College Dreams

Ruth Gipps made her musical talents apparent from an early age, and they were encouraged by her very supportive mother. She entered the Royal College of Music in 1937, aged 16, studying oboe and piano, in addition to composition (with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob). Whilst at college, she performed Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto, and her tone poem Knight in Armour (CHAN 20078) was presented by Sir Henry Wood at the Last Night of the Proms in 1942. As the war continued, Gipps left London to become principal oboe with the City of Birmingham Orchestra, where she also performed as pianist and had several of her works programmed. Returning to London after the war, Gipps found fewer opportunities as a performer, and less interest in her orchestral scores. She concentrated on composing more chamber music, alongside a successful teaching career.

The Foundation of Hope is both a celebration and an analysis of the creation of Liverpool Hope University College in 1996 and of some of its achievements to date, during an exciting period in British higher education. The central focus is the student experience at Hope University College. Contributors also examine the way that teaching and research in theology have developed over the years and the important community regeneration work Hope University College carries out in various areas of Liverpool.

by Maria Carla Chicuen (Author)