Kristofer Rucinski's playing has been described as both a “tour de force” (Music in Cincinnati) and “confidently elegant” (CityBeat). Originally from Ashland, KY, Kristofer began music studies at the age of ten. His principal teachers and advisors include Michael Chertock, Michelle Conda, Elisabeth Pridonoff, Douglas Knehans, David Brunell, Daniel Shapiro, and TJ Lymenstull. Kris holds degrees from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), having completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at CCM in Spring 2020.
 

Having long been a proponent of new music, Kristofer has given dozens of world premieres throughout the Midwest and Southern states. As a scholar of Russian piano music, Kris’s programs regularly feature works by Balakirev, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner, and Prokofiev, including his own combined version of the 1913 and 1931 editions of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36. Also a composer, Kristofer’s solo piano and chamber works have been premiered throughout Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as in Florida and Ohio.

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