Requiescat in Pace.
Dal sito dei Canadian:
September 8, 2009
Fred Mills: a Tragic Loss of Our Colleague and Dear Friend
The members, past and present, of Canadian Brass are sad to inform our friends that Fred Mills died tonight. He was a longtime friend and colleague who has left an indelible mark on the music world. Fred lofted the piccolo trumpet into an indispensable role in the brass quintet, brought a new level of musical quality to the brass quintet repertoire through his arrangements, many of which are now considered absolute standard repertoire and spent over fifty years helping establish the trumpet as a beautiful, lyrical voice amongst solo orchestral instruments. But even more memorable for all us, he inspired thousands upon thousands of young musicians around the world to explore their own musical talents, tastes, interests and love of performance……and then encouraged them to enliven the world around them. Freddy’s influence in the musical world is incalculable–his love of life, whacky sense of humour, deep knowledge of music, amazing memory for events, wide range of friends, will be truly missed by everyone with whom he came in contact. He was a Canadian national treasure.
He inspired so many people as a founding member of the Canadian Brass from its formation. He had a unique ability to communicate through music and on a personal level.
Through the excellence of his performances and the quality of his arrangements he helped lift the brass quintet repertoire from a curiosity to a legitimate and accepted art form rivaling the string quartet.
His dedication and natural talent as a communicator and to passing his love of music on to young people is part of his continuing legacy to the international world of music.
He was a Canadian treasure with a world perspective.
