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Following the demise of the Ballymena Male Voice Choir in 1924, the Seven Towers Male Voice Choir was formed with Mr John Kirkpatrick as trainer and conductor. William Livingstone took over as conductor in 1951 with his daughter Heather, at the age of 14, as accompanist until she left to further her studies at the London School of Music. When Heather qualified with an Honour’s Degree in Music and later became Lecturer in Music at The University of Ulster, she still maintained her close connection with the choir where she met and later married Jack Clarke. Heather was associated with the choir until her death in 1984, leaving behind many choral arrangements to be enjoyed by the choir. Under William Livingstone’s talented leadership the choir not only gave concerts and recitals all over the province but also entered the international choral arena, winning the Male Voice Class in Cork International Music Festival in 1960 and 1961. The choir was also semi finalist in the radio competition “Let the people sing.” Raymond Marshall, a solo singer acclaimed all over Northern Ireland, became conductor in 1965 and under him the choir toured in Canada in the Toronto area in 1979, Wales in 1980, and Scotland in 1984 and 1986. When Raymond Marshall took ill, the choir fulfilled their arranged tour of Germany in 1988 with David Mudd as Conductor. Following Raymond’s retirement for health reasons, Miss Elizabeth Strahan became conductor in 1989 and under her leadership the choir went on a tour of Canada in 1990. Due to work commitments Elizabeth resigned in 1992. Mrs Thelma Strange, who had been accompanist, was then appointed Musical Director in 1992 with 16 years old Kathryn Clarke, daughter of Heather, and grand-daughter of William Livingstone, filling the role as accompanist until she left to further her studies at Manchester in 1994. Since then our accompanists have been Mrs Hilda Groves, Mrs Naomi Millar and the very talented Miss Rea Shiels. Since Thelma took charge, the choir has been on tour to Scotland and Southern Ireland on numerous occasions. In 2010, the choir performed in the Cavan Crystal Hotel on the Easter Saturday evening, finishing the weekend by leading the praise in Kylemore Cathedral on Easter Sunday morning. In 2018, Thelma was awarded the BEM, for services to Music, and in 2019 took the decision to retire from her role as Musical Director. The choir were delighted when Rea Shiels took over the role of Musical Director at the start of the 2019/2020 season, and we welcomed Leah Greer to the accompanist's chair. We look forward to many successful years under the guidance of these two very gifted ladies. The choir has a present membership of 55 men, most of whom travel from many parts of the province to practice once per week. We welcome new members and hope they will enjoy the singing, comradeship and close friendship which has existed in the Seven Towers Male Voice Choir down through the years. Practices are held each Monday from 7.30pm to 9.30pm from the beginning of September to the end of March in the Ballymena Bowling Club. Anyone interested in joining the choir should contact the Secretary in the first instance or speak to any member of the choir. |
PROFILE: HEATHER CLARKE (1937-1984)
Few people have contributed so much to the Seven Towers Choir as Heather Clarke (nee Livingstone) who acted as an accompanist, arranger of music and director of the Fireside Chorus for almost thirty years.
In 1956 Heather left her school, Ballymena Academy, to study music at Queen’s University in Belfast, where she graduated as a Bachelor of Music with Honours and gained a Sir Hamilton Harty Bursary and Scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. In due course, she left the Royal Academy with a Diploma in Early Classical Music and an ARCM in Piano Accompaniment.
Her studies led her into a distinguished and varied career in Northern Ireland where she taught music at Antrim Secondary School, joined the Staff of the Ulster College of Physical Education as Lecturer in Music (1964) and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1969. When the new Ulster Polytechnic opened in 1971, Heather continued in this role for thirteen years and was Acting Head of the Music Division for a short period of time.
Her father, William Livingstone, conducted the Seven Towers Choir from 1951 to 1965, so it was almost inevitable that Heather would become involved with the Choir’s activities. She accompanied the Choir and the Fireside Chorus on the piano and produced several arrangements of traditional and modern songs, especially for the choir. She had that great facility to switch easily from classical to modern music, frequently without a score to follow. She blended effortlessly, on the platform, with professional singers and instrumentalists.
Somehow, she managed to fit in these duties with the Choir alongside her role as Accompanist at Portstewart Music Festival, broadcasting as a pianist and accompanist, recording three LP’s and conducting local choirs. On top of all this, was her role as a wife to Jack Clarke, a long-serving secretary to the Choir, and a mother to her four children, one of whom, Kathryn, succeeded her in the role of Choir Accompanist.
It was only fitting that the Seven Towers Choir sang three of Heather’s arrangements at her Memorial Concert in 1984:
The Sloop John B
Ride De Chariot
By the Rivers of Babylon
All three are written in the style of Calypso Music but Heather’s scope did not confine her to any particular genre. She had a stellar career and did not restrict the time and energy which she devoted to the local musical scene. Her effect on those who knew her was graciously summed up by Donald Cullington, Head of Music at the University of Ulster, who said:
“The extent of her community involvement is no surprise to anyone who knew her outgoing and dedicated spirit: she simply refused to count the time and trouble a task would take her if she thought it worth doing well”.
DGM 2024.