Kilgallin, tenor; Roger Chillingworth, Curtis Cook, bass; Dan Michalek, piano. 

 

Passages, string quartet. 8 min. Sartory String Quartet, St. Catherine’s College, St. Paul, MN, 2/26/94. Commissioned and premiered by the Sartory String Quartet, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN, 4/5/92. 

 

Mutability, for tenor and chamber orchestra with optional electronic effects. 14 min.  Performed by the Mississippi Valley Chamber Orchestra, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 6/5/88; premiered by Dan Nelson, tenor, on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Fine Arts Series, WI, 3/31/87.  

 

Mutability, full orchestra. 13 min. Reading by the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis, MN, 10/18/88, funded by The Ensemble Reading Program, Minnesota Composers Forum, St. Paul, MN.

 

Brenda, monodrama/song cycle for soprano, violin, and piano. 37 min. Text arranged by composer based on prose by Brenda Ueland. Commissioned by the Schubert Club, St. Paul, MN. Excerpts premiered at St. Benedict’s College, Collegeville, MN, 9/30/86. Entire composition broadcast on KFAI, Minneapolis, MN, 3/8/87; WCBN, Ann Arbor, MI, 10/25/87; and WCVT, Baltimore, MD, 2/2/89. Excerpts performed on the American Women Composers-Midwest 1987-88 concert series, Chicago, IL, 5/13/88.   Safari!, for violin, cello, and piano. 7 min. Performed on a Minnesota Composers Forum concert at the Ordway McKnight Theatre, St. Paul, MN, 4/12/87; premiered on KSJN, Minnesota Public Radio’s Live From Landmark concert series, St. Paul, MN, 1/24/85.  

 

Quartet for Strings, string quartet. 8 min. Composer interview and tape broadcast on Music in Minnesota, KSJN, Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN, 11/6/86; premiered by the San Francisco String Quartet at Hellman Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, 8/8/81.  

 

Spring Morning, baritone and woodwind quintet. 6 min. Poem by D.H. Lawrence.  Broadcast on KSJN, Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN, 11/6/86 & 11/82; premiered on a MN Composers Forum concert, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 10/28/82.  

 

Dance of Death, chamber opera in 2 acts. 48 min. Libretto by Dan Pinkerton, adapted from the play by August Strindberg. Premiered by the Skylight Comic Opera Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, 2/2&3/85. Soprano, mezzo, tenor, bass, mime role, 2 french horns, percussion, piano, and string quartet. Funded by the 1983 Minnesota Composers Forum Commissioning Program and the Jerome Foundation. 

 

Whales Weep Not!, song for mezzo and piano. 15 min. Poem by D.H. Lawrence.  Commissioned by the Schubert Club, St. Paul, MN; premiered on the Music in the Park concert series, St. Anthony Park, MN, 1/20/85; broadcast on KPFA, Pacifica Radio, Berkeley, CA, 2/81. 

 

Nightwatch, for solo piano and dancer. 12 min. Commissioned by DANCECIRCUS, Milwaukee, WI; performed by Betty Salamun on a Minnesota Composers Forum concert, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 3/22/84; premiered by Betty Salamun at the Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI, 5/26&27/83. 

 

Variations on Four Themes of Sappho, song cycle for soprano and chamber orchestra. 12 min. Poems by Geoffry Gardner. Mississippi Valley Chamber Orchestra, So. St. Paul, MN, 11/12/84; soprano, horn, cello, piano, First Unitarian Society, Minneapolis, MN, 5/80; premiered on Composers Forum concert, Walker Art Center, MN, 1/28/79. 

 

Mobile, trio for violin, cello and piano. 10 min. Broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio, 11/81; performed on a Minnesota Composers Forum concert, Minneapolis, MN, 3/28/81; premiered on the Walkabout Dance Performance Series, San Francisco, CA, 1/23/81. 

 

Animals, song cycle for mezzo and piano. 18 min. Poetry by Blake, Dickinson, Yeats, and Monro. Broadcast on KPFA, Pacifica Radio, Berkeley, CA, 2/81; KSJN, Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN, 6/80; premiered on a Minnesota Composers Forum concert, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 1/20/80.

