Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts To Hold A Memorial Service for Dr. Bruce Bellingham

A musical memorial service to celebrate the life of Dr. Bruce Bellingham will be held in von der Mehden RecitAl Hall on the UConn Campus in Storrs at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 10, 2010. Collegium Musicum, under the direction of Eric Rice, will perform, as will UConn faculty members Kangho Lee (cello), MinYoung Lee (piano), and Constance Rock (soprano), the Willimantic Amphibian Jazz Ensemble and the Hop River Chamber Players.

Dr. Bellingham, a Coventry resident and professor emeritus in the UConn Music Department, died suddenly on January 3. A long-time patron of Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts and a founding member of its Co-Stars volunteer organization, he extended his support through many programs, especially the Jorgensen Outreach for Youth (JOY!). With his wife, Deborah Walsh Bellingham, he received the Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2009. Dr. Bellingham also helped audiences to develop a greater understanding of the classical milieu through more than a decade of pre-concert talks at Jorgensen. Out of deference, these talks will be cancelled for the duration of the spring season. Jorgensen Director Rod Rock said that "the entire Jorgensen community will miss his warmth, his expertise and his deep commitment to the arts."

Dean David Woods of the School of Fine Arts observed that "Bruce was a major force in the cultural life of the Storrs and Willimantic communities for many years. We will remember his wit and the engaging conversations that we had with him over the years at concerts and recitals. He will be deeply missed."

Donations may be made in Bruce Bellingham's memory to the UConn Foundation-Jorgensen Director's Fund, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, University of Connecticut, 2132 Hillside Road, U-3104, Storrs, CT, 06269-3104, or to the Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association at 202 Lewiston Avenue, Willimantic, CT 06226.