Barrett Fund

Joyce Barrett was known to many people in Peterborough as a physician, author, and social justice activist; but to 100 of her closest friends, she was known most intimately as a singer.  Joyce was a highly esteemed and much-loved member of the Peterborough Singers, and while living with cancer, the power of singing maintained her unwavering spirit to the end.

Joyce’s vibrant, songful spirit continues to sing on in the voices of the people that her legacy empowers.  Following her death, Joyce’s family quietly and matter-of-factly made a sizable donation to the Peterborough Singers in her memory.  There was no hoopla or ribbon cutting.  As her husband John said, “That’s sort of the way Joyce was.  If something needed to be done, she would do it.  She’d just say ‘Tell me what needs to be done’ and she would do it.  That was Joyce.”

The Peterborough Singers asked the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough to manage the Barrett Fund, which is being used for a purpose that was dear to Joyce: the funding of guest musicians, particularly young, emerging artists, to participate as soloists in Peterborough Singers’ concerts.   “My mom was always very interested in helping young people and supporting them in furthering their education” recalls Joyce’s daughter Liza.  “Supporting the young, emerging artists who are coming up through the Singers, helping them launch their solo careers, that’s absolutely something that Mom would love to see happen.”

You can support Joyce’s passion by making your own contribution to the Barrett Fund.