[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E86-E87]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING DR. BRUCE BELLINGHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 26, 2010

  Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the passing of a 
great educator and true champion for the arts hi eastern Connecticut. 
Dr. Bruce Bellingham of Coventry,

[[Page E87]]

esteemed professor, consummate musician and beloved husband, passed 
away on January 3, 2010.
  A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Dr. Bellingham was deeply dedicated to 
allowing people of all ages to understand and appreciate music in that 
same manner that he did. He was a member of the American Federation of 
Musicians, the Viola da Gamba Society of Great Britain, an associate 
member of Early Music America, and President of the Viola da Gamba 
Society of America. He joined the University of Connecticut faculty in 
1974 and was a Professor Emeritus of Music History in UConn's School of 
Fine Arts.
  His passion for the music and culture of the past was matched only by 
his contributions to the present. In 1976, Dr. Bellingham directed the 
Storrs Collegium Musicum, where music of the late Middle Ages, 
Renaissance and Baroque periods was performed on original or 
masterfully recreated instruments of the era. Around this same time, he 
founded and conducted the Willimantic Orchestra. In 1983, he celebrated 
the 150th anniversary of Willimantic's incorporation by bringing local 
talent together to perform Burton Leavitt's operetta The Frogs of 
Windham.
  Dr. Bellingham was also a passionate volunteer who used his great 
knowledge of culture and history to meaningfully engage members of his 
community. He was a long-time patron of the Jorgenson Center for the 
Performing Arts and founding member of its CoStars volunteer 
organization. He actively participated in youth outreach programs at 
Jorgenson and taught at UConn's Center for Learning in Retirement as 
well as the Adult Learning Program in West Harford. Dr. Bellingham and 
his wife, Deborah Walsh Bellingham, were recipients of the School of 
Fine Arts Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2009 for their support and 
service.
  Dr. Bellingham will be dearly missed by his students, fellow 
educators, and the artistic community of eastern Connecticut. The depth 
of affection for Bruce was visibly on display January 10, 2010 at his 
memorial service at von der Mehden Recital Hall on the University of 
Connecticut campus that filled to capacity. I ask my colleagues to join 
me in mourning the loss and honoring the life of Bruce Bellingham.

                          ____________________