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Ruth Watson Henderson |
 Biography |
Ruth Watson Henderson has an international reputation as one of Canada’s leading composers and as an admired pianist and organist.
Known especially as a composer of choral works, she has done much to promote the artistry of children through her wealth of compositions for treble voices, using the expertise gleaned over 29 years as accompanist of the Toronto Children’s Chorus under Jean Ashworth Bartle. She has at the same time written a wide spectrum of works for adult choirs - an activity begun while she was accompanist of the Festival Singers under Dr. Elmer Iseler.
Her works are acclaimed, performed and recorded worldwide. Such well-known choirs as the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Elora Festival Singers, and the Ontario Youth Choir regularly perform them. Her pieces are often featured as the title track on such recordings as My Heart Soars (TCC), Come, Ye Makers of Song (TCC), The Last Straw (Amabile Boys Choirs), When Music Sounds (Oriana Singers) and Be Thou My Vision (Oriana Women’s Choir).
Ruth Watson Henderson is in constant demand to write commissioned works for acclaimed choirs, special church celebrations, and festivals in Canada and the United States. Her commissioned works include the highly acclaimed From Darkness to Light, a cantata for choir, chamber orchestra, organ and soloists, commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for their national convention; and Jubilant the Music for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, premiered by them, along with the American Youth Orchestra, in the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Although most widely known for her prolific output of choral works, Ms Watson Henderson has also written compositions for piano and organ, as well as for string orchestra and for winds, brass and percussion. Two of her recent additions in the instrumental category are Intrada for Trumpet, and Suite for Violin and Organ, premiered during the May, 2006 Organix 2006 organ-centred festival in Toronto.
Recognized for her lifetime of service to music, Ruth has been paid many great tributes by the music community. She has recently been honoured by the conferring of an honorary Fellowship by the Royal Canadian College of Organists (FRCCO). She was awarded the National Choral Award for Outstanding Choral Composition for Voices of Earth, and the Distinguished Service Award by the Ontario Choral Federation. As a tribute to first her 60th, and then her 70th, birthdays, numerous fine choirs performed entire concerts of works by Ruth Watson Henderson; these choirs included the Elmer Iseler Singer, the Toronto Children’s Chorus and the Oriana Women’s Choir of Toronto. Equally at home at the piano keyboard or with blank manuscript paper, she frequently appears as guest artist for choirs performing her works, as was the case in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The Elmer Iseler Singers released a CD, Sing All Ye Joyful, devoted to the works of Ruth Watson Henderson. This CD has found great favour with reviewers. William Littler, writing in the Toronto Star, refers to the recording as "long overdue", and states that Ruth’s "years as an accompanist for Elmer Iseler contributed to an understanding of the expressive possibilities of choral sound that has given birth to some of the most singable choral music in the Canadian literature."
Currently the music director at Kingsway-Lambton United Church in Toronto, and in regular demand to accompany many fine ensembles, Ruth is a member of SOCAN, the Canadian Music Centre, the RCCO, and the Canadian League of Composers.
Ruth’s work as both composer and accompanist receives wide critical acclaim. Some reviews follow:
- "Ruth Watson Henderson’s contributions are (equally) worthy of praise. Not only is her compositional skill undisputed, but also her piano accompanying is extraordinary. Clarity and agility are balanced equally with subtly nuanced phrases…" - Eric A. Johnson, The Choral Journal (publication of the American Choral Directors Association), August 1999, writing about the Toronto Children’s Chorus CD "My Heart Soars"
About From Darkness to Light:
- "Impressionistic harmonies, a constant sense of forward motion, and deft handling of the orchestral voices all combined to make this (a) most appealing work, worthy of repeated hearings." – Larry Palmers, The Diapason
- "… a downright ravishing work!" – Timothy Howard, The American Organist
- Pianist, organist, and widely celebrated composer, Ruth Watson Henderson remains one of Canada’s most distinguished musicians.
April 2009
