Ruth Laredo Collection

Ruth Meckler Laredo was born on November 20, 1937 in Detroit, Michigan. Following early piano studies with her mother, she continued her training with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Ms. Laredo graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Music degree. The same year she married Bolivian violinist Jaime Laredo. [The couple was divorced in 1974.] During the next several years both musicians made numerous joint appearances throughout the world. In 1962 Ruth Laredo made her debut in New York with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. She played all over the United States with many orchestras including the National Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony. She also played in many foreign countries, giving tours in Japan, Holland, and Germany, among others. Ruth Laredo was a regular participant at the Marlboro Festival in Vermont, collaborating with numerous colleagues in virtually all major chamber works involving the piano.

Ms. Laredo particularly identified with the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin. She recorded the complete solo piano works of Rachmaninoff for Columbia/CBS/Sony. As a result of these recordings, she was commissioned by C. F. Peters to edit an Urtext edition of the twenty-four Rachmaninoff Preludes. She also earned a reputation as a specialist in Scriabin, having recorded all ten of his sonatas (for Connoisseur Society) along with other smaller works, and including this music frequently on her recital programs. In addition, Ms. Laredo made recordings of works by Ravel, Debussy, Barber, Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and many other composers.

Ms. Laredo won several awards throughout her distinguished career including a Grammy nomination, and was chosen as one of five pianists to perform at Carnegie Hall for its 90th anniversary celebration.