Nunc Dimittis

Brock Burroughs died September 2 at Bailey Boushay house in Seattle, after a battle with AIDS. Born in Hammond, IN, on September 23, 1951, he attended the Seminary of Holy Cross High School, South Bend, and the Bishop Noll Institute. In 1973 he received the BA in music from Notre Dame University, where he studied with Arthur Lawrence. At the University of Oregon in Eugene his teachers were Margaret Irwin-Brandon, Joan Benson, and Guy Bovet. He was awarded the Close Fellowship and received the MMus in 1981. In 1982 he was appointed organist of Holy Rosary Parish in Edmonds, WA, where he organized a recital series in 1990. As a harpsichordist he often performed the music of the English virginalists, Frescobaldi, and the early French school. Burroughs was a semi-finalist in the 1982 performance competition of the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society. He built three instruments for himself during his time in Eugene, and in recent years was most often heard in his two ensembles, Musica Myopia and Les Chaise Musicaux. He assisted as organist at St. James Cathedral and at St. Alphonsus Parish (Ballard), and for many years sang in the Compline choir at St. Mark's Cathedral. A memorial mass was celebrated at St. James Cathedral, Seattle on September 23, Burroughs' 44th birthday.