Opera Singer. A mezzo soprano, she is remembered for her performances in all of the United Kingdom's principal venues. Born Ruth Maureen Guy, she was the daughter of a coal miner, learned to sing in church, and at 18 won the Glamorgan Scholarship which took her to London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. While a student, she was praised for a performance of Dvorak's "Stabat Mater", and was a finalist for the 1955 Kathleen Ferrier Award, then in 1957 first attracted major notice with a recital at Wigmore Hall. Maureen became a regular on the London classical scene, appearing with the Mozart players, the London Philharmonic, and the Sadler's Wells Opera where she earned praise with small roles in such fare as Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin"; in 1963 she became a principal artist with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and while there her assignments included various of the Rhinemaidens in Wagner's "Ring Cycle", the prostitute Maddalena of Verdi's "Rigoletto, and Cio-Cio-San's maid Suzuki from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly". Also in 1963, she took part in a BBC Proms celebration of Wagner's 150th birthday and over the years was to be seen at the event on a number of occasions including a 1968 memorial tribute to Sir Malcolm Sargent and a 1976 presentation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. On July 1, 1969 Maureen was one of more than a dozen singers who participated in the Investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, then from 1972 thru 1977 sang with the Frankfurt Opera where one of her more noted roles was that the Countess in Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades". Leaving the stage due to family obligations, she held a professorship at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, continued singing in public occasionally, and along with her husband, tenor John Mitchinson, was active in running the Three Choirs Festival. After retiring from her faculty post in 1998, she remained active as a voice teacher until two weeks before her death; at her demise she could be heard on a number of 'live' and studio recordings including Sir Georg Solti's legendary preservation of "The Ring" which was cut in Vienna during the early 1960s.
Opera Singer. A mezzo soprano, she is remembered for her performances in all of the United Kingdom's principal venues. Born Ruth Maureen Guy, she was the daughter of a coal miner, learned to sing in church, and at 18 won the Glamorgan Scholarship which took her to London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. While a student, she was praised for a performance of Dvorak's "Stabat Mater", and was a finalist for the 1955 Kathleen Ferrier Award, then in 1957 first attracted major notice with a recital at Wigmore Hall. Maureen became a regular on the London classical scene, appearing with the Mozart players, the London Philharmonic, and the Sadler's Wells Opera where she earned praise with small roles in such fare as Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin"; in 1963 she became a principal artist with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and while there her assignments included various of the Rhinemaidens in Wagner's "Ring Cycle", the prostitute Maddalena of Verdi's "Rigoletto, and Cio-Cio-San's maid Suzuki from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly". Also in 1963, she took part in a BBC Proms celebration of Wagner's 150th birthday and over the years was to be seen at the event on a number of occasions including a 1968 memorial tribute to Sir Malcolm Sargent and a 1976 presentation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. On July 1, 1969 Maureen was one of more than a dozen singers who participated in the Investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales, then from 1972 thru 1977 sang with the Frankfurt Opera where one of her more noted roles was that the Countess in Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades". Leaving the stage due to family obligations, she held a professorship at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, continued singing in public occasionally, and along with her husband, tenor John Mitchinson, was active in running the Three Choirs Festival. After retiring from her faculty post in 1998, she remained active as a voice teacher until two weeks before her death; at her demise she could be heard on a number of 'live' and studio recordings including Sir Georg Solti's legendary preservation of "The Ring" which was cut in Vienna during the early 1960s.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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