Ruth Lewis
Ruth Lewis (1937 – 2010) was a talented amateur clarinetist. She graduated from the Matthey School of Music, Liverpool, England, where she studied clarinet and piano and went on to play in a local amateur orchestra. She devoted herself to raising her three children with a great emphasis on their musical education, each of them studying piano and either violin or 'cello. She also played in a wind quintet that met regularly and occasionally gave charity concerts. She helped set up a performing music circle mainly comprised of Jewish professional and amateur musicians, which met every month in Liverpool for many years until Ruth and her family made aliyah in 1975.
Whilst still in an absorption center, Ruth and her two daughters played every week in an amateur orchestra. She was also invited to play for soldiers in an army base where she, her husband and three children played excerpts from Mozart's clarinet quintet.
On settling in Haifa, Ruth very quickly established a friendship with other musicians who would meet regularly to play chamber music ranging from Mozart's "Kegelstatt" Trio to Beethoven's Septet and Schubert's Octet. She established a clarinet, piano and 'cello trio with other friends who gave regular charity concerts.
Sadly, in 1984, Ruth was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She bravely continued to play for many years until the disease progression became too much, although her love of music continued throughout her life. After she passed away in 2010, her grandson, then eight years old, asked to study clarinet in her memory. She would have been very proud to hear him playing so beautifully on her clarinets.