Tributes Flow For Beloved Australian Conductor Richard Gill, Who Has Died Aged 76

Tributes are flowing for beloved Australian conductor and music educator Richard Gill, who has died at the age of 76.

Gill died from bowel and peritoneal cancer at his home in the Sydney suburb of Stanmore on Sunday, after dozens of his friends and supporters gathered outside his house to perform his favourite song, ‘The Dam Busters March’.

Following news of Gill’s death, tributes spread quickly on social media.

Comedian Adam Hills, who hosted Gill as a guest on the ABC‘s ‘Spicks And Specks’ series, described Gill as “a wonderful, warm human being who made everyone around him love music and life”.

In a tribute posted to Facebook, the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra said Gill “will be remembered for his contagious energy and flamboyant rhetoric”.

“His passing is a profound loss for the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra and Australia alike,” the orchestra wrote.

“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. This loss – like music – evokes, suggests and implies. But what we can do is keep making a multitude of sounds. And in every one of them, we know and celebrate that Richard is still there with us. Thank you, Richard.”

Other tributes to Gill appeared on Twitter:

During his career, Gill was Director Of Chorus at Opera Australia and the Musical Director of the Sydney Chamber Choir. He also conducted the Sydney Youth Orchestra, taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, worked as the dean of the West Australian Conservatorium of Music and was the founding conductor of the Strathfield Symphony Orchestra.

Gill is survived by his wife, Maureen; children Claire and Anthony; and grandchildren Camille, Elise and Antoinette.

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