Jane Perlis Ambrose

Jane Perlis Ambrose

Age: 76 • Jericho

Jane Perlis Ambrose, of Barber Farm Road, Jericho, VT, died peacefully at home in the embrace of her family on November 1, 2015. She was Professor Emerita of Music, having served ten years as Chair of the Department of Music at the University of Vermont and for twenty-three years as Director of UVM's George Bishop Lane Artists' Series. Jane was born on July 16, 1939, in Brookline, Massachusetts, the daughter of Rose Winer Perlis and Harry Perlis. In addition to studying flute with James Pappoutsakis of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she was schooled at Newton High, Skidmore College, and UVM, where she earned an M.A. in music in 1963. While on the music faculty at Eastern Michigan University, she entered the doctoral program in music at the University of Michigan. In 1965 she laid that work aside and returned to Burlington to marry Zuell Philip Ambrose and soon began to teach flute and music history at UVM. Recognized over the years for her excellent teaching, in 1991 she became the first recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Lecture Series Outstanding Scholar and Teacher Award. In 2010 the Vermont Council on the Arts awarded her the Walter Cerf Medal for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts for her work as Director of the Lane Series. Jane's research and published articles centered on early music, J. S. Bach, Baroque and Renaissance performance practice, and women composers. She also published hundreds of book reviews on a broad range of topics. Her interest in music history was informed and complemented by regular performances on modern flute, recorders, and the Baroque transverse flute, in which she was something of a pioneer. For about twenty-eight years she performed with Phil and their friends, Bill and Liz Metcalfe, Jill Levis, Larry Read, Peter Tourin, and others in the UVM Baroque Ensemble. She also performed frequently at the Festival of Baroque Music in Saratoga as well as in concerts with her colleagues in the UVM Music Department. Jane amassed a huge collection of books and seldom let a day pass without several hours of reading. On August 17, 2014, she married Eva Meyer of Sweden, whom she had met in 2000 in Columbus, Ohio, while they were preparing the American tour of Bach's B-Minor Mass with the Swiss Ensemble Corund.

Besides her wife Eva, other survivors of Jane's family include her daughters Lisa Kingery Ambrose Meyer and her partner Brian Woods of Waterbury Center, VT, Julia Greer Ambrose Viazmenski and her husband Alexei Viazmenski of Hanover, NH, Jane's 50-year-plus companion in music Philip Ambrose and his wife Gretchen Van Slyke, Lisa's children Zachary Raphael Meyer (20) and Jonathan Ambrose Meyer (17), Julia's children Miriam Rose (12) and David Philip (8), Eva's children Christina, Elisabeth, Andreas and Sebastian, Eva's grandchildren Linus (3) and Jannis (7 months), her brother Alan Perlis (UVM 1965) of Birmingham, AL, her beloved maternal aunt Miriam Sack of Exeter, NH, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Among her many friends, she was especially close to Joan Wade of Burlington. Jane was immensely proud of her grandchildren, who all developed under her encouragement a love of making music. Humor and laughter attended her serious approach to life and work. On her last day, hearing J. S. Bach's B-Minor Mass and Vergnügte Ruh (Cantata 170) comforted her. Requiescat in pace.

There will be a service of remembrance at St. Paul's Cathedral, 2 Cherry Street, Burlington, on Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 11:00 a. m., with reception to follow. It is requested that in lieu of flowers contributions in Jane's honor be to the UVM Music Department, the UVM Lane Series, or the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association.

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