Death of Carl Horton ‘a devastating loss to our music community’
Respected Hamilton pianist, composer, arranger and instructor Carl Horton has died at the age of 57.
His longtime collaborator and friend, singer Jude Johnson, said Horton was struck by a sudden heart attack Saturday morning while on business in Quebec.
“This is devastating to our music community,” Johnson said. “I’ve lost my best friend, deepest confidant and musical collaborator.”
Horton was the director of Recording Arts Canada, a music production school with campuses in Toronto and Montreal, as well as an instructor in the faculty of music at Hamilton’s Mohawk College.
A native of Warsaw, Ind., Horton moved to Hamilton with his family as a youth, attending Westmount Secondary School. A self-taught musician, Horton began his musical career in 1979, performing alongside many of Canada’s top musicians including Ronnie Hawkins, Ian Thomas and Salome Bey.
He was a familiar face to Hamilton audiences, performing hundreds of concerts on piano alongside Johnson. Horton ac- companied Johnson on nine of her 10 albums, including her most recent “My Roots are Showing.” The last show he played on a local stage was Sonny Del-Rio’s annual Christmas benefit at the Bay City Music Hall on Dec. 3.
“There wasn’t a piano in the Hamilton region that Carl hadn’t touched,” Johnson said.
Horton wrote numerous film scores, including “Home for Christmas,” starring Mickey Rooney, and the award-winning British short film “Breakfast with Monica.” He also scored many television shows for CITY-TV, LIFE, Bravo and CHCH.
During the 1980s, Horton assisted in writing a curriculum for music appreciation for the Hamilton Wentworth Separate School Board and became musical director for Hamilton’s Geritol Follies, producing, directing and playing piano for the annual seniors’ revue for more than 25 years.
During his career, Horton performed before Prince Charles, former prime minister Jean Chrétien and former president George H.W. Bush.
Horton is survived by Tina, his wife of 33 years, and two daughters, Alexandra (Allie), 27, and Anastasia (Annie) 22, as well as three brothers Evon, of Florida, Dan, of Niagara Falls, and Allan, of Oakville.
“He was a kind and tender person and loved by everyone,” Tina Horton told The Spectator. “He would come through the door following a show, look at us and pronounce ‘Here I am, you lucky people.’”
A musical celebration of Horton’s life is being planned for Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m., at the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton, 170 Dundurn St. N.