People Profiles
Duncan was born and brought up in the North East of Scotland. After spending two happy periods in the West Coast (Argyll and Ayrshire) he has been minister at Holburn West, Aberdeen for over ten years.In regard personal taste in music he enjoys a wide range of styles. As for music in worship he aims for a balance between traditional and contemporary where the lyrics are relevant to the theme for the day.
Ewen was appointed to the post of Organist and Director of Music in May 2010.
Rachel joined Holburn West Choir at the beginning of the 2009/2010 session.
Yvonne was born in Greenock where she lived until leaving to study at the University of Aberdeen. She has been singing in the choir since 1989, when she became a member of Holburn West Church. Yvonne enjoys singing a range of anthems but a few of her favourites are “ For the Beauty of the Earth” , Rutter,
“ Lift up your heads, ye gates ”, Matthias and “ Locus Iste ” by Bruckner.
Margaret left Glasgow when she was 11 years old and has been in Aberdeen since then. She joined the junior and senior choir at Woodside Parish Church before joining Holburn West Choir in 1968. Margaret has also sung in the Aberdeen Arion Choir and she was a founding member of the Aberdeen Orpheus Choir.
Martin joined the choir in the mid 1970s and has enjoyed the variety of music that the choir has been asked to perform. Martin retired from being a full-time member of the choir in April 2008.
Ian joined Holburn West Choir at the beginning of the 2008 / 2009 choir session as a Tenor.
David joined Holburn West Choir when he was at school in Aberdeen. He has recently retired from work and remains an active member of the Church and the choir.
Hugh was born in Greenock and educated there and in Glasgow. A minister of the Church of Scotland, he has served in many different countries. He is married and has two children and two grandchildren. Hugh has sung tenor in several church choirs and in the Glasgow University Choral Society. He has been a member of the Choir since 2006 and was Dominic's first 'new recruit'.
Alastair joined Holburn West Church in 1962 and joined the choir the same year. He has worked in Cambridge and Africa as a Botanist and is the former Deputy Principal of the North of Scotland College of Agriculture. He was an Elder of the Church of Scotland from 1965-1999. Alastair retired from being a full-time member of the Choir in September 2009.
Hamish initially joined the choir as bass in his student days and has been an active member for the better part of 45 years.
Penny was born in Kenya, where she won several prizes for solo singing in the Nairobi music festivals. A soloist since the age of nine, she has sung in the Nairobi Cathedral Choir and other churches since then. She first joined Holburn West Choir in 1981 but left shortly after to work in England. She returned to Aberdeen to raise her family and re-joined the choir in 1997. In 2007, she sang Pie Jesu by Fauré at the Passiontide Concert; her first solo since she was teenager. She loves to sing and it helps to remove the stresses of running her own business as a dietitian.
Jennifer joined Bearsden North Choir, Glasgow, in 1957 having been a member of the New Kilpatrick Junior Singers for about three years. She moved to Edinburgh in 1967 and sang in Warrender Park Church Choir and then in Greenbank Parish Church until early 1980. Jennifer joined Holburn West Choir in April 1980 after she moved to Aberdeen.
Irene joined Holburn West Choir at the beginning of the 2008 / 2009 choir session.
Originally from Glasgow, Sheila moved to Aberdeen in 1994. Having brought up her own family she is now studying to be a Midwife. She has been an active member of the Lyric Musical Society for 10 years and joined Holburn West Choir in 2006.
Verna joined the choir in 1963 at the tender age of 14 and apart from a break of a few years in the eighties, has been a member ever since. She loves singing, acting and conducting and has been involved with many local choirs and theatre companies over the years.
Katharine Kent (née Worsley) was born on 22 February 1933, the youngest child and only daughter of the late Sir William Worsley. Katharine was educated at Queen Margaret's School near York and at Runton Hill School in Norfolk. From an early age she was taught to play piano, organ and violin and went on to study music at the University of Oxford. She married HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in 1961. She is President of the Royal Northern College of Music, and became Patron of Holburn West Choir in 2007.