My Holy Cross experience is full of friends and faculty who made lasting impressions. Among the faculty, there were three mentors and friends who would last long after graduation. They were Suzanna Waldbauer, Joe Maguire and Bruce Miller.

I joined Choir to become the accompanist to the Chamber Singers. I didn't have a name that first year – I was "George's little brother" (my brother, George, was the accompanist before me). For the next three years as accompanist, I got to work with Bruce and the choir. For the next 20 Bruce would remain a family friend, coming often to my parents or brother's house for dinner . . . and leaving with all the leftovers.

My fondest memories of Holy Cross involve the Choir. We worked, travelled, laughed, dated, argued – it was like a great big, sometimes dysfunctional family. Bruce had tremendous confidence in my abilities. He gave me great opportunities, including being the piano soloist for Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. The experience I gained from working with Bruce would carry over to my professional career as a musician and teacher.

I never realized how much I learned from Bruce until I became music director at a Jesuit high school, Georgetown Prep. Many of the things I do here are modeled on the College Choir. In fact, my Christmas concerts are performed in a miniature version of St. Joseph's Chapel (designed by the same architects!). Some of the pieces I selected for my piano solo recordings were pieces performed by the College Choir. Bruce knew how to put on a great show. He expected perfection,
and he got it.

You had to like Bruce. There are so many stories. I can remember one when Bruce's sometimes lack of subtlety was really apparent. We were on tour of Ireland in the middle of January. I got to stay wherever Bruce was staying – which was usually a nicer place – except this one time in Limerick. We were at a boarding house that was heated by a single peat stove in the living room. You had to go outside to get warm. Well, Bruce and I were chatting about how cold it was inside and Bruce decided to ask the "little old Irish lady" if she could do something about the heat – to which she replied, "Oh, is it too warm for you?"

Bruce, you brought together great talent and great friends through the making of great music. You established a tradition that will forever bear your mark.
I always liked the saying "One's life is not measured by its duration but by its donation."


Tony Ashur '82
Chairman, Music Dept.
Georgetown Preparatory School