Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
February 21, 2019

Conductor, composer, columnist, educator, impresario, activist, mentor and friend: these were just some of the roles Richard Gill fulfilled in his remarkable life; a life tragically cut short by cancer in October last year, when he was just 76. While Gill’s life by modern standards was short, he accomplished more than most mere mortals could in several lifetimes.

Richard Gill. Photo supplied

Given his enormous energy and influence in so many different areas of Australia’s musical life, it was not surprising to see Hamer Hall filled to the gunwales with those who wanted to pay their respects to this amazing musical dynamo.

Interspersed among the spoken tributes were a number of attractively varied musical tributes which represented a cross-section of the Australian classical music scene, ranging from the emerging musicians of the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian National Academy of Music, to the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, through to Victorian Opera, Orchestra Victoria and the Melbourne Symphony, all of whom had benefitted from Gill’s advocacy and professional involvement.

After a welcome from Arts Centre CEO, Claire Spencer, the former Victorian premier, Steve Bracks recalled Gill’s...