Fen Watkin, longtime music director at Charlottetown Festival, dead at 96

The P.E.I. arts community is mourning the death of Fen Watkin, a founding member of the team that brought Anne of Green Gables The Musical to Charlottetown in 1965.

He died Thursday in Toronto at the age of 96.

Watkin was a virtuoso pianist and a highly-accomplished arranger, conductor, and musical director involved in more than 200 original Canadian productions. He served for 12 years as associate music director of The Charlottetown Festival and 28 years as music director, spanning more than four decades from 1965 to the late 2000s.

Dean Constable, general manager of theatre for the Confederation Centre of the Arts, was in his first year as an assistant during Watkin's last year working at the festival.

Reverence for shows

Constablesaid he remembers Watkin for his humour, reverence for the showsandunwavering attention to detail.

"After 40 years working with the music, he still insisted that everything was done properly and the way that it should be," Constable said.

"It's not like he was getting relaxed with it or anything even after all those years. It was still very important for him to do it and to do it the best way possible."

Constable said Watkin lived "a wonderful life to the fullest." He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2005 for his contribution to musical theatre.

"I think he lived life the way a lot of us really should have."

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