American showman organist Carlo Curley dead at 59

Carlo Curley in Leeds a few years ago.

Carlo Curley, an enthusiastic concert organist and born showman, died yesterday at his home in Melton Mowbray, England, less than two weeks shy of his 60th birthday. No cause of death was given.

Tonight: An organ recital by rising star David Enlow at St Thomas’s Church

David Enlow, a former student of Toronto organist John Tuttle’s, performs a solo recital tonight at St Thomas’s Anglican Church on Huron St. It’s a wonderful opportunity to hear a fine musician Tuttle describes as, “among the top performers I have had the privilege to teach.”

News: Young people may like what their groovy parents find too stuffy

(Kevin Spear illustration)

“The pendulum is always swinging,” American organist Christian Lane reminded me last week.

Another instance comes in the recent discovery that, out of the full demographic spectrum, young Americans are least interested in hearing popular music in church.

Obituary: Toronto loses local hero with death of organist Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill

(Updated with funeral information. For more, visit a memorial Facebook community here.)

Toronto organist, choir director and ever-willing musical collaborator Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill died on Sunday, March 18, while on holiday in Cuba with his wife, Stephanie Martin, from complications related to kidney disease.

He was 48.

Every big city is blessed with a few dozen people whose contributions are invaluable to the continued vitality of its musical life. Hill was one of these local heroes.