Brookline, Massachusetts
RUGGIERO, Matthew Of Brookline, February 1, 2013. A true Renaissance Man, Matthew Ruggiero touched countless lives through his musicianship, wisdom and gentle wit. Born in Philadelphia in 1932, Matthew received professional training in bassoon at the Curtis Institute of Music. He began his career...
Read MoreMatthew was best man in our wedding on June 18, 1960. He is always in my thoughts and what a marvelous musician and great friend he was!
Carl S. Rubis
January 27, 2024 | Work
Patience beyond belief. Thank you.
Angela Capps
December 08, 2013 | Warren, ME
Matt Ruggiero was my bassoon teacher at Boston University, 1977-1979. He was all about making music: phrasing, expression, nuance, articulation. He had such joy in not just in music making, but in teaching bassoonists how to make music with that sometimes unwieldy instrument. I'm only sorry I haven't reconnected with him recently. I've been playing again--seriously--for the last five years, the things he taught me are now more valuable than ever.
Joel Kleinbaum
May 05, 2013 | Portland, OR
I along with many, many others will greatly miss Matt's elegance, humor and great, but lightly carried, intelligence. Our thoughts are with Nancy, Matt's Beatrice!
Fred & Jane Wanger
February 18, 2013 | Newton, MA
As one of many, many HILR members who loved Matt's courses on Dante, I was stunned and saddened to read of his death. I will miss this learned and lovely man,called to Paradiso too soon, and send deepest condolences to all his family. Toni Stearns
February 13, 2013
What I appreciated about him greatly as a teacher (of Dante) was that he knew a lot but never pretended to know it all.
Jake Bakalar
February 13, 2013
Although I had read Matt's obituary I felt a real shock on Monday at HILR when I realized that he would not be leading his Study Group on Dante's 'Inferno' which was scheduled for this semester. Now we can concentrate on being glad that he was at his best up to the very end and is now enjoying the Paradiso.
February 12, 2013
What a prince of a man Matt was. But not a prince of pretense, but a wonderfully modest and generous guy. His seoond career as a professor of literature and language, begun one night course at a time while still in the Boston Symphony, testifies to his curiousity, his dedication and his brilliance. Wish we had crossed paths more in recent years, but whenever I saw him in the past, there was never a time when his wry wit failed to bring a laugh or a smile to my face. All this, and a superb...
Victor Rosenbaum
February 08, 2013 | Boston, MA
Matt's quiet humor, humility and intellectual curiosity were a mark of the true humanist. We will miss his music, his scholarship and his respect for learning. Thank you, Matt, for giving us of yourself so graciously.
Michael Bennett
February 08, 2013 | Belmont, MA
