Founder of Chamber Music Pittsburgh
When Ruth Mitchell Montgomery listened to music, it couldn’t be just in the background. Music — chamber music, in particular — commanded her focus most evenings, when she would listen to records of the classics or to WQED-FM with her husband, Edison.
Although she never played an instrument other than a little piano, Ms. Montgomery appreciated classical music in the strongest sense.
A humble and private woman, she rarely spoke of the impact she had in the development of it in Pittsburgh, particularly in the establishment of what is now known as Chamber Music Pittsburgh.
“She is truly the reason we exist,” said Kristen Linfante, executive director of Chamber Music Pittsburgh. “She had wonderful ideas and really understood people and what they needed and wanted. She appreciated the connection that chamber music could have for different kinds of people.”
Ms. Montgomery died June 9 at Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community in Cranberry. She would have turned 102 on July 30.
Ms. Montgomery was raised in New Haven, Conn., during the Great Depression. She worked hard, never complained and hated waste, recycling religiously. She kept up with the news and voted in every single election.
“After [my father] died, it became very noticeable that she could endure hardship and unpleasantness and come out on the bright side,” said Ms. Montgomery’s daughter, Katherine Montgomery of Tiline, Ky. “She rarely complained and tried to find the good in people and things.”
In 1935, Ms. Montgomery moved to Washington, D.C., to work as an administrator for the Department of Agriculture. While living in a boarding house, she became friends with a few students who moved in down the hall. One was Edison Montgomery, who later became her husband. It was at Library of Congress concerts that she fell in love with chamber music. She relished the intimate connection formed between musician and concertgoer.
The couple came to Pittsburgh in 1956 after her husband took a job in the administration of Edward Litchfield, chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh.
While living in Oakland in 1961, the Montgomerys headed the grass-roots effort to establish the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, which has since been renamed Chamber Music Pittsburgh. Ms. Montgomery recruited big names such as Henry Heinz and Paul Benedum to make it financially possible.
In its first season, the society put on a four-concert series. Although the shows are still held on Monday nights at Carnegie Music Hall, the group has expanded to include several more series with more concerts as well as educational programs.
“She was — considering what she accomplished in 1961 — way ahead of her time in terms of establishing such leadership for the arts in Pittsburgh,” Ms. Linfante said.
After its establishment, she ran the organization — refusing pay — filling a hands-on role with patrons and performers, meticulously keeping a handwritten catalog of all artists and performers in an index card box.
“She would lay out all the tickets on the dining room table,” her daughter said. “She knew where everyone sat, and if someone wanted a better seat, she’d remember it the next season. She met a lot of friends that way.”
Over the years, she received tributes and cards from many major chamber music groups. For her 100th birthday, the Emerson String Quartet sent her 52 CDs of their recordings.
Ms. Montgomery also worked to expose the youth of Pittsburgh to chamber music. She regularly made it possible for students to attend rehearsals for the organization. This passion for education was why in 2000 the organization’s board established the Ruth Montgomery Fellowship. It provides several high school students with performance opportunities, mentorship and access to performances and classes.
Though she considered herself a New Englander, she adopted Pittsburgh as her home. She lived in Shadyside and had a backyard garden — she was especially proud of her clematis plants — and could walk to the Chamber Music Pittsburgh office on South Bellefield Avenue.
In addition to her daughter, she is survived by a son, Douglas of Portland, Ore., and two grandchildren. There is no public service. Her family asks that donations be made to the Ruth M. Montgomery String Program in care of Chamber Music Pittsburgh, 315 S. Bellefield Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213 or to Humane Animal Rescue, 6926 Hamilton Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15208.