I sing because of him.
Jan. 25th, 2009 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelleI am devastated.
Calvin Luther Bourgeault
(January 16, 1926 - January 16, 2009)
Calvin L. Bourgeault of Landenberg, PA, but for the past three years a resident of Somerford Place of Newark Assisted Living for residents with Alzheimers and related dementia, passed away on January 16 after a lengthy illness. A gifted choral and orchestral conductor, pianist, composer, and music educator, he opened the doorways for literally thousands of young musicians—not just into music as a professional career, but as an expression of “the good, the true, and the beautiful.”
Calvin, born in Bridgeport, PA, and raised in Conshohocken, was the youngest child of Alfred and Nora Bealer Bourgeault. His parents died before he was six months old. As he was too young to go to the Odd Fellows Orphanage with his four older siblings, he was taken under wing and later adopted by his paternal uncle and aunt, Louis Fabian and Clara Himes Bourgeault.
Cal began piano lessons in fourth grade and continued his piano studies through high school, college, and beyond. He graduated from Conshohocken High School in 1942 at the age of 16, and he then worked at the local steel mill while also earning some additional pocket money playing piano in several neighborhood bars until he was old enough to join the Army Air Corps in January of 1944. He served in the United States Army of Occupation in Foggia, Italy from 1945 through 1946, and as ‘Slim the Milkman’, he was the daily morning wake-up voice for the troops in the Foggia area.
He returned to Philadelphia and received his B.S. in Education (music) in 1950 and M.S. in 1951 from Temple University. In addition to his continued specialization in piano, he studied choral conducting with Elaine Brown, and he served as the principal accompanist for the Temple University Glee Club, which toured throughout the Eastern US and in Europe as well. He would later continue his studies in conducting with Nadia Boulanger at the Ecoles d’Art Americaine Conservatoire de Musique in Fontainbleau, France. Cal was a charter member of the Singing City Choir of Philadelphia, founded by Elaine Brown, and he continued performing with that group for more than twenty years. In the fall of 1951 he was asked to fill in for a few weeks at Tower Hill School. That “temporary replacement” grew into 27 years as “Mr. Music” at Tower Hill. His high school choirs and vocal ensemble soon developed renown for both skill and repertoire well beyond their young years. In addition to two world premiers specially commissioned for the Tower Hill Choruses, the Choral Ensemble, combined with the Singing City Youth Choir, performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra. A highlight of Cal’s career came in 1964 when he was asked to provide and train the youth choir for a performance of Stravinsky’s Persephone with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C, and New York City. A snow storm prevented the regular rehearsal accompanist from getting to The Academy of Music, and Cal played for the rehearsal under the baton of Mr. Stravinsky.
Beyond his involvement at Tower Hill, he also gave generously of his time to high school music education all over the Delaware Valley. Cal moved from Tower Hill in 1977 to serve as Middle and Upper School Vocal Music Director at Friends Select School in Center City Philadelphia where he remained until his retirement in 1989. He was an active member of the Music Educator’s National Conference, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and the American Choral Directors Association, and he was a committed participant and highly respected adjudicator at local high school music festivals and competitions. During the 1970s he was a faculty member at The Temple University Summer Workshop for Gifted High School Pianists and Vocalists. He was a tough but compassionate and gifted teacher, and many of his students went on to distinguished careers in professional music.
Cal was also active in the local music and musical theater scene, conducting many summer shows with The Brandywiners, Ltd at Longwood Gardens, as well as performances with Brecks Mill Players, and The Wilmington Opera Society. He was the conductor of the Kennett Community Symphony Orchestra prior to that ensemble becoming the all-professional Kennett Symphony of Chester County. Since 1983 the husband and wife team of Calvin and Sheila Grady Bourgeault have served as artistic directors and conductors of The Northern Delaware Oratorio Society, and when illness prevented him from continuing his conducting duties, he was named Director Emeritus of the group. From 1968-79 he led The Renaissance Singers of Philadelphia, which performed its own concert season as well as collaborating with the University of Pennsylvania Collegium Musicum on several medieval music dramas.
On the personal side, Cal continued his love for flying, owning three single-engine aircraft over the course of his flying career and maintaining his pilot’s license until 10 years ago. He was a devoted member of the (Quaker) Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends.
Calvin is survived by his wife Sheila, two daughters, Gweneth Bourgeault Rehnborg and her husband Roderick, Lucy Bourgeault King and her husband Albert, their mother Cynthia Bourgeault (his first wife), four grandchildren, two sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful, compassionate staff of Somerford Place for their devoted and loving care throughout Cal’s residence there. There is no way to adequately express our deep appreciation to the Somerford family.
A visitation for family and friends will take place Friday, January 30 from 7 – 9 pm at the Kuzo and Grieco Funeral Home, 250 W. State Street, Kennett Square, PA, and a Quaker Memorial Meeting for Worship will be held Saturday, January 31 at Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends, 401 North West Street, Wilmington, DE at 2:00PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Northern Delaware Oratorio Society; c/o Judith Fullhart, Treasurer 1602 Mendenhall Mill Road Hockessin, DE 19707, Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Frontotemporal Dementia Research, c/o Murray Grossman, MD Dept. of Neurology Hospital University of Pennsylvania 3400 Spruce St. Philadelphia, PA 19104, The Tower Hill Upper School Choral Music Program, 2813 West 17th Street Wilmington, DE 19806, or Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends Inc, 401 N. West Street Wilmington, DE 19801. To send an online condolence, please visit www.griecofuneralhomes.com
Calvin Luther Bourgeault
(January 16, 1926 - January 16, 2009)
Calvin L. Bourgeault of Landenberg, PA, but for the past three years a resident of Somerford Place of Newark Assisted Living for residents with Alzheimers and related dementia, passed away on January 16 after a lengthy illness. A gifted choral and orchestral conductor, pianist, composer, and music educator, he opened the doorways for literally thousands of young musicians—not just into music as a professional career, but as an expression of “the good, the true, and the beautiful.”
