Ailsa's Blog: Meet Our Members: Ruth
Ruth joined the choir twenty-six years ago and for a long time was our youngest member! Her dad was a folk singer who taught her to play the guitar. In fact, she still has all his music and taught her two daughters to play to continue the tradition. Nerves stopped her continuing piano exams after Grade 4 but thereafter she played for pleasure, particularly Scott Joplin and TV themes.
As a primary teacher, she played the piano in assembly, ran the choir and recorder group and organized the concerts as well as teaching her own class. A move from the mainstream to becoming a SEN School Music specialist was the obvious next step. Here she introduced the first ever SEN School to The Big Sing and taught her students Makaton so they could be fully involved.
After redundancy, she took the brave step of starting her own business: 'Music With Ruth'' This ranges from pre-school groups, adults with special needs, care homes to a Friday Sing Along at the Methodist Church.
As you can see, a passionate belief in inclusivity underlies her musical life which of course includes our friendly, audition-less choir. Two of her proudest moments with Seaford Choral are singing the solo 'A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes' in our Disney medley and the choir singing her husband's composition, 'The Lord's Prayer' with Chris in the audience, in a wheelchair shortly after a serious stroke.
