The Owen Sound community will remember and honour a legend in the local music scene today.
Edouard Bartlett passed away last weekend at the age of 91.
Many remember him as a demanding teacher and exceptional violinist.
But more are likely to point to his enormous influence on the Owen Sound music community, and specifically in creating a youth symphony.
Donna Steinacher remembers in the 1930’s, when she was nine years old and first learning to play the violin.
Her teacher showed her a picture of Bartlett holding a violin, and a few years later, Bartlett was in Owen Sound as a high school music teacher.
He moved to Kingston, but eventually came back, and became a significant part of the Georgian Bay Symphony as music director.
Steinacher says his legacy will live on, as he was a master instrument maker.
She says the violin she plays is one he made in 1982, and that many members of the symphony still play instruments he made.
Former student Keira MacArthur remembers Bartlett as a formidable force who did not let red-tape stop him, and never saw anything important as impossible.
Current director of the Georgian Bay Youth Symphony, Richard Maskall, remembers how Bartlett helped him when he first arrived on the local music scene and passed the baton to him to create a youth orchestra.
Maskall says Bartlett was never the kind of man who wanted accolades for his accomplishments.
He remembers during a concert at Division Street United Church when he motioned for the symphony to give Bartlett a standing ovation — and he says Bartlett looked “pissed” at him for doing it.
A funeral service for Bartlett is being held Saturday at 11 AM at Tannahill Funeral Home in Owen Sound.