Calvin, born in Bridgeport, PA, and raised in Conshohocken, was the youngest child of Alfred and Nora Bealer Bourgeault. His parents died before he was six months old. As he was too young to go to the Odd Fellows Orphanage with his four older siblings, he was taken under wing and later adopted by his paternal uncle and aunt, Louis Fabian and Clara Himes Bourgeault.
Cal began piano lessons in fourth grade and continued his piano studies through high school, college, and beyond. He graduated from Conshohocken High School in 1942 at the age of 16, and he then worked at the local steel mill while also earning some additional pocket money playing piano in several neighborhood bars until he was old enough to join the Army Air Corps in January of 1944. He served in the United States Army of Occupation in Foggia, Italy from 1945 through 1946, and as ‘Slim the Milkman’, he was the daily morning wake-up voice for the troops in the Foggia area.
He returned to Philadelphia and received his B.S. in Education (music) in 1950 and M.S. in 1951 from Temple University. In addition to his continued specialization in piano, he studied choral conducting with Elaine Brown, and he served as the principal accompanist for the Temple University Glee Club, which toured throughout the Eastern US and in Europe as well. He would later continue his studies in conducting with Nadia Boulanger at the Ecoles d’Art Americaine Conservatoire de Musique in Fontainbleau, France. Cal was a charter member of the Singing City Choir of Philadelphia, founded by Elaine Brown, and he continued performing with that group for more than twenty years. In the fall of 1951 he was asked to fill in for a few weeks at Tower Hill School. That “temporary replacement” grew into 27 years as “Mr. Music” at Tower Hill. His high school choirs and vocal ensemble soon developed renown for both skill and repertoire well beyond their young years. In addition to two world premiers specially commissioned for the Tower Hill Choruses, the Choral Ensemble, combined with the Singing City Youth Choir, performed regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra. A highlight of Cal’s career came in 1964 when he was asked to provide and train the youth choir for a performance of Stravinsky’s Persephone with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C, and New York City. A snow storm prevented the regular rehearsal accompanist from getting to The Academy of Music, and Cal played for the rehearsal under the baton of Mr. Stravinsky.
Beyond his involvement at Tower Hill, he also gave generously of his time to high school music education all over the Delaware Valley. Cal moved from Tower Hill in 1977 to serve as Middle and Upper School Vocal Music Director at Friends Select School in Center City Philadelphia where he remained until his retirement in 1989. He was an active member of the Music Educator’s National Conference, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and the American Choral Directors Association, and he was a committed participant and highly respected adjudicator at local high school music festivals and competitions. During the 1970s he was a faculty member at The Temple University Summer Workshop for Gifted High School Pianists and Vocalists. He was a tough but compassionate and gifted teacher, and many of his students went on to distinguished careers in professional music.
Cal was also active in the local music and musical theater scene, conducting many summer shows with The Brandywiners, Ltd at Longwood Gardens, as well as performances with Brecks Mill Players, and The Wilmington Opera Society. He was the conductor of the Kennett Community Symphony Orchestra prior to that ensemble becoming the all-professional Kennett Symphony of Chester County. Since 1983 the husband and wife team of Calvin and Sheila Grady Bourgeault have served as artistic directors and conductors of The Northern Delaware Oratorio Society, and when illness prevented him from continuing his conducting duties, he was named Director Emeritus of the group. From 1968-79 he led The Renaissance Singers of Philadelphia, which performed its own concert season as well as collaborating with the University of Pennsylvania Collegium Musicum on several medieval music dramas.
On the personal side, Cal continued his love for flying, owning three single-engine aircraft over the course of his flying career and maintaining his pilot’s license until 10 years ago. He was a devoted member of the (Quaker) Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends.
Calvin is survived by his wife Sheila, two daughters, Gweneth Bourgeault Rehnborg and her husband Roderick, Lucy Bourgeault King and her husband Albert, their mother Cynthia Bourgeault (his first wife), four grandchildren, two sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful, compassionate staff of Somerford Place for their devoted and loving care throughout Cal’s residence there. There is no way to adequately express our deep appreciation to the Somerford family.
A visitation for family and friends will take place Friday, January 30 from 7 – 9 pm at the Kuzo and Grieco Funeral Home, 250 W. State Street, Kennett Square, PA, and a Quaker Memorial Meeting for Worship will be held Saturday, January 31 at Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends, 401 North West Street, Wilmington, DE at 2:00PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Northern Delaware Oratorio Society; c/o Judith Fullhart, Treasurer 1602 Mendenhall Mill Road Hockessin, DE 19707, Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Frontotemporal Dementia Research, c/o Murray Grossman, MD Dept. of Neurology Hospital University of Pennsylvania 3400 Spruce St. Philadelphia, PA 19104, The Tower Hill Upper School Choral Music Program, 2813 West 17th Street Wilmington, DE 19806, or Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends Inc, 401 N. West Street Wilmington, DE 19801. To send an online condolence, please visit www.griecofuneralhomes.com