Pianist Rūta Kuzmickas has established herself as an avid performer in both traditional and unconventional settings. Her engagements span from solo recitals to chamber and new music concerts in public and private spaces that have taken her to venues in the United States and Europe. She has participated in masterclasses with noted artists such as Emanuel Ax, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Philipe Bianconi, and Frederic Chiu.
Rūta’s annual recitals have featured solo works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, and Schumann, and concerti by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Brahms. As a winner of the Young Artists Debut! Van Buren Concerto Competition, she performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, OR, and was a finalist in the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition.
In the summers of 2018 and 2021, Ruta appeared as a guest artist for pianist Hunter Noack’s “In A Landscape” concert series, where they performed on a 9-foot Steinway concert grand under the open sky at the Milo McIver State Park and Kelly Point Park.
Travels to to participate in intensive music programs have included appearances in the U.S and abroad. At the Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau in Fontainebleau, Rūta performed solo and chamber works by Fauré, Ravel, Beethoven, and Mozart, and won second prize in the program’s Prix Ravel, hosted by the Maurice Ravel Foundation. During her two summers at the Aspen Music Festival and School Ruta performed alongside pianist Ann Schein in a solo shared recital at Harris Concert Hall. In 2014 she appeared as a soloist and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist recipient on NPR’s From the Top.
Born to a Lithuanian family in Utah, Rūta began her musical training at age 6. Entering piano competitions at age 8, she made her debut as a concerto soloist with an orchestra at age 9. She continued her training with Dr. Jean-David Coen while in Portland and went on to obtain her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University as a student of Dr. Robert Roux and Dr. Jon Kimura Parker, respectively.
Upon completing her Master’s, Rūta recorded the complete Chopin Ballades, published her first book of poetry, “Flash Flood Fiction”, illustrated “A Scandal in Bohemia” for No Reply Press, appeared a number of times on celeste with the Oregon Symphony, and began releasing music as RŪ with co-writer Kenneth Edwards. An avid author for new music, Rūta has contributed texts for composers Alex Berko, Max Vinetz, Sarah Grace Graves, and Alexandre Jamar. Her second book of poetry, “Per Se Phone” (No Reply Press) contains a poem set for voice and piano by Caroline Shaw. At present, Rūta is based in Paris, France, where she has appeared on Radio France and as a soloist and collaborator in concerts across Europe.