Ruth Berman Harris

Ruth Berman Harris (as an artist often with the birth name Ruth Berman ; born November 3, 1916 in New Haven (Connecticut) ; † April 23, 2013 in Peoria (Arizona) ) was an American harpist and composer.

Live and act

Berman started playing the harp when he was 13; at the age of 15 she won the Madrigal Award from the Juilliard School . She studied with Carlos Salzedo , Marie Miller, Lucille Lawrence, Casper Reardon and Ronald Herder. As one of the few New York harpists who worked in both classical music and jazz, she wrote jazz arrangements , performed with symphony orchestras and worked for a total of 48 years as a studio musician on NBC , CBS and ABC . She recorded jazz tracks under her own name for MSR Classic and the Jazz Recording Company . She taught at the Hoff-Barthelson Music School and was co-director of the Purchase Music Ensemble that sponsored The Aaron Copland Competition for Young Composers . In 1978 Berman performed at a benefit concert for the American Harp Society, where she and the cellist Lisa Bressler interpreted her own compositions for harp and cello. She died at the age of 96 in a hospice in Peoria, Arizona.

In the field of jazz she was involved in eleven recording sessions between 1955 and 1959. a. with Bubber Johnson , Cora Woods , King Curtis and with the John Lewis Orchestra on the soundtrack of the Robert Wise film Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Her recordings from 1945 to 1953 were released in 2005 on the album Swing Time .

Compositions (selection)

Miniatures I
Miniatures II for cello and harp
Miniatures III for solo pedal harp
Prayer for Voice and Harp

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Notification of death at the local 802 musicians' union
↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed December 8, 2013)

personal data
SURNAME	Harris, Ruth Berman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Berman, Ruth (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American harpist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	November 3, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH	New Haven (Connecticut)
DATE OF DEATH	April 23, 2013
Place of death	Peoria (Arizona)

[1] Notification of death at the local 802 musicians' union

[2] Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed December 8, 2013)