Musical Memories

Formed through classical music training and classic rock intrigue and being challenged and shaped through an HIV-positive diagnosis in 1996, T (aka 'Timothy Bartsch') has shared his incredible spiritually transformational story through multiple iterations of song, drama, and spoken word ever since.
At age 20, T was beginning his cello studies at the Hochschule fur Musik in Detmold, Germany. Upon learning of his HIV-positive status, and considering the trauma of how he contracted it, he felt his classical music studies were over.

He came back to Vancouver, Canada, not knowing how long he would live, let alone love again, T gravitated to his other musical love ~ classic rock ~ and started writing songs and singing. His first song was ‘Southern Time,’ expressing T’s yearning for equity for all in our world.

Since T had only known classical music and its workings up to this point, his classic rock songs turned out to be more in a classical music/classic rock style. As he likes to describe it ~ 'Psychedelic Jazzy-Classical, Musical-Theateresque, Art-Rock' ~ AKA ‘21st Century Social Classical.’ T's biggest influences are Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Radiohead, Nina Simone, Frank Zappa, Franz Liszt, and Frédéric Chopin among many others.

In his late 20s, T realized he could tell his story would best in 'rock opera' form after joining bands. T produced a multimedia stage production of 'Southern Time' for a 7-day run in December 2005 in Vancouver, which proved the rock opera’s market viability.

'Southern Time,' now named ‘Dreamer,’ tells the story of how T acquired HIV, what living with it has been like for him, and the social and spiritual metamorphoses he experienced during his 25 years post-diagnosis.

T, besides sustaining himself and his family in part by receiving Ontario Disability Support Program, earns his living by teaching music and playing gigs. Your support is very much appreciated in T realizing his dreams!