Alfred Kunz

1929 - 2019  (89 years)

• Name	Alfred Kunz
  Born	26 May 1929
  Gender	Male
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-202495
  Died	2019
  Person ID	I202495	Generations
  Last Modified	19 Dec 2024

  
  

• Notes

  Lifetimes: Alfred Kunz, 89, lived a life of music Alfred Kunz had a wonderful and distinct composing ability, friends recall. His passion for music lasted until the end. by Valerie Hill Waterloo Region Record NEW HAMBURG - During his final days, confined to a hospital bed, his breath rapid and shallow, composer, music teacher and choral conductor, Alfred Kunz, battled his growing incapacity, just as he had been doing for the past two years. When his heart was failing and doctors warned him to rest Alf walked his dog, aptly named "Mozart," mowed the lawn, even rode his bike. Tell him "no" and he usually did the opposite. When his skin inflamed into an itchy rash, Alf ignored it and sat at his computer day after day writing music. But following a medical appointment in late November, Alf was sent directly to hospital. In pain and unable to walk, his singular wish was to return to his New Hamburg home and complete his final concerto. It was a wish that could never be realized and he knew it, understood that his life was coming to an end. "I'm not afraid of dying," Alf told me from his hospital bed, having agreed to be interviewed for a Lifetimes feature knowing he would never see the published piece. Alf was only concerned about leaving any music in his head unwritten. "I have this other orchestral work in me," he said. "My whole life has been composing. "I always had to compose, the music is in me." Alf and I spoke frequently when he was artistic director for the Millenium Choir and regularly selling out concerts. I was always struck by his wit as much as his talent. Alf was truly interested in what you thought and it was clear, he was driven by a deep seated need to write music, to engage audiences. Then there was that irrepressible goofy side. At Christmas, Alf would ask concert goers to wear a red tuque and scarf then stand up and belt out carols during the singalong. Alf, always dapper, usually sported embroidered shirts, embellished with a gold necklace. At one concert, everyone was asked to bring a flashlight and cover the light in coloured cellophane which when lit in a darkened auditorium, was quite magical...... Hill, V. (2019). Lifetimes: Alfred Kunz, 89, lived a life of music. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 20 January 2019, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/9134573-lifetimes-alfred-kunz-89-lived-a-life-of-music/