A former choir director who was adamant on giving working class people a chance has died.
David Williams was known for his musical ability and impact on young people as he looked to give "working class children" a chance at being involved in a choir. The dad-of-two worked with choirs at Holy Trinity Church in Southport as well as at Southport Bach Choir, both while teaching at Merchant Taylors' School in Crosby.
Speaking to the ECHO, Daphne Wigmore, who knew David since she joined Southport Bach Choir in 1974, said: "He was a very quiet and unassuming personality but he was a brilliant musician. He was a Liverpool-born chap and he went to the same school as Paul McCartney.
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"He was very proud of the fact he was taught the organ by Caleb Jarvis and had the same title that Ian Tracey has. He was a quiet personality and his rehearsals saw him ask a lot of us.
"He wasn't outgoing, he was quite quiet but nevertheless a brilliant musician and teacher. He ended up living in Southport after leaving Oxford. He taught at KGV before moving on to Merchant Taylors'."
The 79-year-old moved to Leamington Spa after a number of years in Southport before his health deteriorated due to dementia. Daphne, 80, continued: "He was a boy from a working-class background and he was very keen on giving working-class young people a chance, that was one thing he was very keen on.
"He benefited himself through similar help and he really wanted to make a difference to those who were interested in music. I can think of several people who have gone on to have a career in music thanks to David."
In a tribute from Southport Bach Choir, it said: "It is with great sadness that Southport Bach Choir announces the death of David Williams, who directed the choir from 1970 to 2007.
"David Williams took over direction of the choir from its founder and first conductor, David Bowman. He was to shape the choir’s style for an astonishing thirty-seven years, during which the repertoire expanded to include works that were exciting, new and demanding.
"David liked to challenge himself as well as the choir, and Southport audiences were treated to rarely performed works like Vaughan Williams’ A Vision of Aeroplanes and Dyson’s Canterbury Pilgrims, as well as Monteverdi Vesper, - this with an orchestra of original instruments -Brahms, Mozart, Vivaldi, Rutter, Handel.... the list is very long, but thirty-seven years is a very long time! And, of course, all the major works of David’s beloved Bach were important and regular items in his programming.
"David conducted rehearsals in a quiet, workmanlike manner, with occasional (and much appreciated) humorous asides. His preparation was meticulous and he expected the same of his choir. His love of the music he was preparing for performance shone through all the note-bashing in rehearsal, and he instilled a lifelong love of choral music in many of the audiences as well as in his choir members.
" Whatever happened, the music came first. Heavy snow on one concert day didn’t mean cancellation; it was only after the choir had plodded obediently through snowdrifts to the afternoon rehearsal that David was forced to admit defeat because most of the orchestra were stuck in snowdrifts between Southport and Manchester.
"Those of us who worked with David will remember him with great respect and affection. Southport Bach Choir sends sincere sympathy at this sad time to David’s widow, Fiona, who sang with the Bach Choir for many years, to his daughter, Kirsteen, his son Alex and their families."
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