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Friday, May 29, 2015

Jenny Ward Clarke 1935-2015

Few people I have known have made as great an impact on so many as Jenny Ward Clarke who died of cancer on March 1st 2015.

A concert in celebration of her gifts played by her friends and past students on May 22nd reflected many of the musical strands which ran through her career; Bach and Vivaldi, Haydn, Stravinsky clarinet pieces and a quartet "For Jenny" composed by her long-time friend Duncan Druce, Casals' arrangement of Song of the Birds and a Bach Chorale sung by the whole audience. The concert brought together so many old friends and colleagues in an atmosphere of warmth and homage to an extraordinary person - wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, gardener, raconteur, cook, knitter, letter-writer and much more.

Jenny was a precious friend and memories of her will certainly sustain us all in the future.