Musical icon loses battle with cancer
Bev Medford was leading five different choirs when she got sick.
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Bev Medford, the energetic teacher and pianist who led numerous Cowichan choirs for decades, lost her long battle with cancer Monday night.
She was 78.
The Medford Singers’ leader didn’t go down without a fight, said tenor and friend Ashley Foot.
“I’ve known Bev since I was about eight years old so she’s been part of my life and part of my family.”
Medford — who earned the City of Duncan’s 1999 Perpetual Arts Trophy — was unlike any other music teacher, Foot noted.
“Bev was incredibly generous with her time and love of music,” he said, citing Medford’s contagious love of music.
“Bev said, ‘You may not play football when you’re 92, but I bet you can play the piano.’
“That quote shows she believed music is something required for life.”
Foot noted many locals believe in “the Tao of Bev” after Medford nurtured the talents of many young singers and musicians, some through her work with the Cowichan Music Festival or the South Island Musical Society.
“No one will forget the concerts she did.”
Including long-time Medford Singer Tom Browne.
“Bev was just super,” the veteran bass said. “She was always constructive; I never heard her do any criticizing. She was running five choirs when she got sick.”
Medford’s vocal groups also included the Flying Free Youth Choir, Duncan United Church Choir, Arbutus Ridge Chorale, and the Elder College Choir.
“Every week she used to go to the Cairnsmore lodge with a trio or a duo to do a singalong too,” Browne said.
“She just had so much energy. Part of Bev’s problem was she didn’t know how to say ‘No’ to musical things.”
Services will be held on Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. in Duncan’s Christian Reformed Church on Tzouhalem Road.
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