Doreen Ruddock:Doreen Ruddock, who has died aged 79, was the pivotal force behind the Limerick Music Association (LMA), the organisation that produced more classical music concerts in Ireland over 40 years than any other body apart from RTÉ.
This feat of generosity gave to the Irish public over 400 concerts of the highest quality, and was accomplished by her and her husband John with only the aid of a small Arts Council grant for their Limerick series, and with no aid at all for their even more numerous Dublin concerts until the last few years when a most helpful small-festivals grant became available.
An astounding wealth of musical treasures flowed from the efforts of the energetic couple. The Tacacs String Quartet, one of the greatest ensembles the world has ever seen, gave over 40 concerts in Ireland; the Berlin Philharmonic Octet gave the first concert of the LMA in St Mary's Cathedral in Limerick and its last before it became the Dublin-based Association of Music Lovers.
The pianists Piotr Anderszewski, Andrei Gavrilov, Támás Vasary and Deszo Ranki were among the giants of the keyboard that they brought to Ireland. And the succession of astounding string quartets that toured Ireland, or in the case of the Vogler String Quartet took up residency here, all testified to a superhuman capability in persuading those who had most to offer audiences that a trip to Ireland might be a nice experience.
The list is almost endless and included Irish artists of the highest stature for whom an invitation to play for the LMA was regarded as a mark of distinction. For many, a debut recital was organized in Wigmore Hall in London or they were introduced at the Budapest Festival of Young Musicians.
Artists from abroad not only came but they returned, as did the clarinettist Michael Collins among others, again and again. This was due to the qualities of care, love and hospitality that were of the essence of Doreen Ruddock.
Instead of staying in a soulless hotel, the visitors enjoyed the hospitality of her home. There the warmth of the personality of this remarkable woman turned the relationship of visitor and host into real and enduring friendship. During her last illness, long and distressing, many came to see her, rang her, or wrote to her. Touchingly Dorota Anderszewska and Piotr Anderszewski gave a recital in Dublin in her honour.
Typical of her modesty, she insisted it be advertised as an ordinary recital. More than one musician remembered her advice in tricky situations, including of marital prospect. Several were helped on their way with kind words and all were warmed spiritually by the kindness of her gentle presence.
Musicians can be, and are in the main, intelligent and considerate. Some very few, however, made unusual demands though most were soothed by the personality of their host. She commanded respect and it almost invariably calmed matters.
One occasion that she recalled without pleasure was of a soloist who entered a strange phase, let us call it, in her home and demanded an afternoon of shopping for pink items, practically buying, or having to be dissuaded from buying, everything pink in Dublin and Limerick. She also entertained KGB minders for Soviet musicians.
She made light of such rare trials and the balance for her tipped strongly on the side of joy. One could see that as her head moved imperceptibly to the rhythms of her beloved Tacacs Quartet playing Bartok, when a concert was over and she could relax into a marvellous meal, cooked by her, for her musicians and when she gently, but proudly, chided her husband John as more wondrous, and expensive, plans were outlined for yet more concerts.
As wife of the headmaster of Villiers School in Limerick, as John was for many years, she offered the students there an informal but priceless advice service and a shoulder on which to lean or cry. Were there any who came away without their burden eased?
She was a light to many and a marvellous ambassador for Ireland. She is survived by John, her children Alan and Gillian and by several grandchildren.
Doreen Ruddock: Born January 12th, 1929, died January 15th, 2008