Funeral of well known north music man
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THE funeral has taken place of a leading figure in Highland musical circles.
Arthur Brocklebank, who died recently aged 89, was the brains behind the creation of the Highland Schools Symphony Orchestra and was closely associated with the likes of Inverness and Dingwall’s Choral Societies, and was a regular presence on the radio.
He was also, from 1967 until his retirement, Music Advisor for Schools in the North of Scotland, first with Ross and Cromarty County Council and then the Highland Regional Council.
Mr Brocklebank also helped to recreate the Ross-shire School’s Music Festival in which the Academies of Tain, Invergordon, Fortrose and Dingwall competed for “bragging rights” in musical ability. When on tour with the orchestra he was ably supported by his first wife, Etta, before she died in 1983 after a long period of illness.
He was, at various times, the musical director/conductor of the Inverness and Dingwall Choral Societies as well as the Raigmore/Royal Northern Infirmary Staff and Nurses Choir for its annual Christmas Carol Concert in Eden Court Theatre.
This latter association is thought to have led to the setting up of the Hospitals Radio System in Inverness along with Donnie Aird.
After Moray Firth Radio was established, he also regularly presented live programmes such as The Big Picture, Moray Firth People, and Cadenza, for lovers of classical music.
And he regularly featured choirs from around the region in his Gaelic Music for Schools programmes, broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.
For more than 20 years, he ran his fortnightly “AB Music Club” in Dingwall which had regular attendances of around 20 to 30 members.
Socially, Mr Brocklebank was a member of the Dingwall Toastmasters and Speakers Clubs and was President of Dingwall Rotary during 1984-85.
His second wife, Heather, predeceased him several years ago.
Born in Greenock in 1930, he died on January 17 just a few days shy of his 90th birthday. His father was a well known musician and church organist.
At Arthur’s well attended funeral, which was held recently in Inverness, many messages of sympathy were extended to his daughter Susan and her sons Scott and Michael on losing such a caring father and grandfather.
