Laredo, Ruth
Hailed as “America’s first lady of the piano” (N.Y. Daily News), Ruth Laredo has a distinguished worldwide reputation as a leading soloist, recitalist and recording artist. While she is particularly renowned as an interpreter of Russian and French music and, lately, for her performances of works by Spanish composers, her broad repertoire ranges from Beethoven to Barber.
She has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress and the White House, and with such prestigious orchestras as The New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Boston Symphony and The St. Louis Symphony. She has also performed with The Detroit Symphony, The National Symphony, The American Symphony and the principal orchestras of Baltimore, Indianapolis, Houston and Buffalo.
Ruth Laredo has received honors for her extraordinary achievements, including a Ladies Home Journal “Woman of the Year” nomination. Guest speaker at the Second Annual Harvard / Radcliffe Women’s Leadership Conference in September 1989 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has also been the subject of an extensive profile on the Bravo TV cable network, and has appeared on NBC’s “Today” show. In April 1989 she was honored by the MTNA for “Distinguished Service to Music in America.”
Born in Detroit and now residing in New York City, she has been playing the piano since early childhood. She studied under Rudolf Serkin at The Curtis Institute and made her New York Philharmonic debut in 1974 under Pierre Boulez. Her New York orchestal debut took place at Carnegie Hall under Leopold Stowkowski, and in 1984 she was selected as the special guest soloist at the gala Carnegie Hall American Symphony Orchestra concert marking the centennial of Stowkowski’s birth. She also has the honor of being one of only five pianists chosen by Carnegie Hall to perform in a concert as part of its 90th anniversary celebration.
