Music Director
Charles Walker originally came to Canada to teach music in a private high school. He is a native of Rochester, New York, where he first studied organ as a high school student at the Eastman School of Music. He attended Houghton College, graduating with a degree in organ and voice....
For several years, Charlie was a Toronto organist and recitalist, studying at the University of Toronto with Douglas Bodle and receiving the A.R.C.T. diploma in Organ Performance in 1973. While in Toronto, he studied plainsong and liturgy at St. Michael’s Choir School, sang in the Mendelssohn Choir, and spent a year in seminary at Wycliffe College. Later he pursued graduate course work at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, where he was also trained as a Suzuki piano teacher.
Charlie has worked as organist and choir director in a variety of churches over the years. In Toronto he spent a year at seminary at Wycliffe College as he explored the possibility of becoming an Anglican priest. He later served as assistant pastor and minister of music at Spring Garden Baptist Church in Willowdale, Ontario. After coming to Kingston in 1994, he taught high school music and computer technology before retiring in 2007 to pursue other interests: he has an active avocation as a professional Web designer, and he recently completed a three-year term as president and CEO of Edgar Cayce Canada. Charlie’s wife, Wendy Luella Perkins, is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister; she also is founder of Soulful Singing, a program of music meditation groups which meet regularly in Kingston. Charlie has two children, both living in Vancouver: Jeremy, a video game programmer and stained glass designer, and Monika, a technical writer.
Charlie's 10th Anniversary Choir Celebration
Organist Emeritus
Distinguished organist, composer, and educator, Dr. F.R.C. Clarke, served as Music Director of Sydenham Street United Church for forty-two years, retiring in 1999. Dr. Clarke served as organist emeritus until his death in November, 2009.
In the course of his career, Dr Clarke held various posts as organist-choirmaster, composer, teacher, conductor and administrator. His own teachers included Kenneth Ross (piano) in Vancouver, Eric Rollinson (organ) at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto, Healey Willan, S. Drummond Wolff; and George Laughlin (theory and composition) at the University of Toronto. Dr. Clarke was organist-choirmaster 1950-8 for several churches in Toronto and St Catharines. He also taught 1956-8 at the Hamilton Conservatory (RHCM) and conducted 1957-8 the St Catharines Civic Orchestra (Niagara Symphony Association).
In 1958 Dr. Clarke became organist-choirmaster at Sydenham Street United Church, a position he held until 1999. He was also conductor 1958-77 of the Kingston Choral Society. He lectured 1959-69 at Queen’s Theological College and joined Queen's University Music Department in 1964 to teach theory and other subjects. There he founded and conducted 1965-9 the Queen’s Chamber Players Ensemble. He was head 1981-88 of the department, and after it was renamed the Queen's University School of Music in 1988, he served (1988-91) as director.
Of Dr. Clarke’s numerous compositions in the English tradition, Bel and the Dragon (1954) was written for his D. MUS., Sing a New Song to the Lord (1960) was composed for the United Church of Canada in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation, and Psalm 145 (1966) won the CBC (Ottawa) Choral Composition Prize in 1967. Dr. Clarke was chairman of the music subcommittee for The Hymn Book of the Anglican and United Churches (1971), to which he contributed 7 tunes and 18 arrangements. His Festival Te Deum (1972) and Reginae (1991) were written for the Kingston Symphony Association to celebrate the tercentennial of the founding of Kingston and the sesquicentennial of the founding of Queen’s University respectively. Dr. Clarke has completed and orchestrated several of Willan’s works, including the Introduction and Allegro for string quartet, premiered in 1984 by the Vághy String Quartet, and the Dirge for Two Veterans and Requiem Mass, premiered in 1985 and 1988 respectively by the Kingston Symphony with the Kingston Choral Society.
His recent composition, An English Requiem, was performed by the choir of Sydenham Street United Church in 2007 and 2008, with Dr. Clarke at the organ. One selection from the English Requiem was sung by the massed choir at Dr. Clarke’s funeral, a fitting tribute to this outstanding organist and composer.
On Sunday October 17 a concert was held at Sydenham Street United Church to celebrate the music of Fred Clarke. The concert included works for choir, organ, solo voice, instumental ensembles and more, presented by the SSUC choir and a number of local musicians.
Many of Fred's friends were able to join us as we honoued Fred and enjoyed some of the music he created over the years.
Here are two of Fred's anthems that were performed at the concert.
SSUC Choir sings "Lord of Our life"
The Cantabile Youth Singers sing "The Angel Gabriel"
Healey Willan's Requiem
On March 27 2011 the Kingston Choral Society and Symphony Orchestra presented Healey Willan's Requiem as a tribute to F.R.C. Clarke.
Click on the pictures at the left to view a description of the work by Glen Fast, Music Director, Kingston Symphony Orchestra.
The story of how Dr. Clarke completed this work is told in an article by Sarah Pugh, President of the Kingston Choral Society.