On Monday, March 3, 2024, ECC hosted an event commemorating the death of Matthew Bishop, conductor and artistic director for the Elgin Youth Choir at ECC. 

The community was faced with the difficult news of his passing on February 24, 2024. 

At 34 years old, Matthew left a great legacy as a teacher and artistic mentor. Bishop worked as an educator and musician, serving as a teacher at Dundee Middle School. At the same time, he dedicated his career to serving children with special needs, showing them the beauty of music.

Bishop studied music at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Music Education. His career was filled with music, composition and musical arrangements and sharing his musical passion with others, especially young people.

In 2018, Matthew was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Elgin Master Chorale Children’s Chorus, currently known as the Elgin Youth Choir. Among all his duties, Bishop also served local community theaters and was the musical director of several theater organizations.

Matthew Bishop, as many of his students described him, was a charismatic man and a phenomenal conductor. 

“He was encouraging and positive, and I was impressed by how well he worked with the children and how he kept them motivated and focused on the task of creating beautiful music,” said Kathy Orona, mother of one of the children who belonged to the choir that Bishop directed in ECC.

“He was a great teacher and very funny. I really liked going to choir with him,” said eight-year-old Enzo Orona, a Bishop student and Orona’s son.

Bishop dedicated his life to teaching hundreds of students the love of music, in turn selflessly leaving love and kindness as a legacy. 

His friends and colleagues describe him as a person with the natural gift of serving others.

“His love for music was infinite. If he hadn’t loved music the way he loved it, he wouldn’t have done all the things he did,” said Alberto Mantovano, Bishop’s close friend.

Bishop’s coworkers describe him as charismatic and incredibly skilled at making everyone feel comfortable. He had the ability to create a family-oriented work environment where everyone who worked with him had the privilege of enjoying his energy.

“Matt, he’s the only person I’ve ever met with the ability to make you feel like the main character, in a good way,” Mantovano mentioned. 

“Be yourself, show others how great you are” would be the words Bishop would keep saying aptly to Mantovano.

Without a doubt, Matthew Bishop will live on in everyone’s memory. At his young age Bishop impacted the lives of all his students, family and friends, leaving with them the legacy of kindness, love of music and giving their best.

According to Mantovano, Bishop’s favorite animal was the elephant, since he said that these animals have an extraordinary memory. This is why Bishop always wore a necklace with the figure of the elephant. As an act of appreciation towards his student friends, Bishop always gave them something that had an elephant as a symbol. 

Bishop will be remembered for his great dedication to music and education, where he served the community in multiple ways with his art, bringing joy and love. The great legacy that Bishop leaves as a teacher, as a friend and as an artistic mentor will continue to be present in the lives of all those who knew him.

“Matt left in all of us the teaching that every act of empathy, kindness and kindness can go so far for anyone,” Mantovano expressed.

“Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine” – Thomas Carlycle