Lecture-Recitals Part 1, UNCA Humanities Videos with Children

Evan (b. 1981), Frances (b. 1983), Christa (b. 1986), Margaret, Dad (Jan. 11, 2002)

The University of North Carolina at Asheville has a long tradition of a strong Humanities Program, dating back to the 1960s, when UNCA became established as a four-year institution. The core humanities courses are team-taught. Each course typically has over one dozen sections which meet together for a group thematic lecture once a week. The excerpts here involve Prof. Ruiz and his three children: Evan, Frances and Christa during the 1990s.

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Alexander Pope's 'Essay on Criticism' and Bad Music

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After the above excerpt, Prof. Ruiz goes on to explain sonata form. His daughter Christa, age 7, at the time studying piano with Suzan Fehr of West Asheville, assists with a Sonatina by Clementi. Later Christa studied piano with Barbara Lister-Sink at Salem College in Winston-Salem. Lister-Sink is author of the innovative piano technique video Freeing the Caged Bird (in which Evan, Frances, and Christa appear among the students of Lister-Sink as piano pedagogy is explained).

Christa later turned to specialize in voice, studying for two years with Julie Fortney at Mars Hill College. As a high school senior, Christa was accepted into the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Winston-Salem to study voice under Marion Pratnicki. Christa graduated with a Bachelor of Music in June 2007. She entered graduate school in opera at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in Fall 2008 and received the degree of Master in Music from Indiana on May 6, 2011. Currently she is a doctoral student at Indiana. Her voice teacher at Indiana is Patricia Stiles.

Christa J. Ruiz (age 7) Plays a Sonatina by Clementi

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Frances (Francy), 6 years old below, cannot reach the pedals with her feet. She is playing the last movement of the Helen Boykin piano concerto. Frances was studying piano at the time with Suzan Fehr of West Asheville. Later Frances worked under Barbara Lister-Sink at Salem College in Winston-Salem. Frances graduated in May 2005 as a double-major in Creative Writing and Spanish from Carnegie Mellon University.

Frances C. Ruiz (age 6) Makes Her Debut

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The next video is our earliest one dating back to 1989, when the humanities lectures were given in our smaller 350-seat auditorium. Dad and Evan are having fun as the lecture-recital focuses on Aram Khachaturian and modernism. Evan's piano teacher, Suzan Fehr, was able to attend the lecture-recital.

Evan (age 7) and Dad Having Fun with Modern Music

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Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum is the first of six short piano pieces of the suite called Children's Corner. Debussy composed the suite during the years 1906-1908 for his daughter. Parnassum refers to a mountain sacred to the muses and stands for perfection. Below Frances assists dad in a discussion of this work.

Frances C. Ruiz (age 13): 'Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum' by Debussy

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Another leading composer of impressionism is Ravel. Evan, a former piano student of Suzan Fehr of West Asheville, was studying with Ursula Ingolfsson-Fassbind of Philadelphia at the time of his performance below.

Evan M. Ruiz (age 12), Excerpt from Ravel's 1st 'Piano Concerto'

Evan later studied piano with Barbara Lister-Sink of Winston-Salem. He then studied as a high-school student with Eric Larsen at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). His teacher Larsen allowed him to visit UNCA, missing some classes at NCSA, in order to give this performance for the group lecture of our Humanities 324 class on romanticism.

Evan at 16 Plays the Mephisto Waltz by Franz Liszt

Evan went on to graduate from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

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