Vincent Pe_rr figmember when Monday, Oct. 24,1994 Victorian aentCeman was known as 'the Professor' i Old habits die hard. So when V.P. (Vincent) Hunt met a woman on the street, be it January or July, he always removed his hat be- fore speaking to her. Hunt was the musical direc- tor for Albert College and the organisVchoir director at Bridge Street United (Method- ist) Church for many years. He was also appointed music di- rector of city schools. According to the book, Bridging the Years, A History of Bridge Street Unite^/Meth- odist Church, Belleville, 1815- 1990, written by Rev. J. Wil- liam Lamb, Hunt came to the city in 1899 to assume those positions and became a fixture on the local music scene. The short, classically trained gen- tleman with a moustache, came to be called simply "the professor." The affinity Hunt showed towards the Methodist Church came naturally. He was born in Whitby to a Methodist min- ister and his wife. He had studied organ in Toronto and played at several churches there. He was also an original member of the Royal Conservatory of Music, which opened in 1887, and became one of its first teachers. After his training in Toron- to, Hunt studied in Leipzig, Germany, at the world-famous Conservatory of Music (founded by Felix Men- delssohn) under the tutelage of Carl Reineke. In 1907, the organist passed the required examinations and became an Associate of the American Guild of Organists, allowing him to place the let- ters AAGrO after his name. The following year the pro- fessor moved west and between 1908 and 1916 taught at the University of Alberta in Edm- onton. During these years he was also the organist for Mc- Dougall Church. Perhaps he missed Belleville, because Hunt re- turned to the city in 1916 or 1917 and resumed his duties at Bridge Street Methodist Church and Albert College. During the successive years, this master of the big pipes be- came director of the Belleville Philharmonic Society for local schools and produced oratories of Handel's, Haydn's and Men- delssohn's, as well as shorter works and cantatas. In 1908, Belleville was vis- ited by Sir Frederick Bridge, organist of Westminster Ab- bey, for a music festival. Hunt must have returned to the city for the event because he orga- nized and trained a large cho- rus for the occasion, receiving strong words of praise from Bridge. Prior to that, in 1900, Hunt brought the South African Boy Choir to the church. He also brought many other nationally and internationally known or- ganists, soloists and choral groups to Belleville. In 1937, "the professor" re- tired from the job as organist and Alec Gordon took over from him. For the last three years of his life, Hunt lived with family in Pittsburgh and Toronto. He died Oct. 4, 1952, in Toronto, in his 94th year. Vincent Pern/ Hunt wnrldnn hie manio -»«• Get