Ruth Mulligan is a music teacher, piano accompanist and composer based in Cheltenham, England. She plays the viola, performing regularly with the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra and participates in a local choir. She completed her B.Mus (hons) at the University of Wales, Bangor and her PGCE in secondary music at Oxford Brookes University.

Ruth has composed and arranged Christmas choral music for children and adults and has been directing choirs since she was 17. She has written 2 musical nativity plays which have been performed at the school attended by her 6 children, where she has also directed a choir since 2007.

In 2024, she was the musical director for an Easter passion play which was performed in Cheltenham, for which she wrote 10 songs, directed a children’s choir, a community choir for adults, and a community orchestral ensemble. Ruth is passionate about music education and has developed an initiative which allows children to access free instrumental hire and lessons.

Away in a Manger is gentle and simple to invoke the feeling of a lullaby, particularly in the final verse, where the beautiful words invite…