Join violinist Maria Rusu and pianist Higo Rodrigues as they discover the beautiful sounds of each country and their musical traditions, featuring composers from England, Norway, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, and much more!

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Newark Free Library who are a volunteer non-profit organization bringing support to your library through funding and advocacy. You can visit their webpage HERE. The Friends of the Newark Free Library will also provide light refreshments before the program.

Performer Bios:

A native of Romania, born in Brasov, Maria Rusu comes from a family of musicians. She began her musical studies at the age of six studying violin with her mother, Teodora Rusu and later on switched to viola. Maria attended a music school for twelve years in Brasov before coming to the U.S. to continue her musical studies. She currently serves as Senior Student Services Manager and Faculty at The Music School of Delaware (Wilmington, DE) leading the student services office, teaching violin, viola, jazz violin, jazz voice, as well as string coaching and being the assistant conductor of the Delaware Youth Symphony Orchestra. Maria plays often in the tri-state area (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania) on both violin and viola, most recently with Vox Am Deus Ensemble in Pennsylvania, with who she performed in the viola section at the Perelman Theatre in the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. In January of 2017 she took over the leadership of the Philadelphia Viola Society, creating a completely new website, organizing events, in person and online and connecting many violists in the community with several local artists and international guest artists. Mrs. Rusu graduated from University of Delaware in Newark DE in 2017 with a Master of Music in Viola Performance studying with Sheila Browne and Dr. Esme Allen-Creighton. She also received a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from Bowling Green State University, College of Musical Arts in Bowling Green, Ohio in 2015 where she studied with Professor Matthew Daline-McBride. For more information about Maria and her performances, visit www.mariarusu.com.

Higo Rodrigues is an active musician in the Newark area. He is the Music Director at Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Newark, DE, where he leads two choirs and plays the piano and the organ for their regular services. He is also the accompanist for Mount Sophia Academy’s Senior Chorale. He has played with the Newark Symphony Orchestra, CoroAllegro (Wilmington, DE), Wilmington Children's Chorus, for several undergrad and graduate students from the University of Delaware, as well as a soloist and accompanist in concerts alongside his wife, soprano Irailda Rodrigues. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Kentucky, where he taught music theory and aural theory classes as a Teaching Assistant.