Pianist CRAIG RUTENBERG, “whose playing ranged from sterling directness to expansive beauty,” (San Francisco Chronicle) has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest vocalists and is recognized as one of the most distinguished accompanists on the stage today.

Having studied piano and interpretation with John Wustman, Geoffrey Parsons, Pierre Bernac, and Miriam Solovieff, Rutenberg has appeared in recital with Denyce Graves, Sumi Jo, Harolyn Blackwell, Susanne Mentzer, Frederica von Stade, Angelika Kirchschlager, and Dawn Upshaw, and frequently with Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, and Jerry Hadley as well as Olaf Bär, Simon Keenlyside, and Stanford Olsen. He has performed with Hampson at the White House under the Clinton administration.

Rutenberg, whose recording with Susanne Mentzer prompted Opera News to praise him for “(making) the piano sing with clean articulation and a palette of colors to coordinate with…every mood,” records for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI/Angel, BMG/RCA, and Koch International. He has appeared repeatedly in concert on national and international television and radio, including numerous PBS specials.

Currently Head of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera, Craig Rutenberg is also Guest Coach at Operan in Gothenburg and Operaen in Oslo. He has given master classes at the Chicago Lyric Opera for American Artists, the Pittsburgh Opera Center, Chicago Opera Theatre, and the Vancouver Opera, as well as the training programs at the Washington Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has also worked for the Opera Studio de Paris, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, and the Glimmerglass Opera.

In addition to his teaching activities in the 2009/10 season, Rutenberg appears in recital with Christine Brewer, Vivica Genaux, Maria Guleghina, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, and Thomas Hampson.

In the summer of 2009, he began a recording project of the complete piano works of American composer and critic Virgil Thomson.