 

Much Madness is Divinest Sense, song for tenor, piccolo, flute, horn, piano. 8 min. Texts arranged by composer using poem by Emily Dickinson and TV commercials. Robin Taylor, tenor. Radio broadcast on KUOM-FM, University of Minnesota Radio; performed on MCF concert, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 5/75; premiered on U of MN Contemporary Music Ensemble concert, 3/75.

 

PUBLICATIONS:

 

Christmas Postlude, organ solo, published 12/9/22 by Paraclete Press Sacred Music, Brewster, MA. 

https://paracletesheetmusic.com/product/christmas-postlude-in-dulci-jubilo-and-stille-nacht/

 

Variations Vortex (Into the Swirling Storm), violin and piano. UCLA: Music Library Contemporary Music Score Collection (2020). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2xh2z90k

 

Compositions currently for sale at Performers Music, Fine Arts Building, Chicago, IL, Lee Newcomer, owner. Published on line at www.performersmusicchicago.com

*    Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow for SATB chorus and brass quintet

*    Christmas Postlude, organ solo 

 

Rusche, Marjorie M., composer and Anne Worthington Prescott, librettist.  “Jubilant Chorus” from Songs of Sonia. Kalliope, a journal of women’s art. Jacksonville: Florida Junior College at Jacksonville, 1985. Volume 7, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 58-71. 

 

RECORDINGS: 

​

Piano Portraits: Nightwatch accepted for the Audio Performance Archive component of the College Music Symposium Journal Volume 53 (2013). Performance by Barabara Podgurski, piano, on the New Music Composers Forum, Musica Reginae Productions, The Church-in-the-Gardens, Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York, 3/2/13.

​

Warm/Hot for violin, cello, piano and percussion (marimba, suspended cymbal, vibraphone). 3 min. Part of Access Contemporary Music Chicago’s Ten x Ten 2013 project, in collaboration with Homeroom and Spudnik Press. The music, written for the Palomar ensemble, was recorded August/September 2013 and released November 16, 2013, on a Release Concert and Exhibition at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL. It is a vinyl LP in a packet which also contains a booklet with the corresponding prints. Chad Kouri, visual artist. On the recording: Jeff Yang, violin; Alyson Berger, cello; Michael Miller, piano; Isaac Stevenson, percussion; Francesco Milioto, conductor. Limited edition prints. Contact Access Contemporary Music Chicago, Homeroom, or Spudnik Press for purchase.  

​

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND MASTER CLASSES: 

​

Middletown Chronicles (the making of Middletown, America) 

Documentary of the Middletown event broadcast on public television, WIPB-TV 49.1, includes the 30 min.

Middletown Chronicles Cantata for SATB Chorus, soprano solo, tenor solo, and chamber orchestra, other works performed by the Masterworks Chorale, and interviews with conductor Andrew Crow and composer Marjorie Rusche. Muncie, IN PBS 6/16/16. 

 

“Interdisciplinary Collaboration” in “Warm/Hot” chamber work and fine art print, “She Stoops to Conquer” comic chamber opera, and “Goddess Songs” dance opera: Composition Seminar, Indiana University South Bend, 12/6/13. 

 

Musica Reginae Productions New Music Composers’ Forum Intermission Composer Talk-back panel, The Church in the Gardens, Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, NY, 3/2/13.

 

“James MacMillan and the Musical Modes of Mary and the Cross,” conference participant/observer, Sacred Music at Notre Dame, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, Nanovic Institute, College of Arts and Letters, University of Notre Dame, 9/13-15/2012.

 

13th LONDON NEW WIND FESTIVAL, guest artist and chair of the festival composers pre-concert panel discussion, Regent Hall, London, England, 11/19/10.

 

“Hearing the Grass Grow, My Water Buffalo,” premiere concert and composer lecture/presentation, Indiana Music Teachers Association state convention, Sauder Hall, Goshen College, IN, 11/22/03.  

 

“Dreaming the RagWaltz Blues,” pre-concert panel discussion with Tsung Yeh, South Bend Symphony Orchestra conductor and Jeffrey Biegel, piano, Morris Performing Arts  Center, South Bend, IN, 4/26/03.

