Tuesday, December 12, 2023

A Friend Pays a Musical Tribute


At the Sunday December 10 concert on the Rezanoor Stage at IVC, Professor Emeritus Stephen Rochford conducted IVC's Wind Symphony in "Lyric for Band" by George Walker.*

Steve dedicated the piece to Roy and his choice words which preceded were perfect. Steve and Roy served well over two decades together in IVC's Academic Senate and in the struggle to restore integrity to the college and the district. Did Steve mince words? Are you kidding me? Steve is a class act. No word mincing! Gimme some truth as another musician, John Lennon, might say.

*In 1996, George Walker was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, awarded for for "Lilacs," a piece for voice and orchestra featuring Walt Whitman's poetry.

Roy could be counted on to snap cool pics of Steve at commencement in his finery. Here's one:

As Steve told me, "We're all hurting and we're all feeling grateful for having Roy in our lives."

Cherish each other people.

*

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Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...