Marjana Rutkowski

Porto Alegre, Brazil International Advisory Council
𝆗 Marjana believes that serendipity is discovering friends through chamber music. 𝆗

Marjana world-premiering “The Flight to Stars of Infinity” by New York composer Lisa Heffter.

Although Marjana’s mother initiated her on the piano when she was three years old, as an adult Marjana realized that “mother had a secret plan: she wished that I played a more gregarious musical instrument.”
Each Sunday morning they sat in different areas of the concert hall so Marjana could see and listen to distinct orchestral instruments.
One day, while admiring the visual beauty and the sound of the cello section, she exclaimed, “Mom, this is the one!”
Mother got her wish and Marjana got a friend for life - this is how it all started.
It was fortunate that her French cello teacher was a chamber music advocate. “I remember the day I sat for my first trio rehearsal ever! It was Haydn’s Gypsy Trio; I didn't want it to end.”

After winning soloist and chamber music competitions, she received a full scholarship to obtain her Master of Music degree at the University of Hartford. Awarded a fellowship from Yale University to study Political Philosophy, she was also a founding member of the Yale Contemporary Players, a group with an emphasis on post-1945 repertoire. Besides CDs recorded in Manhattan and Buenos Aires, Marjana is the soloist in a film about the vicissitudes of the pandemic in peoples’ lives.

While living in New York, Marjana discovered ACMP, and the rest is history of a great partnership and renewed love for chamber music.
As the Brazilian ambassador at ACMP’s International Advisory Council, she has expanded its reach beyond the northern hemisphere, broadening its understanding to allow contributions to projects in South America and Africa. 
Marjana became the first South American elected Board of Directors Officer in ACMP’s history in April 2021.

An avid recitalist and promoter of South American and contemporary repertoire, Marjana has performed commissioned oeuvres and compositions dedicated to her in world premieres.  
She is the Content Curator and Mentor of Paadhai’s Music Maths & More, a pioneer educational project for tribal children in Southern India. 

In 2022 Marjana was awarded the Emeritus Citizen of Porto Alegre Medal, its highest honor, in recognition of her continuing work for the development of Brazil’s society and her cultural advocacy over the years.