Joyce Barrett was known to thousands as a physician, author, and social justice activist; but to 100 of her closest friends, Joyce was known most intimately and laudably as a singer.
After twenty-five years of capable and impassioned service in the field of obstetrics, Joyce retired in 1997 and revived a lifelong interest in choral music. She had devotedly taken her young children and grandchildren to performances of Handel’s Messiah every Christmas, and finally decided that it was her turn to sing this immortal work. She joined the Peterborough Singers with her daughter, Liza, in 1999.
Fourteen years later, dozens of Joyce’s fellow choristers slipped out of the concert hall and flocked to her bedside to join her in her final “Amen Chorus”. . .
