About Sharon Ruchman
My life as a musician began at age five when I would sit at the piano and compose melodies and songs. With great pride and joy, my parents and grandparents encouraged me to take piano lessons. My non-musician grandfather came from a family of musicians. His youngest brother, Rudolph Fuchs, was a virtuoso violinist who won Best Amateur Violinist in the United States in the 1920’s, and played for President Coolidge and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. While I never met him, my family always talked about him and introduced me to his friends who played with him in New York.
At age 8, my piano lessons began. My musical training evolved through the years to include voice, cello and dance. Rosetta Goodkind, a teacher with the Julliard School of Music, was among the many teachers I studied with during my childhood. During my junior year in high school, I sang as a soloist in the school chorus, and performed in school plays. In high school, I was selected (in voice) for the All-County, All-State (New York) and All-Eastern choruses.
LATE TEENS:
Life took me to the New England Conservatory of Music where I enjoyed many wonderful musical opportunities. Being both a singer and pianist for the Conservatory chorus, I was chosen to be a singer with a Chamber Choir under the direction of Robert Shaw at the Blossom Music Festival. That summer, Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa were conductors for both the Cleveland Orchestra and our chorus. During the summer of 1969, I was a choral singer at the Ambler Music Festival sponsored by the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1971, I graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in education.
YOUNG WOMAN:
At age 21, I entered graduate school at the Yale School of Music, where I studied voice and earned my Master of Music degree. While performing in recitals and continuing my studies, I was a soloist in the “Mozart Requiem” with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, I sang in some of the school’s small opera productions, and was invited to join the Yale Summer School opera program in Norfolk, Conn.
TEACHER:
After graduating from the Yale School of Music, I taught music for a few years in West Haven, Conn. (grades K-6), continued my singing career, and performed throughout Connecticut. Composing was always a passion, but I never had the time to pursue that craft. So in the summer of 2006, I returned to Yale to study composition privately with Orianna Webb. During those studies, I never imagined I would go on to compose chamber music.
FAMILY:
Dr Mark Ruchman, Sharon’s husband, is an Ophthalmic Plastic Surgeon, visit his site www.DrMarkRuchman.com
RECENT:
In 2007, my former cello teacher requested that I compose a cello and piano piece for her. That began the flourishing of my composing talents.
During 2007 and 2008, I wrote several additional pieces and discovered several wonderful musicians locally to record them. Much to my delight, I even discovered a wonderful cellist one mile away from my home. In 2009 and 2010, my pieces have been aired on WSHU and WMNR, two notable classical music stations in Connecticut.
On November 24, 2009, one of my cello and piano pieces was selected by the National Composers Association to be played in San Francisco.
In October 2009, I released my very first chamber music CD, “Sharon Ruchman Chamber Music” featuring “Sea Glass”.
On March 24, 2010 two of my pieces, “Day at Play” and “Day’s End” were performed during the 10th Annual Hartford Women Composers Festival during the Local Composers Concert.
On April 20, 2010, I performed my original compositions from my CD at The Federation of Jewish Communities of Western Connecticut at Heritage Village in Southbury, Connecticut.
On July 23, 2010, I performed my compositions at Pomperaug Woods in Southbury, Connecticut.
