David was able to step in as organist and perfom the School Song and National Anthem on the School Organ at the annual reunions in 2022 and 2023, when we resumed after Covid.
David is alive and well in northerly Wales, and a bit far away to attend this year, but shared his mini-biography charting his exploits and highlights as a musician...
David Yates – b.1937. PGS 1948-53
David was born in Llandrillo-yn-Rhos in North Wales, and his first School was Warley Home School, West Shore, Llandudno. He then went to Rhos College in Rhos-on-Sea and when the family moved to Norfolk in 1947 went to the Junior School in Sheringham before winning a scholarship to Paston Grammar School in North Walsham, where he eventually became a boarder. For his last year at School he went to Ryhope Grammar School, Sunderland as his father had moved to Sunderland with the Royal Artillery. David started his working life with a small architectural practice in Fawcett Street, Sunderland. The family then moved to Rolleston on Dove in the early 1950’s, and David worked in the offices of a private architectural practice in Burton on Trent from 1954 to 1970 and then went as an Architectural Technician to Lichfield City Council where he stayed until he retired on health grounds in 1991.
Whilst in Lichfield he was a Steward at the Cathedral and was in both the Lichfield Special Choir and the Lichfield Cathedral Chamber Choir which sang services in several Cathedrals and Churches throughout the UK – (Exeter, Chester, Wells, and Lincoln.) He was also Chairman of the Parents’ Committee at the Cathedral School for two years when his son Andrew was in the Cathedral Choir.
For several years in the 1960s and 70s he was on the Parochial Church Council of St. Mary’s Church, Rolleston on Dove, and in 1978 was elected onto the Parochial Church Council of St. Mary’s Church, Stretton cum Wetmore, and was for a short time a Churchwarden there.
David always had an amateur interest in music and has been in several church choirs, including St. Peter’s in Sheringham, Norfolk, St. Mary’s in Whitburn near Sunderland and St. Mary’s, Rolleston on Dove.
He started playing the organ for youth services at St. Mary’s in Whitburn in 1950 during school holidays, though he had played the year before at Paston Grammar School on the organ in the main hall. Little did he realise that seventy three years later, in 2022 and 2023, he would play the same organ again for the Trafalgar Day Reunion Dinner.
After moving to Rolleston, he became unofficial assistant organist with his father to Bert Hazell, organist at St. Mary’s, and in 1954 he became organist and choirmaster of St. Mary’s, Marston on Dove, Derbyshire where he stayed until 1970. For a short time during this period – 1966-68 – he was also organist of All Saints’, Hatton, which was part of Marston Parish at the time. In 1970, on the death of Bert Hazell at Rolleston, David became organist and choirmaster of Rolleston Parish Church remaining until Christmas 1975. (When he left Marston, his father, Hawksley Simpson Yates, became organist there until his death in 1979).
After a gap of twelve months, David became organist and choirmaster of St. Mary’s, Stretton cum Wetmore where he stayed until 1986. He then went to St. Mark’s at Winshill, Burton on Trent, leaving in 1991 to take up the post of Director of Music at All Saints’ Parish Church, Mickleover, Derby. After eleven years in this post, he finally retired on Easter Day, 31st March, 2002. He did however do locum work for several churches in the Burton and Derby areas, at St. John the Divine in Horninglow, St. Pauls in Burton on Trent, All Saints in Findern, St. Michaels, Willington and the Congregational Church in Tutbury.
Since moving from Staffordshire to North Wales in 2014, he has been playing for services at St. Mary’s Church in Llanfairtalhaiarn – a parish church in Conwy County, and within the St. Asaph Diocese. For a short time, he joined the Saint Asaph Choral Society but he found going regularly to Monday evening rehearsals were difficult in winter. These were held in a Chapel in Trefnant on the road to Denbigh.
He was the Honorary Organist of the Saint Wystan’s Chapter of the Guild of the Servants of the Sanctuary – which held its Guild Office with occasional Benediction once a month in Churches around the Derby and Lichfield Dioceses. For several years he played for the Area Festival at St. Laurence Church, Long Eaton, Nottingham, and has also played for services during the Annual Midlands Area Festivals in various important churches around the Midlands ~ Worksop Priory; Holy Trinity Church, Much Wenlock in Shropshire; St. Peters Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton and the Church of St. Mary de Castro in Leicester.
