Birnam organist John Walker has died at 89

John Walker was a latecomer to Perthshire. But the retired teacher, who has died at the age of 89, made an impact across the area thanks to his prolific contribution to its church and choral music.

John and his wife Shirley settled in Birnam following their return to Scotland in 1994 after he retired from his job as a full-time church music Kantor in West Norway.

He took up the post of organist at Dunkeld Cathedral, then latterly at St Mary’s Episcopal Church in Birnam.

These posts would be his springboard into life in the wider musical community.

He became a frequent accompanist for groups such as Chansons, the Perth Chamber Choir (thanks to long-term contacts with Henry Neil and, later, Howard Duthie), as well as Edna Auld’s Perth Jambouree Choir, the Pitlochry Choral, the Alyth Choral Union and the Dunfermline Abbey Choir.

And he continued his weekly playing at St Mary’s well into December of last year.

In a nod to his time as principal teacher of music at Dumfries Academy between 1962 and 1987, John also took a succession of organ pupils of all ages.

In particular, he supported the careers of young singers, such as Kenneth Maciver and Liam Bonthrone.

And many of these former students have paid fulsome tribute to his influence on their emerging careers following news of his death earlier this year.

Born and raised in Morningside, South Edinburgh, where his father was a butcher, John attended George Heriot’s and started his church music career as a choirboy in St John’s Church, Princes Street.

He turned down an Edinburgh University organ scholarship in preference for a James Caird Travelling Scholarship which took him to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

This led a London University B.mus and FRCO (Fellow of the Royal College of Organists).

Studies in London were followed by military service, mostly in Oldenburg, in the north of the then West Germany.

There, he managed to continue his organ scholarship, mixed with his other duties, and retained lifelong connections with the area.

His first job, following a year at Moray House, was at Kirkcudbright Academy where he met his wife, Shirley, before returning to Edinburgh and a teaching post at his old school.

In 1962, the offer of a promoted post in Dumfries, in a new-build music department, tempted him to the south-west.

It was the beginning of a fruitful and rewarding 25year career in Dumfries.

Outwith school, the church organ remained his great passion.

And the unexpected emergence of job opportunities for organists and choirmasters with the Norwegian Lutheran Church led to a surprise move in 1988 to the rural community of Dale, in the Sogn og Fjordane area of west Norway, several hours north of Bergen.

He and Shirley were later engaged by the local authority, as curators of Lillingstonheim, a minor stately home on the south shore of the Dalsfjord.

Their many Norwegian contacts were maintained long after their return to Scotland in 1994, with several musical trips back and forth.

Back in Scotland, John also enjoyed an on-off collaboration – Baroque and Blue – with a group of his Dumfries Academy FPS.

They played in the southwest, in Norway, and in Perthshire, and elsewhere, over a period of more than 35 years.

There was even a familybased ceilidh band, a new venture for him at the age of 77.

Outwith music, John and Shirley shared a keen interest in botany and gardening, practised to best extent in the gardens at Rosebank, Shawhead (outside Dumfries), and Lillingstonheim in Norway.

He was an avid reader, particularly of history, and a keen hillwalker, continuing weekly trips up Birnam Glen and Birnam Hill into his 80s and never losing the desire to travel.

His last trip to his beloved Knoydart was in October 2023.

And while many from outwith the area will remember John as an Edinburgh or a Dumfries man, he and Shirley had lived longer in Birnam than in any of their previous locations.

John died at Kincarrathie House, Perth, on March 13 2024

He is survived by Shirley, his wife of 65 years.

He was a loving and devoted father to Mandy and David, and leaves five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

TALENTED MUSICIAN: John seated at the organ; and with wife Shirley; and – as ever – planning his next travel adventure.