"Stanley DeRusha is an extraordinary conductor and teacher.

I heard him prepare and conduct my first symphony, an epic and terribly difficult work, at Butler University.

 

'The performance was one of the best I have ever heard - including performances by some of the most famous maestros alive. He is a great musician and is able to communicate his ideas to an orchestra that should, by all rights, not be able to play this kind of piece at all. I was, frankly, stunned by the performance.

 

'I might add that he had another difficult contemporary work on the same program (John Downey's bass concerto), and managed to prepare a student orchestra so that they could present both pieces in this amazing manner.

 

'I would be delighted to personally recommend Mr. DeRusha to any orchestra or conservatory that wished to speak to me. In fact, I would consider it an honor."

JOHN CORIGLIANO
www.johncorigliano.com

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Stanley DeRusha is Director Musical Invitado of La Orquesta Filarmonica de Montevideo, Uruguay, Music Director and Conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis, IN., former Resident Conductor of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (1995-2007), and Professor of Music at Butler University.

 

American born and trained, he has conducted throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. His credits include numerous American and World premiere performances and he has won the praise of many distinguished composers including William Schuman, Vincent Persichetti, Karel Husa, Ernst Krenek, Joseph Schwantner, Gunther Schuller, Michael Schelle, John Downey, Arturo Rodriguez and John Corigliano for his interpretation of their music as well as receiving critical acclaim for his interpretation of the standard repertoire.

 

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he has studied conducting with H. Robert Reynolds, Otto Werner-Mueller and Andre Rieu, Sr., and composition with John Downey.

The Colorado Daily Camera claims “DeRusha’s every gesture speaks of solid and well-founded musicianship. Without any trace of showmanship, he communicates his own involvement in the music to both audience and orchestra.”

 

Charles Staff of the Indianapolis Star stated the DeRusha is “…a passionate man of the podium, very visual, demonstrative and communicative (who has brought his orchestra) to an astonishing level of excellence.

 

He is a frequent guest conductor of major orchestras in the United States and South America. El Espectador, in Bogota, Colombia, praised him for his “masterful presentations”. In 1986, he was presented the ORDEN de la LIBERTAD by the Colombian Government for his contribution to the Arts.
 
In 1989, he received National Public Radio’s “Best Contemporary Music Performance Award” for a concert presented and recorded in New York’s Town Hall featuring the Emerson String Quartet and the world premiere of Paul Epstein’s Matinee Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. DeRusha has appeared on radio and television in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and South America and can be heard on Orion, Crest, Mark, Gasparo and Citadel compact discs. He has recently completed a new compact disc of the music of Stravinsky and Mexican composer Arturo Rodriguez.