It can be difficult to get world-famous musicians together at the same place and time, but renowned performers quickly gathered outside the Sydney home of internationally beloved conductor and music educator Richard Gill.

On Friday night the associate principal trumpet for Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Paul Goodchild, called his friend Pat Devery, an esteemed flugelhornist, and told him Gill was close to the end. “Can we do something?” Goodchild asked Devery.

A few phonecalls and a Facebook post later, with the blessing of Gill’s family, Devery managed to organise an impromptu gathering outside Gill’s home on Saturday morning. More than 70 people brought their instruments and music stands to perform for Gill one last time.

I am extremely sad to hear of the passing of Richard Gill, an irreplaceable treasure of Australian music education. He was someone who inspired me to start a school choir for the undeniable personal and academic benefits to students, but also for the sake of joy. Vale. https://t.co/oi1HJXm6Ew — Bronwyn Ryrie Jones (@ryrie_jones) October 27, 2018

They played one of his favourite pieces, The Dam Busters March, along with Waltzing Matilda. The NSW police band, on their way to a gig, heard about the tribute and made a detour to join in. Principal timpani for the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, David Clarence, also played.

“People travelled from Sutherland and northern Sydney to play for him, he was just such a great guy who everyone respected,” Devery said.

“He’s been at the forefront of promoting music education in this country and overseas, he started mentorship programs and really believed in the importance of every child having access to music education.”

Gill specialised in opera, musical theatre and choral training, often appearing on television shows like Spicks and Specks and Q&A to bring these styles to wider audiences. In September Gill announced a new independent primary school would be established in his name in Muswellbrook, 243km north of Sydney in the Hunter region. The school is due to open in 2020 and music and physical education will be cornerstones of the curriculum.

Richard Gill on Q&A “Everyone can do it! Don’t give up on music.” https://t.co/Kz6fE5XBLm via @YouTube — ABC Q&A (@QandA) October 27, 2018

“He used to say music took students into the world of the intangible,” Devery said.

Devery is general manager of the NSW School Band festival, of which Gill has been patron for 15 years.

As Devery and other musicians played, Gill’s wife, Maureen, and their children opened the doors and windows of the home for Gill to hear. Many of Gill’s former students gathered. Gill died hours later on Sunday morning, age 76. He had been receiving care for colorectal and peritoneal cancer.

Gill was the founder and first artistic director of Victorian Opera, and created the national music teacher mentoring program, a scheme funded by the government and designed to increase access to quality music education for all Australian primary school students. He was also director of the Sydney Chamber Choir, head of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, and was associated with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Australian National Academy of Music.

Australia has lost a truly magnificent human being this morning. You'd be hard pressed to name anybody who has done more for public music education in this country. A brilliant teacher, delightful person, force of nature, absolute legend. Vale. https://t.co/T4LUGLoYdr — Leigh Sales (@leighsales) October 27, 2018

Music writer and critic Bernard Zuel said: “Few – maybe no one – could be said to have introduced, touched and inspired as many people with music, and his passion for it, as Richard Gill”.



“Musicians, non-musicians, people who didn’t even know much they loved, and how much they could love, music,” Zuel wrote on Twitter. “What a legacy.”

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra wrote in a statement: “His passion for education and love of classical music was infectious, and his legacy will be felt for many years by our audiences, as well as the musicians and staff who worked with him.”

In 1994 Gill received an Order of Australia Medal, and in August he was awarded the Arts Leadership award at a ceremony held by Creative Partnerships Australia at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His final public performance was in July, when he led the Sydney Flash Mob Choir through the Beatles’ When I’m Sixty-Four at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.

In a tribute posted to Facebook, the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra wrote that Gill “spent a life systematically addressing the widespread shortcomings and neglect of music in Australia’s education system”.

Vale Richard Gill.

Sad to read the loss of this great man. @DWS_80 & I met him for coffee in the lead up to the @LE_Aust conference in May. We were inspired by his passion for music education & reaching out to kids on the edges, inspiring a love of music. https://t.co/yO02IAc9TN — Anne Knock (@AnneKnock) October 27, 2018

“He was convinced of the positive effects of music on young people,” the post said.

“Like the fading of a beautiful sustained note, or that magical silence following a fabulous performance, a loss as significant as Richard Gill cannot be adequately explained or understood.”