Ruth Kelley is a native of Winston-Salem—the city of Arts and Innovation—which taught her the beauty and value of interdisciplinary artwork and arts accessibility. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in violin performance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) as a Kenan Excellence Scholar under the instruction of Kevin Lawrence.
Ruth has had the opportunity and privilege to perform in numerous operas, plays, classical and jazz ensembles, and films. In the summers of 2017 and 2021, she attended Vermont’s Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and in the summer of 2018, she attended the Sphinx Performance Academy in Chicago for the fourth consecutive year. In 2019, Ruth’s love of travel brought her to audition and acceptance into Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw, and the Royal Albert Hall at BBC Proms under a full scholarship from Carnegie Hall’s Weill Foundation. In 2023, Ruth was awarded 2nd prize in the National Association of Negro Musicians String Competition. In her free time, Ruth enjoys cooking, yoga, and hiking.