Free Courtroom Concert featuring Artu Duo: Garret Ross and Ruth Marshall

 

Variations in E-flat major on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, WoO46 — Ludwig van Beethoven
Variations on a Theme of Rossini — Bohuslav Martinů
    Theme – Poco Allegro/Allegro Moderato Variation
    I. Poco Allegro Variation
    II. Poco Piu Allegro Variation
    III. Andante Variation
    IV. Allegro/Vivo/Moderato Maestoso
Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821 — Franz Schubert
    Allegro moderato
    Adagio in E major
    Allegretto in A major

 

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Artu Duo: Pianist Garret Ross and cellist Ruth Marshall met in 2009 at the International Festival-Institute at Round Top. Their first performance as a duo was in 2011. Since then, their collaboration has grown and thrived.

 

To begin their collaborative life, Ruth and Garret studied chamber music with various teachers. In 2011, the Artu Duo had a residency at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, where they studied the Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano with Colin Carr and Thomas Sauer. In 2012, they were residents at the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk, England, studying the music of Brahms and Schumann with Menahem Pressler.

 

In 2013, the Artu Duo made their debut on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at the Cultural Center in Chicago, IL, which was broadcast live on WFMT. The Artu Duo is the ensemble-in-residence at the Apollo Music Festival in Houston, MN. The Artu Duo enjoys returning to performing on concert series such as the Music Northwest Chamber Music Series in Seattle, WA, and the Courtroom Concert Series in St. Paul, MN.

Ruth Marshall is active as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher around the United States. Born and raised in Seattle, she began cello and piano studies at age 4. After earning undergraduate degrees in Comparative History of Ideas and Music Theory & History at the University of Washington, she earned a Master of Music and Certificate in Performance from DePaul University. While a graduate student, she was also a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

Ms. Marshall has been principal cello of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra since 2013. She has been featured on the organization’s “Around the Town” chamber music outreach series, and will make her solo debut with the orchestra in the 2017-2018 season, playing Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme.” Since 2014, Ms. Marshall has been a member of the Britt Festival Orchestra, playing an annual three-week summer season in Jacksonville, OR. She has played as an associate musician with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, and as a guest musician with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theater, and Intermountain Opera.

Ms. Marshall made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2016, playing a full recital at Weill Recital Hall with her duo partner, pianist Garret Ross. Performing under the name “Artu Duo,” Ms. Marshall and Mr. Ross have concertized in the United Kingdom and across North America, including two performances on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series in Chicago IL, which were broadcast live on WFMT. Upcoming highlights of the 2017-2018 season include a return to the Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concert Series in St. Paul MN, and debut performances on the Thursday Musical Series in Minneapolis MN, and the Classical Thursdays Series in Brooklyn NY. Since 2013, Artu Duo has been the ensemble-in-residence at the Apollo Music Festival in Houston MN.

In the 2016-2017 season, Ms. Marshall joined the Mill City String Quartet, which has annually performed a four-concert series across the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area since its founding in 2007. As 2016-2017 “Class Notes Artists” for Minnesota Public Radio, the quartet traveled to elementary schools outside of the metro area, presenting an original educational program focused on form and emotional meaning in music. A Metropolitan Regional Arts Counsel grant provided the quartet with the opportunity to present each concert of the season to the residents of the Shakopee Women’s Correctional Facility.

Ms. Marshall is a committed and engaged cello teacher. She has been an instructor at Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, and DePaul University, and has been on the faculty of the Butler University Strings Scholars Camp, the Illinois Wesleyan University Cello Camp, and the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival. She has given guest master classes at Indiana State University, University of Louisiana, Millikin University, and the Apollo Music Festival. She currently lives in Bozeman MT with her husband Christopher Freeze, who is the Executive Director of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra.

 

Garret Ross enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. With a perpetual interest in chamber music, Ross is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Apollo Chamber Music Festival in Houston MN. Most recently Ross has appeared on concert series and stages across the USA including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, The Roerich Museum in NYC, the Courtroom Concert Series in Saint Paul MN, Music Northwest in Seattle WA, and the Young Masters Recital Series in Valley Cottage NY. Ross performs often as the “Artu Duo” with cellist Ruth Marshall across the United States, as well as in Canada and the UK.

As a soloist, Ross gave the World Premiere of Gregory Vajda’s Csardas Obstine with the Texas Festival Orchestra and the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra. Other solo appearances with large ensemble include repertoire by Rachmaninoff, Grieg, and Hindemith. Ross was the winner of competitions including the Bruce Carlson Memorial Scholarship Competition and First Prizes in the Bethel University Concerto and Solo Performance Competitions. Ross has attended numerous festivals including the Aldeburgh Festival, Banff Centre, International Festival-Institute at Round Top, International Keyboard Institute and Festival, PianoSummer at New Paltz, and AmerKlavier Institute at Steinway Hall. He has also performed in masterclasses with pianists Menahem Pressler, Robert McDonald, Vladimir Feltsman, Thomas Sauer, Jerome Rose, Pavlina Dokovska, and Alexander Slobodyanik, among others.

An active teacher, Ross teaches students throughout the Twin Cities and conducts masterclasses around the United States.

Currently, Ross is attending the University of Minnesota for Doctor of Musical Arts Studies with Alexander Braginsky. Ross also attended NYU’s Steinhardt School. His principal teachers were Alexander Braginsky and Eteri Andjaparidze. Both Braginsky and Andjaparidze studied at the Moscow Conservatory where their teachers, Teodor Gutman and Vera Gornostaeva, respectively, were students of Heinrich Neuhaus. Ross hopes to continue this tradition of piano playing through his performances and teaching.