Wiltwalk;

memory, said pianist James Tocco, the
festival's artistic director.
"Ruth was my closest friend," Tocco
said. "This is a devastating loss for me
and for the entire musical world."
The older daughter of Ben and
Miriam Meckler, the former Ruth
Meckler began piano lessons at age 3.
Her first teacher was her mother, sis-
ter Rayna said. The girls' father, a
teacher at Detroit's Miller, Mackenzie
and Southwestern high schools, was
himself a composer.
Young Ruth went on to study in
Detroit with Edward Bredshall and
Mischa Kottler. She made her debut
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
when she was only 11 years old. She
later attended Detroit's Mumford
High School. In 1960, she graduated
from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of
Music, where her principal teacher
was Rudolph Serkin.
According to a review in the New
York Times, "Miss Laredo's perform-
ances were superb. Her phrasing went
beyond the markings on the page and
let the musical line breathe in a natu-
ral, almost conversational way."
The Los Angeles Times referred to
her playing as "virtuosic," and the San
Francisco Chronicle and Examiner
called her "possibly the most generally
admirable yet under-valued pianist on
the American scene."
A small woman with a deceptively
frail appearance, Ms. Laredo was
known for her robust interpretations
of the demanding music of composers
Alexander Scriabin and Sergei
Rachmaninoff, among others.
"There was such warmth in her
playing and such wonderful charis-
ma," Tocco said. "She was so at home
in front of the publiC -- she drew
audiences into the sphere of her art."
Ms. Laredo had been an integral
part of the Great Lakes Chamber
Music Festival, Tocco said, appearing
at the 12-year-old festival every sum-
mer but its first.
"She was like co-artistic director,"
he said. "Any decisions I made about
the festival that were at all difficult, I
consulted with her.
"We'd call each other any time of
the day or night and talk for hours."
Tocco said his friend would have
wanted the festival to go on.
Ms.,Laredo, who was divorced from
violinist Jamie Laredo in the 1970s, is
survived by daughter and son-in-law,
Jennifer and Paul Watkins; grand-
daughter, Emily Jane; sister Rayna
Kogan; many nieces and nephews.
Donations in her memory may be
made to the Ruth Laredo Memorial
Fund at the Great Lakes Chamber
Music Festival. For more information,
call (248) 559-2097. ❑

Dorfman's "Tree of L1fe -

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The Dorfman Chapel can accommodate any size funeral.

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SERVING WITH DIGNITY, SANCTITY AND COMPASSION

Arrangements can be made from anywhere in the country.

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1-866-406-6003

LICENSED FUNERAL DIRECTORS: ALAN DORFMAN, JONATHAN DORFMAN

6/ 2
2005

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