Roy and Gunilla Barnett
A lifelong interest in music has led UBC alumnus Roy Barnett and his wife Gunilla to make a gift of up to $2 million to the UBC School of Music. A portion of this gift has been used to renovate the Recital Hall. This student performance and rehearsal facility was renamed the Roy Barnett Recital Hall in his honour and reopened with a ceremony and concert on September 15, 2010.
“I felt that the opportunity to fund the renewal of the Recital Hall was an exciting and very effective way to give back to the community,” Roy says.
Roy received a Bachelor of Commerce from UBC in 1961, obtained his CA designation, and worked for Clarkson Gordon in Toronto for several years. He then entered a lengthy career with Novopharm (now Teva Canada), one of Canada’s largest generic pharmaceutical companies.
Roy’s interest in and appreciation of classical music has been a constant throughout his life. “I played and performed classical music on the accordion until my late teens, but knew all along that it was a much less versatile instrument than the piano. In the 1980s, I bought a piano but didn’t have enough time to devote to practicing seriously on it. Time passed, and finally it was my wife, Gunilla, who urged me most persuasively, to start taking lessons. The decision to do so was one of the high points in my life.”
At age 72, Roy enrolled at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Four years later, he plays a range of classical music that includes some Beethoven sonatas, Bach preludes and fugues, and Chopin etudes. “I’m hoping to develop my playing to a high level and am having a lot of fun in the process,” he says.
By designating his gift to renovating the School of Music Recital Hall, Roy is helping ensure that students can bring their performances to a high level as well. The 255-seat concert hall and rehearsal space is occupied nearly every day of the week with student recitals, ensemble programs and performances by faculty, alumni and guest artists.
“Hundreds of events take place in the Recital Hall every year,” says Professor Richard Kurth, Director of the School of Music. “It has been the core of the music building since it opened in 1968 and the renewed space will allow both undergraduate and graduate students to develop as solo and chamber music performers.”
Enhanced acoustics, new audiovisual equipment, updated aesthetics, and increased accessibility make the Roy Barnett Recital Hall an essential space for budding musicians. The enlarged and reconfigured stage will improve the acoustics of students’ performances and allow audience members to benefit from a more intimate experience with the musicians.
When asked about his vision for the Hall, Barnett says, “It’s an important facility to be proud of and should be maintained to a high standard. It is hoped that our funding of renovations to the Hall will ensure that it continues to play a significant role in the education and artistic development of all students in the School of Music.”
