HARLANDIC MALE VOICE CHOIR

HARLANDIC MALE VOICE CHOIR BELFAST

The first full time director of the Harlandic Male Voice Choir, Adam Donaghy's name deserves to be recognised next to all the great male choir conductors of the 20^th Century. Small in stature but with an enormous gift for interpretation and getting the very best from his choir, Adam is remembered by those who knew him with immense respect and admiration. Arriving with the newly formed choir in 1945, Adam took a rough hewn group of mainly shipyard workers and turned them into a choir that was almost unbeatable in competition during the 1950's and early 1960's. His skills however were not merely as a technical perfectionist, those who sung under his direction recall that he always wanted the choir to "paint a picture", to get inside the music and touch the hearts as well as the minds of the audiences.

The highlights of his time with Harlandic were many; winning Belfast Festival a record number of times, scoring 96 marks out of 100 singing Schubert's "The Lord is my Shepherd" to defeat 12 other choirs at Morecombe Music Festival, broadcasting regularly on BBC Radio, giving the choirs first TV broadcast, singing at the Royal Albert Hall. In the weeks before a competition it is reputed that he carried a copy of the test piece wherever he went, looking over the score on the tram or at lunchtime till he was word and note and dynamics perfect! In addition to being held in high regard as a musician he was also a gentlemen who assisted with Ballyclare Male Choir when their conductor Albert McClenaghan was too ill to conduct. Adam died suddenly from a heart related illness aged just 67, his loss was felt keenly by the choir for many years. His wife Eileen was a Vice President of the choir until her death, his son in law Ian was Chairman for many years and his daughter Kay (a member of the Bangor Ladies Choir) has been a lifelong supporter of the choir.

A true Renaissance man, "The Hawk" was multilingual, fluent in French, German and Russian as well as possessing a wonderful baritone voice, being a fine concert pianist and a conductor of some note. The first professional musician to conduct Harlandic, his contacts in the musical world brought many excellent local soloists to share the stage with Harlandic and the choir once again broadcast prolifically for BBC Radio, where Norman was also a music producer. During Norman's time as conductor the choir also appeared on Songs of Praise for the first time and once again won the male choir competitions at local festivals. Norman tragically died suddenly during his time as conductor and the choir mourned the second loss of a director whose gifts were snatched away too early.

A church organist who recently celebrated 65 years behind the organ console in numerous churches in Northern Ireland, Ronnie took over the choir when Norman Hawkins died; he brought a formidable musical experience with him. Ronnie had been an experienced choirmaster already and as director of the YMCA choir conducted large scale performances of Handel's Messiah in Belfast each year. Ronnie was previously conductor of the Clarence Male Voice Choir. His arrival with Harlandic saw the intensification of radio broadcasts as well as the choirs first long playing record being released. the choirs competitive heritage was not forgotten or abandoned, under Ronnie's expert guidance Harlandic won the inaugural BBC "Let the People Sing" competition as well as festivals at Belfast, Morecombe and Glasgow. Ronnie is still involved in music today, he is organist at the Church of Christ Scientist, Belfast

John Anderson, today one of Northern Ireland’s leading musicians and composers, was a young music teacher at Methodist College when he was appointed conductor of Harlandic. John brought his own high standards to the choir, insisting on the best standard of performance as well as introducing the choir to "modern" arrangements of popular songs for the first time. It was during John's tenure the choir changed their uniform from blue blazers to Black Dinner Jackets. With a hugely successful musical career that began in his childhood, John continues to have a real passion for every area of choral music; from singing in choirs as a boy to composing, arranging and directing music for countless television and radio programmes.

During the 1980s the John Anderson Big Band was responsible for four number one ‘Jive Bunny’ hits worldwide and in the 1990s John brought the phenomenally-successful ‘School Choir of the Year’ from humble beginnings to an event which eventually attracted more than 10,000 young singers from across Northern Ireland and became the biggest event of its kind in Europe. His choral extravaganza "Voices of Ireland" is one of the most popular choral events of recent times

Ronnie was a member of Harlandic during the 1950's and returned to the fold as conductor after a successful musical career both at home and abroad. Ronnie was a lifelong member of Belfast Cathedral choir and was one of the vocal coaches for the boy choristers in that establishment. Ronnie lived in Australia for a while and was a layclerk in Melbourne Cathedral during his stay. Possessing a fine rich bass baritone voice, Ronnie was an excellent voice teacher as well as a well known bass soloist on the local music scene. A head teacher at a local school, Ronnie combined his conductorship of Harlandic with being Musical Director of the Abbey Singers with whom Ronnie won the BBC "Let the Peoples Sing" competition and directed the Cathedral Consort. After Harlandic Ronnie was conductor of the Belfast Pheonix Choir (the successor of Billy Boyd's famous Ormiston Choir), a position he held until his sudden death just after Christmas in 1999. As well as his musical talents Ronnie was a artist of note, some of his paintings are in the collection at Belfast Cathedral. At his funeral service in the Cathedral, Harlandic were well represented in the capacity congregation with their conductor singing in the Cathedral choir.

