Canadian vocal coach Stuart Hamilton dies on New Year's Day

He was 87.

He passed away after fighting a 10-year battle with cancer, reports said.

Death of Hamilton was an award-winning Toronto-based pianist and radio broadcaster.

His death is being mourned by the Canadian Opera Community.

Hamilton had been associated with Canadian singers, including Lois Marshall and Maureen Forrester, and played concerts across Canada, New York and London as a soloist.

In an emotional phone call with CBC, Hamilton's sister, actress Patricia Hamilton spoke of his love for singers and his generous spirit.

Robert Cooper, who produced Saturday Afternoon at the Opera for three decades was quoted as saying by CBC News, "Stuart was a great mentor and a great friend to everybody. He was a gracious, urbane, gentle human being with boundless operatic knowledge."

Bass baritone Robert de Vrij, executive director for Opera Canada magazine throughout the 1990s, tried to visit Hamilton at the hospital on New Year's Day but learned about the death of Hamilton earlier that day.

A post on the Facebook page of Robert de Vrij read: “Dear, kind, loving Man,Thank you so much for everything you did for this crazy, yet exquisitely beautiful, art form.God bless and keep you, Stuart.”

Robert de Vrij's another post read, “Stuart Hamilton is responsible for so many singers actually having careers; both through performing opportunities he created with Opera in Concert, and through his brilliant coaching and dedicated commitment to the success of young, and sometimes ageing, aspiring Opera singers. Dear Stuart, you shall be sorely missed. Flights of Angels, Sweet Prince.”

Hamilton had been the recipient to the Order of Canada in 1984 for his contribution to the country's music.

He received Toronto Arts Award in 1989 and was the recipient of the Governor General's Award commemorating Canada's 125th year.

He is best known for inspiring other singers in Canada's music community.

Many took to social media to remember his musical impact and well-known affinity for leather clothing.

"I'm now imagining him, the confirmed atheist, surprised but nevertheless coaching all the singers in heaven with tremendous aplomb ... wearing white leather chaps and a magnificent pair of wings," wrote mezzo-soprano Ramona Carmelly in a Facebook post.

Carmelly told CBC Toronto that she had been Hamilton's student for more than 20 years.

She said that the most wonderful thing about Stuart is 'he believed in us more than we believed in ourselves'.

Toronto-based pianist and vocal coach David Eliakis wrote in a blog post on Sunday, “Stuart Hamilton was not only an incredible coach and operatic encyclopedia, but he was such a huge inspiration to me as well. He lived his life his way, and never lost touch with himself during his incredible journey, and that to me seems like such an accomplishment, especially in this world that we as artists live in, where we are constantly judged.”

Hamilton leaves behind two sisters, Patricia Hamilton and Dorothy Marshall, and his nephew actor Ben Carlson.

(Reported by Asha Bajaj, Image of Stuart Hamilton: Wikimedia Commons)