David is alive and well in northerly Wales, and a bit far away to attend this year, but shared his mini-biography charting his exploits and highlights as a musician...
David Yates – b.1937. PGS 1948-53
David was born in Llandrillo-yn-Rhos in North Wales, and his first School was Warley Home School, West Shore, Llandudno. He then went to Rhos College in Rhos-on-Sea and when the family moved to Norfolk in 1947 went to the Junior School in Sheringham before winning a scholarship to Paston Grammar School in North Walsham, where he eventually became a boarder. For his last year at School he went to Ryhope Grammar School, Sunderland as his father had moved to Sunderland with the Royal Artillery. David started his working life with a small architectural practice in Fawcett Street, Sunderland. The family then moved to Rolleston on Dove in the early 1950’s, and David worked in the offices of a private architectural practice in Burton on Trent from 1954 to 1970 and then went as an Architectural Technician to Lichfield City Council where he stayed until he retired on health grounds in 1991.
Whilst in Lichfield he was a Steward at the Cathedral and was in both the Lichfield Special Choir and the Lichfield Cathedral Chamber Choir which sang services in several Cathedrals and Churches throughout the UK – (Exeter, Chester, Wells, and Lincoln.) He was also Chairman of the Parents’ Committee at the Cathedral School for two years when his son Andrew was in the Cathedral Choir.
For several years in the 1960s and 70s he was on the Parochial Church Council of St. Mary’s Church, Rolleston on Dove, and in 1978 was elected onto the Parochial Church Council of St. Mary’s Church, Stretton cum Wetmore, and was for a short time a Churchwarden there.
David always had an amateur interest in music and has been in several church choirs, including St. Peter’s in Sheringham, Norfolk, St. Mary’s in Whitburn near Sunderland and St. Mary’s, Rolleston on Dove.
He started playing the organ for youth services at St. Mary’s in Whitburn in 1950 during school holidays, though he had played the year before at Paston Grammar School on the organ in the main hall. Little did he realise that seventy three years later, in 2022 and 2023, he would play the same organ again for the Trafalgar Day Reunion Dinner.
After moving to Rolleston, he became unofficial assistant organist with his father to Bert Hazell, organist at St. Mary’s, and in 1954 he became organist and choirmaster of St. Mary’s, Marston on Dove, Derbyshire where he stayed until 1970. For a short time during this period – 1966-68 – he was also organist of All Saints’, Hatton, which was part of Marston Parish at the time. In 1970, on the death of Bert Hazell at Rolleston, David became organist and choirmaster of Rolleston Parish Church remaining until Christmas 1975. (When he left Marston, his father, Hawksley Simpson Yates, became organist there until his death in 1979).
After a gap of twelve months, David became organist and choirmaster of St. Mary’s, Stretton cum Wetmore where he stayed until 1986. He then went to St. Mark’s at Winshill, Burton on Trent, leaving in 1991 to take up the post of Director of Music at All Saints’ Parish Church, Mickleover, Derby. After eleven years in this post, he finally retired on Easter Day, 31st March, 2002. He did however do locum work for several churches in the Burton and Derby areas, at St. John the Divine in Horninglow, St. Pauls in Burton on Trent, All Saints in Findern, St. Michaels, Willington and the Congregational Church in Tutbury.
Since moving from Staffordshire to North Wales in 2014, he has been playing for services at St. Mary’s Church in Llanfairtalhaiarn – a parish church in Conwy County, and within the St. Asaph Diocese. For a short time, he joined the Saint Asaph Choral Society but he found going regularly to Monday evening rehearsals were difficult in winter. These were held in a Chapel in Trefnant on the road to Denbigh.
He was the Honorary Organist of the Saint Wystan’s Chapter of the Guild of the Servants of the Sanctuary – which held its Guild Office with occasional Benediction once a month in Churches around the Derby and Lichfield Dioceses. For several years he played for the Area Festival at St. Laurence Church, Long Eaton, Nottingham, and has also played for services during the Annual Midlands Area Festivals in various important churches around the Midlands ~ Worksop Priory; Holy Trinity Church, Much Wenlock in Shropshire; St. Peters Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton and the Church of St. Mary de Castro in Leicester.
David at the console of the Organ at St. Mary de Castro, Leicester
His love of music led him to start a series of Concert Visits in 1957 to venues in London, Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Nottingham, Wolverhampton and Manchester from which emerged the Rolleston Music Circle in 1962. In 1963 he started the Rolleston & District Choral Society, of which he was conductor until late in 1979.
In 1966 he founded and became the Director of the Rolleston Festival of Music and the Arts, a bi-annual Festival which became nationally known and respected – hosting many world famous artists and attracting the attention of the BBC, who broadcast several times from the Festival ~ (The Festivals finished in 1980). He also co-founded five seasons of ‘Music at the Forest’ subscription concerts, bringing many well-known artists to the village. For the non-musical members of the community, he founded the Rolleston Thursday Club which ran a series of monthly film and lecture evenings. He has served several terms as President of the Rolleston Music Circle & Choral Society, relinquishing the post in 2003.
https://rollestonmusic.wordpress.com/category/1966-rolleston-music-festivals/
For many years David was on the Music Panel of West Midlands Arts (a committee of seven under the Chairmanship of Richard Butt, who at the time was head of BBC Radio 3, based at Pebble Mill in Birmingham). While he was on this committee, the Birmingham Arts Shop was set up – the purpose of which was to promote events and sell tickets etc., throughout the region. David was also on the main Executive body of West Midlands Arts as lay representative for the Burton Arts Council, the Rolleston Societies and several other Arts organisations in Staffordshire and South Derbyshire.
He has composed many hymn tunes, some anthems, and choral settings of the Magnificat, and a Nunc Dimittis which was first sung in Ann Arbor in the State of Michigan in the USA. In 1973 he composed a six-part unaccompanied anthem, “Hail Gladdening Light” which was given it’s first performance at a choral concert during the 1974 Rolleston Festival.
Whilst Director of Music at Mickleover, he organised several Music Competitions for members of the community and set several submitted hymns and carols to music. At present he is working on Part 1 of a choral work ‘The Final Judgment’ for four three-part choirs, soloists and organ, which he has dedicated to his Zimbabwean friend Kudakwashe Lionel Kupara who has a BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology and researched for his PhD in Biology at A&M University, College Station in Texas, USA.
David’s friendship with Kudakwashe led to meeting up with another Zimbabwean, Phithizela Ngcobo, who has obtained a Masters Degree in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University. Phithi stayed with David and his wife many times, and at Christmas 2009 the three of them set up a small Charity, Educating Others to support the education of orphans at the Rose of Sharon Welfare Organisation in Harare, Zimbabwe and GUA Africa’s Emma Academy in Leer, in the new Republic of South Sudan. Phithi left the UK in January 2011 to work in Washington DC, USA. He is one of the Trustees of the Charity together with Kuda, David and his wife Brenda, and four other Trustees. Both Kuda and Phithi have stayed with David recently in Llanfairtalhaiarn.
David has written three pieces of instrumental music for his close friend Chen Jie from Wuhan in China and spent nearly a month with him there in July 2008, travelling throughout central and western China and even into the Tibetan areas of Western Sichuan and the Mishan Range of the Himalayas. Chen Jie has graduated with a Masters Degree in science from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, and he had hoped to come to the UK to do a PhD, but though offered several places, no funding was available in the UK and he obtained his PhD at Nanyang University of Technology in Singapore and became a lecturer there. How David met up with Chen Jie is the most unlikely encounter! They met on Skype quite by accident in 2005, but kept up regular chats about History and Culture of China and the UK. Though Chen Jie at the time was studying for his BSc in Optical Electro Technology (which was a modular degree) he showed a great interest in Western Art, Music and Literature. One day he told David that he was hoping to write a Comparative Analysis of Gothic Architecture and the corresponding period of Chinese Architecture. It was at this point that David told him that he had studied English Gothic Cathedral Architecture and that if he wanted any help he would give it to him. Cutting a very long story short, Chen Jie produced a dissertation on this subject using Chinese drawings and also drawings and photos sent to him by David – as a result of this, Chen Jie invited David to China in 2008. Since then the two of them have published a book of their travels together.
Details of this book can found at this link:-
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1261524?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget
A pdf copy of the orchestral version of the "Wuhan Festive March" which David wrote for Chen Jie will be found at:-
Wuhan Festive March (Orchestral)
Ed: Thank you David. Lets have some more Bios
His love of music led him to start a series of Concert Visits in 1957 to venues in London, Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Nottingham, Wolverhampton and Manchester from which emerged the Rolleston Music Circle in 1962. In 1963 he started the Rolleston & District Choral Society, of which he was conductor until late in 1979.
