Dan Rutzen

Dan Rutzen
Teaching Instructor, Accompanist & Vocal Instructor, Theatre and Dance
rutzend22@ecu.edu
252-737-4319
213 Messick Theatre Arts Center
Mail Stop 553
East Carolina University

Dan is a highly specialized, multi-faceted performer and educator who has spent the last 17 years as a professional musical director and conductor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, B.MusEd, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.

Most recently, Dan served as Musical Director of an immersive Sweeney Todd with Talk is Free Theatre. He was répétiteur for Rufus Wainwright’s opera, Prima Donna for the Toronto Luminato Festival; keyboardist for Sunday in the Park with George at the prestigious Shaw Festival; he conducted the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Opera School and MacMillan Singers on Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, and gave the Canadian premier of Joe Iconis’ Be More Chill with Bravo Academy. He is an active cabaret performer Other Canadian associations include shows with The Lower Ossington Theatre, Musical Stage Company, and Theatre Sheridan.

As a theatre educator, he has worked with advanced high school training programs such as Bravo Academy for the Performing Arts, Wexford Collegiate, and Etobicoke School for the Arts. At the post-secondary level, Dan has held positions at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, Randolph Academy and Sheridan College. He is in demand as a clinician and presenter for state and international theatre festivals, and summer intensives including The Performing Arts Project.

Dan is an accomplished choral conductor having led ensembles in performance such as The Dukes of Harmony Barbershop Chorus, the Canadian Men’s Chorus, the choir at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Additional training includes the TMC’s Emerging Conductor Symposium, Goodspeed Musicals Music Director Intensive and the Toronto International Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling.