A lifelong musician, pianist and meticulous teacher was a top organist, performing for shows, weddings and funerals as well as the Wesley Methodist Church.

Lloyd Matthew, a former music director at the Bermuda School of Music, also taught at secondary, middle and primary school levels across the island.

He gave private piano lessons and developed unique ways to get youngsters interested in music, such as organising bell choirs, with groups ringing bells of different pitch.

In his teaching and directing of choirs, he was known to be a stickler for excellence.

“Music is very important to all young people and it requires the right individual to bring out their talent and their gifts,” he told The Royal Gazette in 2007.

“I believe that teachers' personalities play a major role. Young people look for genuineness in a teacher, and want to make sure that the teacher is caring.”

He helped to form the Bermuda Opera Society, and founded an ecumenical choral group that performed locally and abroad, The Ensemble Singers. He was also the musical director of a vocal group, Word.

Mr Matthew was awarded the Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour in 1993 for his contributions to the island. At the time, he joked to the Mid-Ocean News that he had initially taken the announcement as a hoax.

His interest in music was nurtured at an early age by his cousin, Edna Conyers, the organist at St Mary’s Church in Warwick, where he would eventually head a major fundraising campaign.

Raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist faith, he attended The Bermuda Institute, then gained his bachelor's degree in music education at Walla Walla College in Washington State, followed by a master’s in music education from Andrews University in Michigan.

After returning to Bermuda, he spent 12 years as a music teacher at the former Warwick Secondary School before branching out to classrooms all over the island.

Mr Matthew’s lifelong passion for the organ made him a specialist in a rare field, and he consulted with many churches on restoring the instrument — in particular, the organ at the Wesley Methodist Church in Hamilton, the most powerful pipe organ in Bermuda.

His musical career was halted seven years ago by a severe stroke. After spending two years in hospital, he was supported at home by a dedicated team of caregivers who became extended family, along with close friends.

One such friend was Linda Manders, who met Mr Matthew in Warwick Secondary, where she was head of the fine arts department and a dance teacher.

She said he was highly perceptive with a sharp memory and able to “analyse a person just by observing them”.

“There were two sides to Lloyd,” Ms Manders said. “Lloyd was a very, very fun-loving person. All his friends and colleagues knew him as the life of the party.

“He was also very private, but loved people and had friends from all walks of life. Music took him everywhere. He played in every single church, not just one.”

Mr Matthew never married or had children, but was loved by children in his classes, combining strictness and love of music with a calm demeanour.

Ms Manders said: “His choirs were impeccable. I never heard choirs sound like that.

“If there was a young person that could sing or play, he would invite them to his events and give them a platform for performance.

“He’d always encourage them; he was very resourceful in that way.

“Every concert, he would have a new person there, once someone had come into his sphere. That was Lloyd.”

Mr Matthew was also multitalented, with a love of Christmas and Easter that came with decorating and floral arrangements.

He tended his garden as a sea of flowers, learning their botanical names, and his Garden in Bloom 2000 Award held a special place of pride.

The tribute for his funeral concluded: “His life was a shining example of talent, perseverance and compassion.

“He leaves behind a community for ever enriched by his music, mentorship and warm spirit.”

Albert Lloyd Matthew, a musician, teacher, organist and former head of the Bermuda School of Music, was born on March 3, 1950. He died on June 2, 2025, aged 75