We are sad to report the death of Mary Ruth Ray, viola player of the Lydian String Quartet and a teacher at Brandeis for 33 years. She had been struggling with cancer for many months and was 56 at her untimely death. In her dying weeks she was comforted by a flood of warm messages from pupils, colleagues and music-lovers on a specially-created Facebook support page.
Here’s a faculty appreciation.
Silly, but why am I under the impression that it is usually the viola player in a quartet that passes on first? … Amadeus, Takács, Alban Berg, Budapest … it happens too many times! RIP, Ms Ray.