Bonclarken Music Conference Celebrated 60th Anniversary
By Trip McGill
Bonclarken. The Bonclarken Music Confer- ence began in 1962, when only a few ARP churches had choir directors with any train- ing in choral music. The conference began as “Synod’s Choir Workshop” which was held during the same week as the General Synod meeting was being held. The work- shop was first held in the music room of the old hotel on the grounds of Bonclarken Con- ference Center in Flat Rock, North Carolina. The first workshop was for adult choral
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singers and was conducted by Dr. Marion Magill, who at the time was the Director of Music Education in Greenville, South Carolina. For the next several years, Dr. Magill directed the workshop with 50 to 70 participants. Not long after the workshop was established, the ARP Synod appointed a “Music and Worship Committee.”
This
committee wanted to enlarge the program by adding a children’s choir.
After a few
years of planning, in 1970, the first Music Conference was held. Dr. Magill directed the Adult Choir and Mabel Stewart Boyter of Atlanta, directed the Children’s Choir of about 30 to 40 boys and girls. Anne Alex- ander of Gastonia, North Carolina was in charge of this newly formed conference. When Mrs. Alexander gave Mrs. Boyter her check for her honorarium, Mrs. Boyter took out her checkbook and wrote a check for the tithe of her fee back in to the conference fund, because she said, “she wanted to see this conference succeed and grow.” In the next years, because Dr. Magill had
moved to New York City as professor of Mu- sic at Columbia University, several different directors came to conduct the Adult Choir.
he Bonclarken Music Conference celebrated 60 years during the an- nual conference this summer at
Mabel Boyter directed what was now known as the Junior Choir for several years. Haskell Boyter also came and conducted the Adult Choir for a couple of years. By now, the conference was known as the Bonclarken Music Conference. In 1975, because
so many of our youth were experiencing changing voices and wanted to continue coming to Music Conference, a Youth Choir was born out of the Junior Choir. In 1979, we added a Primary Choir. In 1982, we added an Intermediate Choir (now the Middle School Choir). In 1993, at the age of 88, Mabel Boyter returned to Bonclarken to start the Cherub Choir. Over the years, Helen Kemp was instrumental in continuing the development of our chil-
dren’s choir program. As a Clinician, Helen was with us in 1981, 1989 (along with Michael, Janice, and her husband John, as clinicians as well as 15 family members who spent the week at Bonclarken), 2000, 2004 and at our 50th Anniversary in 2011, where she gave a stunning one hour and a half workshop/reading session and served as our Reader at our Celebration of Worship at the end of our week. How blessed we have been to have learned from such fine choral masters over the years.
This summer we celebrated with the theme: Great is Thy Faithfulness: Bright Hope for Tomorrow. Our faculty for this summer of 2021 was Anton Armstrong, Adult Choir, Andy Jacob, Confer- ence Organist, Troy Robertson, Youth Choir, David Mandt, Middle School Choir, Amanda Smith, Junior Choir and Elizabeth Shepley, Primary and Cherub Choirs. We had great atten- dance and it was absolutely wonderful to all be back together to sing and worship our Lord and Savior. It is indeed a blessing for Lynn Grimsley, Norma Jean Huffstetler and myself to be Co-
Directors of this conference. We join a whole host of other folks who have led this conference in leadership over the years, namely, Anne Alexander, Harriett Leslie, Barbara Lauderdale, Reta Phifer, Betty Hunt, Terry Mann, Rachel Spencer, Corky Koonts, Patsy Surratt and Linda Miller. It has been such a blessing for me to attend and be a part of this conference for the past 50
years of the 60-year history. I can speak for many of us who grew up at this conference. This conference has taught us all to be better teachers, church music ministry personnel, organists, choir directors. Because this conference is rooted in Christ, it has provided us all an opportu- nity to grow in Christ and to teach us about God’s faithfulness and his abundant goodness and his gift of music and worship. We are pleased to have available at the following link, the updated Bonclarken Music
Conference History. Please enjoy reading through this history.
https://www.bonclarken.org/bonclarken-music-conference-history-2021/ We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2022 Bonclarken Music Conference next sum- mer, July 10 – 15, 2022 where our theme will be A Fruitful Life: Fruit of the Spirit.?
Trip McGill: lives in Kings Mountain, North Carolina is a graduate of Erskine College, Due West, SC, the former choral teacher at Ashbrook High School, Gastonia, NC, Direc- tor of Music and Organist at First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Gastonia, NC, Camp Director for the Bonclarken Music Drama Camp, Co-Camp Director of Camp Bonclarken and is Co-Conference Director of the Bonclarken Music Conference.
September/October 2021
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