Canadian-born composer Ruth Lomon (1930-2017) numbered among her teachers Frances Judd Cooke and Miklos Schwalb at New England Conservatory, Witold Lutoslawski at England’s Dartington College, and Lutoslawski and Henri Dutilleux at Centre Acanthes in Provence, France. A composer of concertos for piano, bassoon, and trumpet, Lomon was probably best known for her song-cycle Songs of Remembrance, and her oratorio, Testimony of Witnesses for chorus, orchestra, and soloists. Both works are based on the poetry of Holocaust victims and survivors that Lomon researched at the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, Israel, and the library at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Commissions included Odyssey, a trumpet concerto for former BSO principal trumpet Charles Schlueter, and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston. ReWeavings, a chamber work composed for Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, was commissioned by the Abiquiu NM Chamber Music Festival. The work is scored for Native American flute, clarinet, cello, piano, and marimba. In 2016, The Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Bell, released an album of viola and orchestral music including Lomon’s orchestration of the Rebecca Clarke viola and piano sonata, commissioned by the Rebecca Clarke Society and performed by Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola. The recording label was Dutton Epoch Records. Lomon made about 60 visits of several weeks’ duration to New Mexico, where her interest in Native American ceremonials was the catalyst for the composition of such works as ReWeavings, Imprints, and Five Ceremonial Masks.

In addition to her career in composing and teaching, Lomon was a distinguished pianist. She made her piano debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1949, at the age of 18, while earning her Licentiate of Music at McGill University. Lomon concertized from 1971-1983 with the two-piano team Lomon and Wenglin in concerts of standard repertoire and specializing in the music of women composers. Lomon performed her own works as a soloist internationally.

At the end of her life she was working with great determination on this piano duo album project.  For a list of her scores, visit I Resound Press at iresound.umbc.edu.

Albums

Hommage to Women Composers

Release Date: October 25, 2019
Catalog Number: NV6254
20th Century
Romantic
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Ruth Lomon (1930-2017), Composer and Resident Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and Composer-in-Residence with Boston Secession, and her friend Iris Graffman Wenglin, Florida-based pianist and lecturer, came to a stunning realization after Ruth traveled to London, where she looked for music written by women. There were very few scores to be found, and even fewer that were properly printed. With that, the duo set out on a mission to uncover the buried works of female composers over the years and bring them deserved recognition. The results of this endeavor come to life in HOMMAGE TO WOMEN COMPOSERS.

Shadowing

Release Date: March 10, 2017
Catalog Number: NV6080
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Viola
Violin
Navona Records proudly presents renowned composer Ruth Lomon’s SHADOWING, her debut album on the label. The release showcases her remarkable skill in writing for the piano, pushing the instrument’s timbre and color to its limits to create animated sound worlds such as those of the title work, Shadowing. Lomon writes of the colors in the piece: “’Shadowing’ means to have such a light touch, such a light tread, that one can move freely through the forest, observing without being observed… It is the equivalent of manifesting and then becoming like smoke, and then manifesting again…”