Jim served as accompanist, deputy conductor, secretary and conductor during his almost fifty year association with the choir. Born, bred and lived all his life in the Woodvale area of Belfast, Jim was a gifted pianist, arranger, bass singer and conductor whose innate and instinctive musicianship was sometimes hidden by a very private persona. Jim conducted with small precise gestures, "Watch my fingers!" being a mantra for errant choristers. Under Jim's guidance the choir learnt Harold Noble's monumental arrangement of "When Johnny comes marching home" and swept to victory at musical festivals in England and throughout Ireland.

When Jim resigned from the choir for family reasons he kept a close interest in Harlandic, even designing and illustrating the name cards for the choirs 50^th Anniversary dinner in 1994. In the early days of Mark Burstow's tenure as conductor Jim acted as a mentor for him, giving invaluable help to the then youngest conductor in the UK; Jim was the last "musician" link to Adam Donaghy and passed on the traditions of the choir as well as invaluable musical training. When Jim died in 1996, after a short illness, a large contingent of Harlandic attended his funeral service on the Crumlin Road, paying respects to a quiet man who gave a lifetime of service to the choir

Alastair's love of music began at the Methodist College Belfast where he was taught violin. On leaving school, he joined a small orchestra, where one of the other members asked him to sing in the chorus of Downe Operatic Society in a forthcoming performance of "The Mikado). Alastair then developed a love for choral music and studied singing under James Shaw, one of Ulster's finest 20^th century singing teachers. Alastair also studied at The City of Belfast School of Music during this period. Alastair very successfully directed the choir for a period of 10 years, performing on the BBC - "Friday Night is Music Night", with John Anderson at Ulster TV, together with Harry Secombe, Moira Anderson, Joseph Locke and Stuart Burrows, to name a few.

The choir's competition successes continued under Alastairs guidance at Glasgow, Morecombe, Chester and Belfast, with a notable highlight being when the choir won the BBC "Let the People Sing Competition" defeating choirs from all over the UK. Alistair's tenure with the choir saw a polished presentational style, Alastair being a gifted compere in addition to his talents as Musical Director. In 2006 Alastair was appointed conductor of the Queens Island Victoria Male Choir.

A former bank manager from North Antrim, Terry had been conductor of the Ballymoney Male Choir during the 1980's as well as a bass soloist, organist and conductor on the local music circuit for most of his adult life. During Terry's tenure as conductor the choir were privileged to sing at the reopening of the historic Dunmurray Non Subscribing Presbyterian Church (where Terry was organist) and gave concerts across Northern Ireland, in Cavan and competed at the Morecombe Musical Festival. A keen classic car enthusiast with a 1950's Alvis as well as an MGB in his collection, Terry is remembered as a kind and generous man who was completely committed to the choir during his tenure.

Born is Belfast in 1972, (living just yards away from Adam Donaghy's home in East Belfast), on his appointment Mark was the youngest conductor of any male choir in the United Kingdom. Having cut his teeth chorally in the award winning choir at Grosvenor High School, Mark's passion for conducting was awakened by the legendary Ronnie Lee MBE. During Mark's tenure the choir won 1^st places at musical festivals both at home and abroad, tying for top honours on one occasion with the choir that went on to win that years Llangollen International Eisteddfod. In 1995 the choir introduced the current red blazers to the uniform.

The choir broadcast regularly on BBC, ITV and RTE television, notably taking part in the first cross border TV broadcast to mark the terrorist ceasefires. During Mark's time at the helm the choir broadcast a hour long programme "In Harmony" for BBC radio about the history of the choir and had its 50^th Anniversary dinner part broadcast live on Ulster Television. Musically, Mark introduced much new music to the choir, highlighting the more modern repertoire predominantly but also conducting the first Ulster performance in 40 years of the Brahms "Alto Rhapsody" with Deborah Davidson and the Studio Symphony Orchestra. Mark led the choir on a 16 day, 12 concert tour of Canada and the USA in 1998. Mark now lives in England, he is retired (at 34!) from full time music, working as civil servant involved in property matters and is enjoying life on the sunny south coast of England as an "enthusiastic amateur choralist"

Born, raised and still living in Larne, John Dooris is an experienced and active conductor, singer and choirmaster. As choirmaster in Ballynure he achieved great success in competition with the church choir. Before becoming the conductor of Harlandic he conducted Larne Male Voice Choir and the Glenlough Ladies Choir later founding the Larne Concert Choir in 1998. John has significant experience as a band conductor and trainer, winning contests in Northern Ireland and further afield in that genre. John served a term a Chairman of Harlandic and sang first tenor with the choir between 1997 and 2001. Possessing a fine clear high tenor voice John sings in a male quartet, plays in a dance band and is a popular church organist. He is President of the Larne Musical Festival Association and conducts the Young Farmers Choir.

John learned his trade as a musician under the baton of the well known Ronnie Lee MBE at Grosvenor High School, (at the time when it was on Grosvenor Road, before the move to Cameronian Drive in 1958). A well known flautist, John has been Organist and Choirmaster of Willowfield Parish Church, Woodstock Road from 1962. Under his direction the choir has improved the standard of its overall performance and expanded its musical repertoire.