It is with great sadness that I must report the passing of Bruce Montgomery.
He died suddenly on June 21st, 2008 while at his beloved home in Maine. He had celebrated his 81st birthday the previous day.
The number of lives touched by this amazing, one-of-a-kind man is truly countless. The world is a lesser place without him and he will be deeply, sorely missed by many.
Plans are underway to organize a memorial service in his honor at The University of Pennsylvania (see details below). Monty served The University with distinction for 50 years, and was very recently honored there by having one of the three theaters at The Annenberg Center renamed The Bruce Montgomery Studio Theater. A dedication gala was held that featured the performance of many of Monty's original musical compositions, as well as the personal musings of Monty himself. It was a wonderful evening and it is a great joy to know that he was alive to see it happen.
The memorial service for Bruce Montgomery is now scheduled for Sunday October 5th at Irvine Auditorium, located at 34th & Walnut Streets on The University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. A pre-service reception, open to all, is planned for 1:00 pm, with the service currently scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm. We ask all friends of Monty's to journey to Philadelphia for this grand, final tribute.
In the coming weeks we will be ironing out additional details for the memorial service, and will be publishing on this site a mechanism to allow would-be attendees to register their intention to come to this event, which will feature performances of several of Monty's favorite pieces by some of the many performers whose lives and careers he guided. The family will be reaching out to specific performers and speakers very soon. Those who would like to participate in the memorial service are encouraged to contact me (Brendan) at webmaster@montyart.com.
Anyone interested in being kept up to date via email of all news regarding the memorial service are encouraged to click here to subscribe to this site's general mailing list.
On July 8th, Monty's family released this open letter to Monty's family and friends.
Those wishing to contact Monty's family may do so by sending mail in care of his sister, Elizabeth Thomas, to the address below:
P.O. Box 1565
Blue Bell, PA 19422
In lieu of flowers Monty's family requests that contributions be made to:
The Glee Club Endowment Fund #402396
c/o Platt Student Performing Arts House
160 Stouffer Commons
3702 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Known as the 150 x 150 Campaign this fund was established to honor the Penn Glee Club's 150 years of continuous operation.
Those wishing for more information on the campaign or Glee Club alumni who wish to update their contact information are encouraged
to contact GCGC President Robert Biron at gcgc@penngleeclub.com.
Direct online donation to the Glee Club's endowment fund may be done here.
Click here to read the obituary for Monty published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, June 25th.
- Brendan O'Brien, webmaster@montyart.com
