C.L.M. Harris

Harris, C.L.M.

C.L.M. (Charles Lewis Matthew) Harris. Conductor, organist, educator, composer, b Staningly, Yorkshire, England, 1863, d Port Huron, Mich, January 1925; B MUS (Trinity College, Toronto) 1891, D MUS (Trinity College, Toronto) 1898. Taken to Toronto in 1869, Harris began organ study with a Dr Clark in 1870 and took his first organ post at the age of eight at Parliament Street Methodist Church. While organist-choirmaster 1885-1905 at St Paul's Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ont, Harris studied at the University of Trinity College with Arthur E. Fisher and Frederick J. Karn. He went on to be organist-choirmaster 1905-13 at Erskine Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, and 1915-25 at St George's Episcopal Church, Port Huron, Mich. Founder and conductor 1887-1901 of the Harris Orchestral Club (a 43-piece ensemble which in 1915 became the Hamilton Orchestral Club), he conducted some 35 concerts, many with US or European soloists, during 14 successful seasons. The repertoire included music of Beethoven, Haydn, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, and Wagner. Between 1890 and 1908 Harris also conducted various Hamilton choral and operatic societies. He was director 1892-6 of the Wesleyan Ladies College in Hamilton and also founded, and directed 1897-1907, the Hamilton Conservatory of Music (RHCM). He composed songs and an aid to keyboard practice, Scales, Chords and Arpeggios (Hamilton 1914).