COLLEGE MUSIC SOCIETY | David Rudge Improv

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

--Albert Einstein

It was my privilege to serve on the College Music Society’s Taskforce on the Undergraduate Music Curriculum and to be able to recommend that composition and improvisation be integral to a 21st century musician’s education. The outcome of this work together led to presentations at the CMS National Conference and the Summit 2.0 at University of South Carolina and our jointly written document, which has had significant impact:

Transforming Music Study from Its Foundations: A Manifesto for Progressive Change in the Undergraduate Preparation of Music Majors.

"When I examine David’s worldwide conducting background and the reaction to such, to gain a clear sense of the energy and vitality he brings to this work, and his capacity to transmit this to the groups he leads. Given the well-known compromised fulfillment levels in the symphony orchestra world, the importance of this cannot be overstated. With David, it is all about the music, and few in the field are able to draw upon the scope of artistry that is part of his very being, and which comes out in all that he does."

--Ed Sarath

Professor of Music
Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation

University of Michigan School of Music