Nationality British Parents David Railton Role Music Director | Name Ruth Railton Occupation Music director Books Daring to excel | |
Born December 14, 1915 ( 1915-12-14 ) Folkestone, Kent, Great Britain Died 2001, London, United Kingdom Spouse Cecil Harmsworth King (m. 1962) Education St Mary's School, Wantage, Royal Academy of Music Similar People Cecil Harmsworth King, David Railton, George Scott Railton | ||
Dame Ruth Railton, Mrs King, DBE (14 December 1915 in Folkestone, Kent – 23 February 2001 in London) was a British music director and conductor.
After St Mary's School, Wantage, and the Royal Academy of Music, she became director of music or choral work for several schools. She founded the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 1948. She was an adjudicator of the Federation of Music Festivals from 1946-74. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.
She was one of four daughters and one son, David, born to the Rev David Railton, the son of George Scott Railton, who was second in command of William and Catherine Booth's Salvation Army. In 1962, she married Cecil Harmsworth King; he died in 1987 at their home in Dublin, where they had relocated. After his death, she became patron of the Cecil King Award for the Young Manager of the Year, promoted jointly by the Irish Management Institute, the Institute of Management in Northern Ireland and The Irish Times.