Canadian conductor Boris Brott donates archives to McMaster

Canadian orchestra conductor Boris Brott is donating his archives to McMaster University, a gift that is to be recognized with a special concert May 25.

Brott, a Montreal native who has made Hamilton his base for 40 years, has conducted all over the world, including the Vatican. Brott served as music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra from 1969 to 1990.

“I feel such a strong connection with the city of Hamilton, not just because I live here, but because it has been the epicentre of so much of my creative life, both on stage and off,” he said. “McMaster University is very special to me, as I received my honorary doctorate from there in 1988, something of which I am very proud.”

Brott is donating recordings, correspondence, files, photographs and other materials, some of which date back to his childhood, when he first rose to public notice as a musical prodigy. He said McMaster is the natural home for his archives.

Brott is conductor and music director of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the New West Symphony in California, the McGill Chamber Orchestra in Montreal and is Principal Youth and Family Conductor of the National Arts Centre of Canada. He is also artistic director of the Brott Music Festival.

Brott is to conduct the May 25 celebratory concert for invited guests at McMaster’s Convocation Hall.

Experts at the William Ready Special Collections and Research Archives are now cataloguing the first shipment of archival material for use by researchers at the University and beyond.

“Boris Brott has had a long, varied and distinguished career. He is recognized internationally as a musician par excellence,” said McMaster’s university librarian Jeffrey Trzeciak. “The McMaster University Library is pleased and honored to house his archives and to make them publicly available. At McMaster the archives will find a happy home alongside our many other international and Canadian music collections.”