BIO

Ruth Stokes is a cellist invested in musical collaboration and innovation. Her playing is characterized by a rich, passionate sound and dynamic interpretations. Ruth is currently based in NYC working on chamber projects, performing as a freelance solo, chamber, and orchestral cellist, and teaching. Ruth just completed four months performing on Bad Bunny's 2024 Most Wanted Tour with the Miami-based Philharmonic Orchestra Project. She completed her Master's degree in Cello Performance this spring at Penn State University as a Graduate Teaching Assistant studying with professor Kim Cook. Originally from Minnesota, Ruth received her Bachelor’s degree in 2022 from Frost School of Music at the University of Miami where she was a Stamps Distinguished Ensemble Scholar with the Stamps String Quartet from 2018-2022. Ruth has studied with cellists Ross Harbaugh and Tom Rosenberg, and has received lessons, masterclasses, and coachings with musicians such as Gary Hoffman, Charles Castleman, István Várdai, Seth Parker Woods, Benjamin Beilman, David Ying, Robin Scott, Krzysztof Karpeta, Tim Deighton, Jodi Levitz, Bettina Mussumeli, the Jasper String Quartet, the Thalea String Quartet, and the Danish String Quartet.
 
Throughout her undergraduate degree Ruth performed extensively throughout South Florida as well as in New York, South Carolina, and Georgia with the Stamps Quartet. She has spent the summers at music festivals in Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, California, and Pennsylvania, as well as overseas in Germany and Poland. 

Ruth recently finished performing with the Philharmonic Orchestra Project on tour. She was playing as a principal of the Chamber and Philharmonic Orchestras at Penn State School of Music until she joined the tour, and she won the 2023 Penn State Concerto Competition playing Ernest Bloch's Schelomo. Ruth also played with the Altoona and Williamsport Symphony Orchestras, and she frequently performs solo, chamber, and outreach concerts. Ruth taught at Penn State from 2022-2024 and has been teaching privately for many years. She has given performance classes at Concordia Academy in MN and Altoona Area High School in PA. 
 
Ruth's recent chamber and solo projects include piano trio performances in Pennsylvania, sonata performances as a member of Cześć Duo with Piotr Kozłowski, performing Ernest Bloch's Schelomo with the PSU Philharmonic Orchestra, selections from a Bloch Suite for solo cello on one of the PSU Rhapsody Series faculty recitals, Shades for solo cello by Daijana Wallace for the Penn State African American Music Festival, Tan Dun's Elegy: Snow in June for solo cello and percussion ensemble, Postludium DSCH by Valentin Silvestrov for a Ukrainian sister city benefit concert, PSU graduate ensemble performances, and premieres of both solo and ensemble works by student composers at Penn State.