Life Post Retirement
After her retirement in 1987, Ruth Slenczynska began her very active post-retirement years. The first of her post-retirement activities was a Recital Program in June of 1988. This Program consisted of four different recitals spanning a few days. These recitals were beautifully crafted and contained lots of Chopin pieces.
Below is a link to a recorded section of Ruth’s Recital Program from Saturday, June 18th.
In 1989 Ruth did an interview with the Washington Post in which she disclosed some very personal information. She said, “I certainly don’t recommend the stage for anyone” and “To this day, I do not love the stage — I learned long ago that performing onstage and making music are not entirely compatible experiences” even though she continued to perform throughout her whole life (Reich 1989). Ruth also makes it very clear in this interview and her autobiography, “Forbidden Childhood” published in 1957, that she was not a child prodigy but the result of very hard work.
Records and Recognition
Like much of her life, the years of 1988 through 2001 were filled with numerous achievements in Ruth Slenczynska’s life. After working as an artist in Residence at SIUE, she had built up a significant and long-lasting impression on the school. In May of 1993, Ruth was one of seven recipients of the President’s Award of Merit.
Ruth remained active in 1999 by recording and releasing a CD with Ivory Classics.
Additionally, in December of 2000 at SIUE, Slenczynska was given an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts for her contributions to the field after being voted on the board of Trustees. This was her second honorary degree, with her first being from the University of Pennsylvania 23 years earlier.
In 2001 Ruth was recognized for her hard work and dedication in the music industry by receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Regional Arts Council in St Louis.
Moving to New York
Winning this award brought some light to Ruth’s life in 2001 as her husband, Dr. James Kerr, was very sick at the time. Unfortunately on March 28, 2001, he passed away. Following the passing away of the love of her life, Ruth finished out her remaining time with part-time teaching assignments at SIUE and moved to New York. She also then “accepted an Artist-in-Residence teaching position at Soochow University in Taipei, Taiwan for the 2002 – 2003 academic year” (Dickman, 2018).
Globalization
It is no secret that Ruth’s impact went much further than the borders of SIUE. Back in the sixties, Ruth published a book called “Music at Your Fingertips” and her former international student, Jun-Ting Wang, saw great value in this work. She decided to translate this book from English to Chinese in 2001. Jun-Ting Wang saw how valuable her work was and knew it needed to be shared with the world. Ruth has had such an impact on the music world globally and this is just one example of that. (Dickman & Slencynska, 2022)
Bibliography
Dickman, T. (2018). Ruth Slenczynska Biography. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Lovejoy Library. Ruth Slenczynska Biography (siue.edu)
Dickman, T. & Slenczynska, R. (2022). Ruth Slenczynska: Her Musical Life at SIUE. Edwardsville Public Library Program. (5) Facebook Live | Facebook
Brinson, B. (1993, May 28). ‘Long Time Friends’ Of SIUE Win Merit Awards. Observer. Observer 1993-05: May 18 – Observer Newsletters (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville) – CARLI Digital Collections
Reich, H. (1989) Remembering Her Piano Lessons: Ruth Slenczynska and the Sad Life of a Child Prodigy. The Washington Post. REMEMBERING HER PIANO LESSONS – The Washington Post
Slenczynska, R. (1988). 12 Etudes op. 10, Chopin live, Saturday June 18th, 1988. YouTube. Chopin – Ruth Slenczynska (live, 1988) – 12 Etudes op. 10 (youtube.com)