Marjorie Rusche


Marjorie Maxine Rusche is an American composer, conductor, and pianist who has composed several operas and was a founding member of the Minnesota Composers Forum.

Biography

Rusche was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. She earned a M.A. from the University of Minnesota and a D.M.A. from Indiana University. Her teachers included Dominick Argento and Paul Fetler.
Rusche served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Kenya. Over the years, she has taught various music courses at Columbia College Chicago; Indiana University South Bend; Saint Mary’s College; Southwestern Michigan College; and the University of Notre Dame.
Rusche has received awards, commissions, and grants from: American Chamber Opera Company, New York City; Columbia College Chicago Follett Fellowship; DANCECIRCUS, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; DuPage Chorale/American Composers Forum ; Gotham Ensemble, New York City; Indiana Music Teachers Association Convention; Indiana State Arts Board Individual Composer Fellowship; Indiana University Curriculum Development Grant; Indianapolis Symphonic Choir; Jerome Foundation, St. Paul, Minnesota; Masterworks Chorale, Muncie, Indiana; McKnight Foundation, St. Paul; Meet The Composer-Midwest; Meet The Composer-New York; Minnesota Composers Forum/Jerome Foundation; Minnesota State Arts Board; Portland, Oregon, Regional Arts Commission Grant; Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir; Schubert Club, St. Paul; Skylight Comic Opera Theater, Milwaukee; South Bend Chamber Singers; South Bend Symphony Orchestra; University of Notre Dame Chorale; and USA Projects, Artists2Artists Fund, USA Open Matching Fund, Cheswyter Music Commissioning Fund and 30 individual donors.
A charter member of the Minnesota Composers Forum, Rusche also belongs to the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers , College Music Society, International Alliance for Women in Music, New Music USA, and Opera America.
Rusche composes in many different genres. Her works have been broadcast and performed internationally and throughout the United States. Her compositions include:

Chamber

  • Auld Robin Gray
  • Pentagram
  • Quintet
  • Sonata
  • Talisman
  • Woodwind Trilogy

    Operas

  • Dance of Death
  • Scarlet Letter
  • She Stoops to Conquer

    Orchestra

  • Concerto for Cor Anglais

    Vocal

  • After Reading St. John the Divine
  • An Irish Airman Foresees His Death
  • Hanging Man
  • I Can Wade Grief
  • I Heard a Fly Buzz
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