2025 Bienen School of Music Convocation

Deborah Rutter is an internationally respected non-profit executive with nearly five decades of leadership at premier cultural institutions. From 2014 to 2025, she served as the first female president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — the nation’s preeminent cultural center — where she led a period of transformative growth while centering artists in all aspects of the institution’s work.

A fierce advocate of artistic voices, Rutter believes artists hold a mirror to society, and her role is to uplift their work. She has established strong artistic collaborations with renowned artists throughout her career, including Renée Fleming, Jason Moran, Q-Tip, Mason Bates, Gianandrea Noseda, Carlos Simon, Riccardo Muti, Yo-Yo Ma, Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Anna Clyne, and Francesca Zambello.

During her tenure at the Kennedy Center, Deborah expanded the institution’s artistic and educational programming across genres and audiences including the introduction of Social Impact programming in 2019. She also developed an innovative exploration of arts and well-being in collaboration with National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as establishing the Hip Hop Culture Council to create new pathways and deepen public knowledge of Hip Hop, while strengthening burgeoning Hip Hop Culture programming.

Notably, Deborah led the planning, design, construction and celebrated 16-day opening festival of the Center’s first physical expansion — The REACH — encompassing 72,000 sq. ft. of indoor space and 130,000 sq. ft. outdoor green space to accommodate an increased number of festivals, exhibitions and community impact initiatives. Deborah led the REACH capital campaign which surpassed its $250 million goal, raised entirely through private contributions. During her tenure, Deborah was also responsible for increasing the Kennedy Center’s endowment by sixty-two percent to $162 million.

Beginning her career at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Deborah went on to lead such esteemed cultural institutions as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2003–2014), where she secured Riccardo Muti as music director. She was also responsible for launching CSO Live, its own recording company, reinstating the CSO’s expanded media and digital presence, establishing a robust community engagement program, and launching the Citizen Musician initiative with Yo-Yo Ma.

As executive director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (1992–2003), she oversaw the construction of Benaroya Hall which accommodates two performance halls in a complex occupying an entire city block and defining Seattle’s downtown core.

Deborah serves on the boards of Vital Voices and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including honorary doctorates at American University and Duke University, among others. An amateur pianist and violinist, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

For more information, visit www.deborah-rutter.com.

Oliver Stark is a conductor, euphoniumist, and educator originally from Perth, Western Australia. He is completing his Master of Music degree in euphonium performance, having studied under Gene Pokorny and Matthew Gaunt. Prior to his move to the United States, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Western Australia. Oliver will be remaining at Northwestern to complete further graduate studies in wind conducting with Dr. Robert Taylor. 

As a euphoniumist, Oliver has performed with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has appeared with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Rockford Symphony, and as a guest soloist with WA Brass and the UWA Wind Orchestra. He is a winner of the 2025 Northwestern University Concerto-Aria Competition, wind ensemble division, and placed third in the 2025 United States Pershing’s Own Collegiate Solo Competition.

Oliver currently serves as musical director of the Chicago Brass Choir and has conducted the Northwestern Brass Choir, West Australian Brass Band, and the West Australian Youth Brass Band, which he founded in 2022, the first ensemble of its type in the state in over sixty years. 

Oliver is also an experienced educator, having taught band and brass across seven primary and secondary schools in Western Australia. Throughout the academic year, Oliver has worked as an outreach coordinator for the Northwestern Department of Academic Bands, engaging over 400 school programs throughout the Chicago area.

Formed in 2024 at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, the Aurum Brass Quintet is a dynamic ensemble of five accomplished young musicians: Sarah Heimberg and William Lewis on trumpet, Lily Kern on French horn, Noah Eder on trombone, and Chrisjovan Masso on tuba. Brought together by a shared passion for chamber music, the group blends technical precision with vibrant musicality across a wide-ranging repertoire—from classical and contemporary works to jazz and popular tunes. The quintet has performed in concert halls, educational settings, and community events with the goal to connect with listeners through meaningful musical experiences.

She-e Wu is associate professor of music and the head of the percussion program at Northwestern University.

She has appeared as a solo artist at the 25th, 27th, and 30th Percussive Arts Society International Convention; Journées de la Percussion, NancyPhony Festival, perKumania festival, and PercuPassion Festival in France; Bach Symposium/Bach Variation Festival in Lincoln Center; Taiwan Connection concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; International Percussion Festival and InterAmerican Music and Arts Festival Orchestra in Puerto Rico; Festival Internacional de Percusion "Ritmo Vital 2001" and National Percussion Convention in Spain; Fukui Marimba Seminar in Japan; Giornate della Percussione in Italy; Percussion Festival in Greece; Taipei International Percussion Convention, and many other festivals. She has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and Symphony Center, Chicago Chamber Musicians, and the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Series in Pearlman Hall at the Kimmel Center. Ms. Wu has performed as guest recitalist and clinician at universities, colleges, and conservatories in France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, England, Scotland, Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan, and Korea, as well as American music institutions and numerous PAS Days of Percussion throughout the United States.

Ms. Wu's composition Blue Identity was written for Frederic Macarez and the Paris Conservatory CNR percussion ensemble. Blue Identity was premiered in Paris at the Journées de la Percussion festival, and the American premiere took place at the 27th Percussive Arts Society International Convention. K-PAX, a piece for marimba duo, was commissioned by the Taipei International Percussion Convention in 2002 and was premiered in Taiwan and Japan. UP!, for solo percussion and seven percussionists, received its premiere at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago in December 2009. The world premiere of Ms. Wu's latest composition, What the Sun Would Say to the Sky, for marimba quartet, was premiered at PASIC 2011 in Indianapolis.

Ms. Wu has commissioned and premiered numerous works by Eric Ewazen, Ronald Caltabiano, Robin Engleman, Gerald Chenoweth, and many others. Ms. Wu's recent commissions are pieces written by Lee Hyla, Paul Lansky, and Dafnis Prieto. The world premiere of the percussion concerto with wind ensemble written by Paul Lansky is scheduled for January 2015 with the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Ms. Wu has served as a judge for the Paris International Marimba Competition, Greece International Competition, Italy International Competition, Atlanta Snare Drum Competition, PASIC Marimba Competition, P.A.S. Composition Competition (Large Percussion Ensemble), and International Percussion Ensemble Competition (College).

Ms. Wu's recordings include Marimba Concerto by Eric Ewazen with the International Sejong Soloists, solo marimba CD Snapshot, Suite for Marimba and Flute by Alec Wilder with flautist Bart Feller, A Set of Songs and Dances by Doug Hill featuring Gail Williams on horn, and a chamber music recording with the American Brass Quintet of music by David Sampson. Her recording of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 of the Six Suites for Solo Cello by J. S. Bach, with Baroque embellishments by George B. Stauffer, was released in fall of 2014.

Ms. Wu is a clinician and recitalist for the Majestic, Mapex, Innovative Percussion, and Evans and Zildjian companies. Her signature mallets with Innovative Percussion are available worldwide. She plays on a concert marimba of her design by Majestic.