Conductor Victor Feldbrill died on June 17, 2020, aged 96. He was a great friend of the WMCT, an honorary advisor, and several times a juror for the Career Development Award. In May 2013 he was guest speaker at a Club Lunch. For News & Notes no. 48, then president Annette Sanger interviewed Maestro Feldbrill and summarized his talk.
WMCT member John Beckwith remembers: “Victor and I were fellow music students in Toronto seventy years ago. He was noted as a champion of Canadian composers and I can testify to that: he conducted the premiere of my first orchestral composition around 1950 and some time in the early 2000s he conducted the premiere of what is likely to be my last, with several other titles in between. He was a versatile and technically brilliant musician and in his long career he participated decisively in the development of the Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Toronto symphony orchestras, the University of Toronto student orchestra, and an orchestra of retiree professionals which he formed during his own retirement – this in addition to numerous guest appearances, notably during his extensive stay in Japan in the 1980s. I will remember him fondly and with much admiration.”
Prof. Robin Elliott, organizer of WMCT’s pre-concert lectures, “Tuning Your Mind,” has posted a full obituary on his website of the Institute for Music in Canada.
His illustrious career has also been noted on these websites: