Kutz, Eric
- Title
- Associate Professor of Music
- Office:
- Jenson-Noble 161
- Phone:
- +1.563.387.1220
- Email:
- kutzer01@luther.edu
- Degree:
- D.M.A., The Juilliard School
- Interests:
- Cello, string methods
The Murasaki Duo, which consists of Mr. Kutz and Canadian pianist Miko Kominami, toured Scandinavia last spring. Advocates for new music, the Duo actively commissions new works, in addition to performing the classics. The Duo recently released its debut compact disc on the Centaur Records label. It has performed at leading festivals, such as the Niagara International Chamber Music Festival, the Icicle Creek Music Center, and Lutheran Summer Music, and it has repeatedly been broadcast on Iowa Public Radio’s program, “Know the Score.” The Duo regularly performs on chamber music series throughout the nation.
As an orchestral musician, Mr. Kutz summers in Chicago as a member of the Grant Park Symphony’s cello section. He has also appeared in the section of the New York Philharmonic. He has been principal cellist of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and the Juilliard Orchestra, and he has performed under the batons of Sir Georg Solti, Kurt Masur, and Seiji Ozawa.
For four years prior to his arrival at Luther College, Mr. Kutz was the cellist of the Chester String Quartet, in residence at Indiana University South Bend. He performed over 100 concerts during his tenure with the Quartet, and with them he gave concert tours of Switzerland, England, and Canada. He may be heard with them on the Crystal Records label.
In 1997 Mr. Kutz traveled to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow as a visiting artist, performing new chamber works by American composers. Other performance highlights include a tour of Germany and a concert in New York’s Avery Fisher Hall as part of Lincoln Center’s Mozart Bicentennial celebration. Mr. Kutz has premiered over two-dozen works, and has been broadcast live on WQXR and WNYC, both of New York City, as well as nationally on PBS television’s Live from Lincoln Center.
Mr. Kutz received his Bachelor of Music degree magna cum laude from Rice University, where he studied with Norman Fischer. His Master and Doctor’s degrees are from the Juilliard School in New York City, where he was a scholarship student of Joel Krosnick. He performs on a cello by Raffaele Fiorini (Bologna, 1877).
To read more about String Study at Luther, click here.
Mr. Kutz is the featured soloist on the Luther College Symphony Orchestra’s most recent recording, Russian Masterworks.
Sample Audio |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3 Composed by Frederic Chopin | Listen | Listen | Listen |