When classical musician Rudolf Budginas sits his tuxedo-clad self down at his piano, he doesn’t meet audience expectations. And that’s exactly what he wants.
Budginas knows he’s not going to deliver what audiences expect, so he told the Sun exactly what they can look forward to: first, a lot of surprises. Though he’s a classical pianist, he strives to introduce new audiences to the genre in an unorthodox way.
“I am very surprising and spontaneous,” he said. “I even surprise myself with the things I do.”
What kind of surprises?
“If I told, then they wouldn’t be surprises,” he said. “Right?”
Makes sense, but then, Budginas doesn’t always know what he’s going to do, either. His goal is to expand his approach to classical music, to engage the audience and inform them. After that, anything is fair game.
“I drop all the formalities, break all the barriers, and engage the audience,” he said.
On stage, the Lithuanian-born musician displays a relaxed demeanor and charming accent. He tosses out plenty of witty asides. He’s been hailed in the press as a young, hip Victor Borge-like entertainer.
To reach a diverse audience, Budginas said that along with his original pieces, he plays light classics, but he gives them an unfamiliar twist.
“I wrap them in a different context,” he explained. “I take Chopin to Brazil and wrap it in Brazilian styling. I take Shubert and do an Argentine tango.”
[image-2] In his show, You, Me, and the Pianos, Budginas illustrates how classical music has influenced contemporary artists. He breaks down how Billy Joel might have drawn on Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody” to get “Piano Man.”
It’s not just his style that’s a little out of the norm for a classical musician. Budginas’s informal ways of engaging the audience and his humorous quips set him far apart from his classical musician counterparts. That’s not to say, however, that he didn’t have the same formal education.
Budginas was born into a family of musicians, and he began his studies at the age of 4. He made his debut at age 9 with the Lithuanian National Symphony. During and after his studies at the Moscow Conservatory, he rose to international prominence performing solo concerts throughout the world. His studies were strict and formal with little room for improvisation and lots of detail given to formality and presentation.
In 1994, he moved to the United States, and his approach to music changed.
“I’m an artist, and I create my own style now,” he said. “In the real classical world, it’s almost a blasphemy.”
He said American audiences look for entertainment in a performance, while Europeans are accustomed to looking at a performance for its formality. His instructors wouldn’t be too pleased at his current day performances, he said.
“They would think I’m a hooligan on a piano,” he said. “But they would be jealous that I’m seeing so much country and places they have not had the opportunity to see.”
He strays from the norm, yet his artistic poetry, virtuosity, and passionate interpretations have received critical praise.
In addition to his current 82-city tour, Budginas, who now lives in the San Luis Obispo area, is a professor of music at Cuesta College. He is also the conductor of the Chamber Orchestra at Thomas Aquinas College.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone was once a hooligan, but has since reformed. She can be caught at scone@santamariasun
This article appears in Mar 25 – Apr 1, 2010.