​

“Fanfare for the Millennium,” pre-concert panel discussion with the conductor, Maestro Tsung Yeh, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Morris Performing Arts Center, South Bend, IN, 4/8/00; introductory remarks at a concert preview luncheon for the South Bend Symphony Orchestra League, 4/7/00. 

 

“Arctic Chill,” pre-concert lecture/presentation, Indiana University South Bend Philharmonic, 12/14/00.

 

Guest composer at FESTIVAL 30: NEW MUSIC, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 3/30&31/00; lecture/presentation on compositions at composition seminar, 3/30/00.  

 

Guest composer residency with DuPage Chorale, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL; pre-premiere remarks, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 3/21/99. 

 

“The Opera/Music Theater Crossroads: The Development of She Stoops to Conquer,” lecture/presentation for the Latin American Music Center’s Crossroads of Traditions: The Second InterAmerican Composition Workshop convened by Carmen Tellez at the Indiana University-Bloomington School of Music, IN, 7/9/96. 

 

“Goddess Songs and Building a Career as a Composer,” lecture/presentation at the Minnesota Center for Arts Education, Minneapolis, MN, 5/23/96.

 

“The Creative Process,” lecture/presentation for Judith Lang Zaimont’s Composers Lab, a graduate composition seminar, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 5/21/96.   

 

Discussion of the compositional process of Mood Etudes, duet for Bb Clarinets, with music composition and theory students at the Bloomingdale House of Music, New York, NY, 1/26/93.  

 

Panelist in a pre-concert discussion of works, Minnesota Composers Forum concert, Ordway McKnight Theatre, St. Paul, MN, 4/12/87.  

 

Video presentation and discussion of chamber opera, Dance of Death, MacPhail Center for the Performing Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 10/86. 

 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:  

​

*    College Music Society

*    ASCAP

*    Opera America; Women’s Opera Network

*    American Composers Forum (charter member of Minnesota Composers Forum)

*    International Alliance of Women in Music

​

PROFESSIONAL, UNIVERSITY, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE:

 

*    “The Origin of Life” concert conversation with the composers Daniel Kellogg, Jorge Muniz, and philosophy professor Lyle Zynda, Ensemble CONCEPT/21 program, Performance Hall, Indiana University South Bend, IN, 11/14/14.

*    “New Trends in Modern Music” panel discussion participant during the Music Across the Atlantic festival hosted by the Raclin School of the Arts, Indiana University South Bend, IN, 2/24/09.

*    Adjudicating the 2008-2009 Indiana Music Teacher’s Association yearly composition contest.

*    Organized Michiana Composers Concert, South Bend, IN, 2/17/02, 3/20/01, 3/15/00 & 2/25/99.

*    Organized a Libretto Workshop for OPERA NOW!     at the Playwrights Center, Minneapolis, MN, 10/18/87, which transformed opera librettos from the page to the stage.  Selected librettos, recruited performers, publicized, promoted and produced the event.

*    Programming Committee member for the Minnesota Composers Forum, ‘83-’85 & ‘79-’80.

*    Steering Committee member for the Conference on Contemporary String Quartets by Women Composers, 2/81-8/81. Worked on selection process, fund-raising, publicity, and promotion for the conference held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA, 8/81.

*    Co-researched and produced program on historic and contemporary women composers, broadcast on KPFA, Pacifica Radio, Berkeley, CA, 2/81.

​

PERFORMANCE AND ARTS ADMINISTRATION:

 

*    Rehearsal pianist for The Coronation of Poppea, Opera Workshop, Notre Dame, IN, 1/98-3/98.

*    Organized concert presentation of The Scarlet Letter opera at Creative Arts Auditorium, Bloomington, IN, 3/29/93. Auditioned and rehearsed performers, handled publicity, promotion and production.

*    Stage Crew, Indiana University Opera Theatre, Fall, ’91.

*    Pianist/arranger for dance and theatre companies: Indiana University-Bloomington Ballet Theatre, ‘91-’92; Ballet Arts Minnesota, ‘88-’91; Minnesota Dance Theatre, ‘87-’89; Unity Theatre, Palace Theatre, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Storytalers; Minneapolis, MN, ‘78-’83.