In 1966 he founded and became the Director of the Rolleston Festival of Music and the Arts, a bi-annual Festival which became nationally known and respected – hosting many world famous artists and attracting the attention of the BBC, who broadcast several times from the Festival ~ (The Festivals finished in 1980). He also co-founded five seasons of ‘Music at the Forest’ subscription concerts, bringing many well-known artists to the village. For the non-musical members of the community, he founded the Rolleston Thursday Club which ran a series of monthly film and lecture evenings. He has served several terms as President of the Rolleston Music Circle & Choral Society, relinquishing the post in 2003.
https://rollestonmusic.wordpress.com/category/1966-rolleston-music-festivals/
For many years David was on the Music Panel of West Midlands Arts (a committee of seven under the Chairmanship of Richard Butt, who at the time was head of BBC Radio 3, based at Pebble Mill in Birmingham). While he was on this committee, the Birmingham Arts Shop was set up – the purpose of which was to promote events and sell tickets etc., throughout the region. David was also on the main Executive body of West Midlands Arts as lay representative for the Burton Arts Council, the Rolleston Societies and several other Arts organisations in Staffordshire and South Derbyshire.
He has composed many hymn tunes, some anthems, and choral settings of the Magnificat, and a Nunc Dimittis which was first sung in Ann Arbor in the State of Michigan in the USA. In 1973 he composed a six-part unaccompanied anthem, “Hail Gladdening Light” which was given it’s first performance at a choral concert during the 1974 Rolleston Festival.
Whilst Director of Music at Mickleover, he organised several Music Competitions for members of the community and set several submitted hymns and carols to music. At present he is working on Part 1 of a choral work ‘The Final Judgment’ for four three-part choirs, soloists and organ, which he has dedicated to his Zimbabwean friend Kudakwashe Lionel Kupara who has a BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology and researched for his PhD in Biology at A&M University, College Station in Texas, USA.
David’s friendship with Kudakwashe led to meeting up with another Zimbabwean, Phithizela Ngcobo, who has obtained a Masters Degree in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University. Phithi stayed with David and his wife many times, and at Christmas 2009 the three of them set up a small Charity, Educating Others to support the education of orphans at the Rose of Sharon Welfare Organisation in Harare, Zimbabwe and GUA Africa’s Emma Academy in Leer, in the new Republic of South Sudan. Phithi left the UK in January 2011 to work in Washington DC, USA. He is one of the Trustees of the Charity together with Kuda, David and his wife Brenda, and four other Trustees. Both Kuda and Phithi have stayed with David recently in Llanfairtalhaiarn.
David has written three pieces of instrumental music for his close friend Chen Jie from Wuhan in China and spent nearly a month with him there in July 2008, travelling throughout central and western China and even into the Tibetan areas of Western Sichuan and the Mishan Range of the Himalayas. Chen Jie has graduated with a Masters Degree in science from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, and he had hoped to come to the UK to do a PhD, but though offered several places, no funding was available in the UK and he obtained his PhD at Nanyang University of Technology in Singapore and became a lecturer there. How David met up with Chen Jie is the most unlikely encounter! They met on Skype quite by accident in 2005, but kept up regular chats about History and Culture of China and the UK. Though Chen Jie at the time was studying for his BSc in Optical Electro Technology (which was a modular degree) he showed a great interest in Western Art, Music and Literature. One day he told David that he was hoping to write a Comparative Analysis of Gothic Architecture and the corresponding period of Chinese Architecture. It was at this point that David told him that he had studied English Gothic Cathedral Architecture and that if he wanted any help he would give it to him. Cutting a very long story short, Chen Jie produced a dissertation on this subject using Chinese drawings and also drawings and photos sent to him by David – as a result of this, Chen Jie invited David to China in 2008. Since then the two of them have published a book of their travels together.
Details of this book can found at this link:-
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1261524?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget
A pdf copy of the orchestral version of the "Wuhan Festive March" which David wrote for Chen Jie will be found at:-
Wuhan Festive March (Orchestral)
Ed: Thank you David. Lets have some more Bios
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