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Bruce K. Hill

Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill Memorial Fund

In March 2012, I was looking for a way to remember Bruce in a meaningful way. Marsha Goold initially set up a fund to help me through that rough time, and many friends contributed immediately. But after things settled down, remarkably, there was a bit left over. I asked for financial advice and approached a couple of different organizations. I needed to find a group that would be willing to do the ongoing work of administering the fund, acknowledge donors with tax receipts, and use the money to do something that would honour Bruce’s passion for choral music, his commitment… Read More »Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill Memorial Fund

Bali wall painting

Great navigational errors: Episode two

My second great navigational error was in Bali, Indonesia. Again (as in episode one) I was in the back seat. Bruce Hill and his brother were up front; Chris driving UK-style on the right hand side of the car. We had enjoyed a thrilling late night Gamelan concert in sultry Ubud, with a 30-piece Balinese orchestra, dancers and singers. We picked our way back through the town following some sort of “map.” Heading up into the countryside, the road soon began to get very thin, then disintegrated altogether into a brittle stone cattle path that was certainly not intended for… Read More »Great navigational errors: Episode two

blessing the door 2013

Adieu 2013

2013 was a step up from annus horribilis 2012. My annual New Year’s Eve party usually involves Haggis and pagan rituals: a dark stranger, coins, whisky and coal. This year Fr Tay Moss blessed my house with the works, holy water and all. During the infamous Toronto ice storm I lost power for two days. Thank goodness for Bruce Hill’s stubbornness! He insisted on installing a gas stove when we moved here in 1998, not for heating mind you, but for efficient cooking. Boiling up cinnamon spiced water filled the house with Christmas fragrance throughout the dark and chilly episode,… Read More »Adieu 2013

No place like home

This summer in Britain offered up many profound delights: walking the ancient pilgrim road to Canterbury with my sister; hearing Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius performed magnificently in Gloucester cathedral; listening to Arvo Part in the dark at the tomb of Edward II; standing in the yard for Shakespeare at The Globe Theatre; standing in the gallery in the Royal Albert Hall for Wagner’s Die Walkure; meeting up with choir friends from Ottawa and Toronto; travelling to  Tewkesbury for the Jongen Mass; seeing Vermeer at the National Gallery; hiking the Malverns with Shawn and Dave; experiencing Billy Budd at Glyndebourne with… Read More »No place like home

Remembering Bruce Hill

Pax Christi Chorale oversees the Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill Memorial Fund. This season the fund is being used to bring 50 high school students into our production of Handel’s SOLOMON. By facilitating this opportunity for young musicians to sing alongside trained adults, a professional orchestra and soloists, we hope we can pass on our love of great choral music to the next generation. I know Bruce would have been pleased as punch about this. It is simply incomprehensible that a year has passed since Bruce died. I figure pretty much everyone reading this blog was a friend of Bruce, so I… Read More »Remembering Bruce Hill