Gregory Furlong

Musician, environmentalist, loving husband and father, son and brother, uncle and friend, Gregory Furlong died February 2, 2022, age 62, after a short illness.

Greg shared his joy in music all his life. Inspired by his mother, who filled their house with art, music and poetry, and his father, who played clarinet and saxophone, Greg started playing trombone and piano as a teenager and went on to study music at the University of Toronto (Bachelor of Music with a specialty in composition, 1989) and the Royal Conservatory of Music. His commissions included several arrangements for the Etobicoke College Institute that were performed on tour in South America in the early 1990s; he also wrote a Euphonium Quintet that premiered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2000.

Greg cofounded and wrote arrangements for the Toronto Trombone Ensemble, was a cofounder and musical director of Song Cycles (The Choir on Bikes), and was a section lead at Trinity St. Paul’s United Church on Bloor Street and for other Toronto-area church choirs. Greg returned to Ottawa in the early 2000s, where he co-founded and was the musical director of the choir Just Voices; he also played trombone and tuba with and wrote arrangements for local groups. Over the years, Greg played with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the Kanata Symphony Orchestra, the Ottawa Community Concert Band and the Polished Brass Quintet, among others. He also spent many Sunday afternoons playing the piano and singing old favourites with his mother, Audrey, and other residents of Unitarian House.

Guided by an early awareness of the threats to the living world, Greg was a life-long environmentalist. He was one of the founders of the worker co-op Bikes on Wheels in Toronto’s Kensington Market, and also trained bike mechanics in Cuba as part of the project Bicicletas Cruzando Fronteras (Bicycles Crossing Borders). He worked for more than two decades on making homes more energy efficient, first with GreenSaver in Toronto and then for many years as the technical lead with Envirocentre in Ottawa. Greg graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Ottawa in 1981.    

Greg leaves behind his wife Michelle and daughter Vela, his mother Audrey (née Duggan), siblings Sheila, Pat (Laurie), Deirdre (Dan), Mark and Claire, many nieces and nephews, and many other dear relatives and friends. He is predeceased by his father, John Furlong.

There will be a private burial service this winter and a celebration of Greg’s life in the spring.  

Donations may be made in Greg’s honour to Orkidstra (orkidstra.ca/donate/).