Rob Lundberg Presents “Uncontaminated Sound – The Interviews” EP #42 w/ Violinist Derek Ratzenboeck

Guided by artistic desire and intense curiosity, Robert Lundberg has become a highly regarded photographer and filmmaker lauded for his innovative and versatile documentaries covering music, comedy, art, and film. After spending his formative years in Massachusetts, Lundberg moved to New York City where he more actively pursued a full-time career in art and film. Uniquely focused on seeking out the next big artistic challenge, Lundberg chose to pursue one of his most ambitious projects at the beginning of 2020 when he launched his new documentary series entitled Uncontaminated Sound – The Interviews.

Debuting in February 2020, the series follows comedians, musicians, fine artists, and actors with Lundberg’s primary goal to gain a particular insight into their creative processes which can only be thoroughly deciphered by truly going behind the scenes. With Uncontaminated Sound, Lundberg’s purpose is to offer an intimate look into all of the rarely seen or known “little things” that take place during interviews and other similar social and private interactions with artists and performers. Mainstream features are often heavily and unevenly edited, offering viewers only individual, preferred moments. In contrast, Lundberg is dedicated to delivering to you all of the real, raw, authentic moments that you would never otherwise have the opportunity to experience.

Time keeps passing by and Lundberg continues to do what he does best. With this latest episode of Uncontaminated Sound, he spoke with multi-instrumentalist, performer, and producer Derek Ratzenboeck, simply put a musician’s musician. For the past decade, Ratzenboeck has served as a violinist at the New York City Ballet Orchestra, performing frequently with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. While performing as a member of many different orchestras over the years, he has also made a name for himself as a musical contributor to some award winning films, such as The Joker and The Greatest Showman.

Other career highlights have included being a part of the Tony Bennett 90th birthday party and appearing on the Today Show, and Live with Kelly and Ryan. Ratzenboeck is also a co-owner of the H&M Productions recording studio, based in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida, and is now producing a new ballet for New York City Ballet. We also mustn’t forget Arts ON AIR, a virtual rooftop concert series he founded with his partner Temple Kemezis. The series offers opportunities for local New York City artists to safely return to performing whose livelihood was taken away from them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Derek Ratzenboeck

With some commentary on his conversation with Ratzenboeck, Lundberg said, “In life when you put yourself out there, serendipitous encounters tend to occur. Since July 4th of this year, I’ve spent my weekends volunteering with a non-profit art and performance space in Long Island City, NYC.

It was either the end of July or the beginning of August when I just so happened to have my camera at hand. I found the first performance of the lineup intriguing: Musicians of the NYC Ballet Orchestra, as I’ve wanted to capture a more diverse range of musical performances.

That’s when I met Derek Ratzenboeck, second violinist in the NYC Ballet Orchestra. After he enjoyed the stills I took that evening, we swiftly set a date to converse. During our conversation, we dive into his experiences lugging gear on the subway, improvised performances, diverse collaborations, and straight surviving these days of a pandemic as an artist, plus much more! Please enjoy this very pleasant conversation.”

Lundberg has more interviews to come with acclaimed artists who have agreed to be a part of Uncontaminated Sound – The Interviews in the coming weeks and months. Lundberg has already been bringing you his ongoing series Uncontaminated Sound which takes a look behind the scenes to get a look at performers before they take the stage. The series has featured Macklemore’s Gemini Tour featuring Eric Nally (formerly of Foxy Shazam) and Xperience, Louie Anderson, Sinbad, Ron English, We Are Scientists, Rufus Wainwright and more. Lundberg’s photography has been highlighted in publications such as Huffington Post, Paste Magazine and more.