Ariel Alfred Rubstein

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Ariel Rubstein, 97, A Classical Pianist

Published: June 23, 1997

Ariel Rubstein, an influential musical figure in Oregon for decades, died on June 15. He was 97.

Mr. Rubstein, a classical pianist who began his career in czarist Russia, performed throughout the Pacific Northwest from 1937 to 1977. He also founded the Portland Civic Opera and West Coast Opera Theater, and helped build the foundation for what was to become the Portland Opera by promoting concerts and presenting such international music stars as Beverly Sills, Vladimir Horowitz and Van Cliburn in Portland.

In 1959, Mr. Rubstein founded Celebrity Attractions to take leading musicians, ballet companies and touring Broadway shows to the Pacific Northwest. He ran the company until 1980, acting as impresario and local presenter of a diverse roster of artists including Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Marcel Marceau, Hal Holbrook and Mahalia Jackson.

He was also briefly the director of chamber music for the CBS radio network. In 1928, he wrote a musical, Mademoiselle Bluebeard, which was produced on Broadway by Florenz Ziegfeld. He is survived by a daughter, Victoria Rubstein Pierson of Portland, and a son, Peter Rubstein of Manhattan.