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| I first met Rosemary Dunn – known to me then as Mrs Dunn – when I wanted to join our school orchestra, aged 11, after only two cello lessons. Rather than explaining that I would have to wait until I was a bit better, Ro – a lifelong champion of the awkward and the underdog – wrote a part for me entirely on open strings. Ro, who has died aged 77, was passionate about music and inclusion: it was her career, her PhD subject, and – as chair of the Deal festival and fundraiser for Revelation Strings – the focus of her “retirement”. | I first met Rosemary Dunn – known to me then as Mrs Dunn – when I wanted to join our school orchestra, aged 11, after only two cello lessons. Rather than explaining that I would have to wait until I was a bit better, Ro – a lifelong champion of the awkward and the underdog – wrote a part for me entirely on open strings. Ro, who has died aged 77, was passionate about music and inclusion: it was her career, her PhD subject, and – as chair of the Deal festival and fundraiser for Revelation Strings – the focus of her “retirement”. |
| Ro was born in London and adopted as a baby, in 1939, into the loving Midlands family of George Lee, a staunch trade unionist at the Lucas car plant, and his wife, Lilian. She valued the sacrifices her parents made to get her the best viola they could, and to send her to the Birmingham Conservatoire. She wore her learning very lightly: despite her myriad academic achievements, Ro was also renowned for her beautiful garden, her cooking and her marmalade. | Ro was born in London and adopted as a baby, in 1939, into the loving Midlands family of George Lee, a staunch trade unionist at the Lucas car plant, and his wife, Lilian. She valued the sacrifices her parents made to get her the best viola they could, and to send her to the Birmingham Conservatoire. She wore her learning very lightly: despite her myriad academic achievements, Ro was also renowned for her beautiful garden, her cooking and her marmalade. |
| She was outraged by any form of injustice, and working at Dover girls’ grammar school, close to the Kent coalfields, during the miners’ strike was a potential tinderbox of conflict. She made many friends there who stayed with her for life – from both sides of the political divide. | She was outraged by any form of injustice, and working at Dover girls’ grammar school, close to the Kent coalfields, during the miners’ strike was a potential tinderbox of conflict. She made many friends there who stayed with her for life – from both sides of the political divide. |
| After she retired in 1992 from her post as head of music, Ro set up the Sounds New festival in Canterbury, celebrating new music and the work of contemporary composers. She followed that with a stint as chair of the Deal festival (2005-10), which flourished and grew, as most things in her care did. | After she retired in 1992 from her post as head of music, Ro set up the Sounds New festival in Canterbury, celebrating new music and the work of contemporary composers. She followed that with a stint as chair of the Deal festival (2005-10), which flourished and grew, as most things in her care did. |
| Ro was an educator, psychologist, musician, prize-winning poet, Beethoven devotee and formidable writer, but her deepest love was for her family. She and her husband, Clive Dunn, whom she married in 1963, were a team: they cared for both sets of parents in the home in Deal, Kent, where they raised their adored son, Dominic. Clive died before Dom’s two daughters, Jessica and Keira, were born but the girls became the absolute light of Ro’s life. | Ro was an educator, psychologist, musician, prize-winning poet, Beethoven devotee and formidable writer, but her deepest love was for her family. She and her husband, Clive Dunn, whom she married in 1963, were a team: they cared for both sets of parents in the home in Deal, Kent, where they raised their adored son, Dominic. Clive died before Dom’s two daughters, Jessica and Keira, were born but the girls became the absolute light of Ro’s life. |
| It was a privilege to be taught by Rosemary and, when she joined my creative writing class three years ago, an honour to teach her. I am still no cellist but, like thousands of others, I was profoundly influenced by this amazing woman. A concert in celebration of her life will be held in Dover in 2017. | It was a privilege to be taught by Rosemary and, when she joined my creative writing class three years ago, an honour to teach her. I am still no cellist but, like thousands of others, I was profoundly influenced by this amazing woman. A concert in celebration of her life will be held in Dover in 2017. |
| She is survived by Dom, Jessica and Keira. | She is survived by Dom, Jessica and Keira. |