Biography
Ruth Morley
Ruth is a flute player, composer and educator. She divides her time mainly between performing with leading contemporary music group Red Note Ensemble, and working as lecturer in flute at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She was shortlisted for 2 awards in the Scottish Awards for New Music 2023. The Dorico award for small scale composition for her solo flute piece Neon Flicker, and the Musicians’ Union awards for New Music Performer. She was also shortlisted for the 2024 Alpine Fellowship music prize for her new piece Whisper. Ruth’s music is published by Tetractys.
Ruth also performs solo recitals, and enjoys playing chamber music in any kind of small ensemble. She works regularly with pianist Scott Mitchell, and in a trio with harpist Sharron Griffiths and violist Scott Dickinson. She has appears regularly at festivals all over the UK and Europe, and has recorded for Delphian, Mode, Metier and 7hings. Ruth was for many years a player and co-artistic director of The Scottish Flute Trio. The trio commissioned many new works from composers such as Thea Musgrave, Edward McGuire, Sally Beamish, Gordon McPherson, Joji Hirota, Robert Dick and David Fennessy. She has worked with a wide range of ensembles including the Edinburgh Quartet, Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and as a soloist with London Concertante. She has been on stage with theatre companies such as Dundee Rep and Theatre Cryptic and appeared at Counterflows Festival with experimental harpist Zeena Parkins. She appears regularly on Radio 3 and Radio Scotland, and has performed live as a featured solo artist for Classic FM.
Teaching is a big part of Ruth’s life, and she has seen many successful students go into the profession. Alongside her work at RCS, Ruth enjoys teaching master classes and workshops around the UK and in Europe. She also teaches students at Glasgow University and is the founder of the Scottish International Flute Summer School which she directed for 20 years. She is in demand as a private teacher, and has taught many successful students at every stage of their musical training. Ruth is a regular coach for NYOS courses, delivers CPD for instrumental teachers, and for many years was on the staff for Douglas Academy Music School. As well as teaching flute players, and coaching chamber groups and ensembles, Ruth also enjoys working with composers to help them to develop their writing. She has taken part in many composers’ workshops, working at all levels from first time composers at school, through to young professional composers at the start of their careers. Recent composers’ workshops have been with RNCM, RCS, Glasgow University and Sound Scotland.
Ruth’s training was with David Nicholson at RSAMD, and then as a Wingate Scholar with Peter Lloyd at the Royal Northern College of Music. She also studied privately with Colin Lilley and Wissam Boustany. Prizes and awards include: Soroptomist International Society Bursary for young musicians, Prize winner in RSAMD chamber music and woodwind competitions, Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship, Bromsgrove Festival Young Musicians Platform, AT&T Istel Awards, Tunnell Trust, Manchester Mid Day Music Society recital prize, Hattori Foundation award winner and Wingate Scholarship for postgraduate study at RNCM.
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Working with Red Note Ensemble is always both creatively exciting and enormous fun. Recent highlights have included developing a new piece with the amazing Kathy Hinde, which will be out and about from October 2023. Working with Brian Irvine is always a treat, and we recently performed with him and the children from Oakwood Primary School in Easterhouse near Glasgow. We had an amazing few days at St Magnus Festival in Orkney, including a concert live for Radio 3 in the gorgeous venue ‘The Space’ in Rousay playing trios with Robert Irvine and Tom Hankey. After the concert we were on the beach late into the orkney summer night. A trip to work with students at the Paris Conservatoire was a real treat, and I will never forget playing George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae with Simon Smith and Robert Irvine underneath an iconic Concorde aeroplane. The Crumb performance was part of the Lammermuir festival in the enormous hangar which houses Concorde at East Fortune museum of flight, south of Edinburgh.
Another amazing Red Note project was with James Dillon, performing Tanz Haus around some fantastic European festivals. The first performance opened the 40th Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, live on Radio 3. So often in contemporary music we perform a piece once or twice, so to live with such an amazing, complex and emotional piece over many performances was an incredible experience. We have since released a recording with Delphian of Tanz Haus alongside his more recent piece written for us: Emblemata Carnival.
One of my favourite ever projects was hosted by Sound Festival in the North East of Scotland. It was called Framed Against the Sky. We played at art classes, in the cinema, in cafes, on Pennan beach, Portsoy Boat Festival and worked with the unique talent that is Brian Irvine to create a new song with around 30 primary school classes.
Recent projects include Lost and Found - thanks to funding from Creative Scotland and support from Sound Scotland I made new home made recordings of new solo commissions from brilliant composers Lewis Murphy, Claire McCue, Laura Bowler, David Fennessy and Tansy Davies alongside recordings of existing work my Bill Sweeney, Kazuo Fukushima, Kevin Leomo and Edwin Roxburgh.
Gaia - Duo with Laura Bowler touring (currently in slow motion) around the uk playing new music responding to the climate crisis by Diedre McKay, Carmel Smickersgill and Laura Bowler. We were delighted to perform together at Sound Festival, RCS, RNCM, New Music Dublin and Wigmore Hall in London. This project is co-ordinated by Sound Festival and is supported by PRS Foundation Beyond Borders fund.
Flute Viola Harp - with Sharron Griffiths and Scott Dickinson. This trio is always a joy, and once it becomes possible we will be recording together and planning concerts of some of the gorgeous repertoire for this combination.