Charles Barr --in memory

I just read this from the Plain Dealer. Such a tragedy.

 

I met Charles when he was playing and teaching at the Eastern Music Festival. He was very inspiring to be around. I feel fortunate that I got to meet him. He loved the music. I looked up to him a lot.

 

To all:
I would just like to inform everyone that Charles Barr passed away this past friday....he was a teacher of mine and it is a great loss to the bass world.

Charles Barr went to work Friday morning at Severance Hall and played his bass for what turned out to be the last time at a Cleveland Orchestra rehearsal.

Then, said Thomas Sperl, who shared a music stand with him, Barr went home to Cleveland Heights and took an afternoon bicycle ride around his Cedar Hill neighborhood.

Barr lost control of the bike about 2 p.m., Cleveland Heights Police chief Martin Lentz said, and a pickup truck struck and killed him after he veered in front of it. He was 31.

The driver, Sherill Harris, 31, of Cleveland Heights, could not stop in time to avoid hitting Barr, Lentz said.

Medics pronounced Barr dead at the scene of the accident, in the 2300 block of Grandview Avenue, according to Cleveland Heights Fire Capt. Robert Reinholz, less than a half-mile from his home on Lennox Road.

Barr, who had a helmet on, died of "an obvious head injury," Reinholz said.

Barr was a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Before joining the Cleveland Orchestra in September 2002, he played with the New World Symphony in Miami, Fla., and was principal bass of the Charleston (S.C.) Symphony Orchestra.

You will be missed Charles.

 

I just heard the news about Charles. I knew him from subbing in New World and from Charleston. What a tragedy. He was a really great guy. It's scary how something like that can happen.

 

FYI - There will be a memorial service for Charles Barr this Wed. August 16 at 1:00 pm at Severence Hall in Cleveland. All are welcome to attend according to Max Dimoff. I'm still waiting for word on a funeral if anyone has this information.

 

I met Charles while playing in the Charleston Symphony. I had just finished my Masters and he had recently won the position there. He was a good player and a good guy.

He will be missed. I always felt welcome in his section.

RIP Charles

Brian

 

It was about 4 summers ago and I was at Eastern Music Festival and Charles had just gotten out of rehearsal and there was this crazy bassoon player that always had a Razor scooter so Charles thought it would be funny to wheel his bass while on the scooter...he hit a hill and got going pretty fast and had a fall but he saved his bass and walked away with only minor scratches....Charles was a great guy

 

I have known Charles since I was very young....he was the coolest, best bass player in Dallas when I was a kid....he made me want to play the bass well....Charles did everything to the fullest...he was the damn man and he will be missed...

Peter Seymour

 

I always loved hearing Charles play and talking with him while I was in school in Cleveland. I always looked up to him. What a nice guy. Just another reminder to cherish the time we have...
He will be missed.