Dr. Mattie Moss Clark
| Mattie Moss Clark | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Mattie Juliet Moss |
| Also known as | Mattie Moss Clark |
| Born |
March 26, 1925 Selma, Alabama, U.S. |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | September 22, 1994 (aged 69) Southfield, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, Musician, Conductor, Arranger, Producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano, Organ |
| Years active | 1958–1994 |
| Labels | Savoy,Billesse, NorthBound, Sound of Gospel, Westbound, DME, Mattie Moss Clark Records, Spirit & Truth, Malaco, Sparrow |
| Associated acts |
The Clark Sisters Jacky Clark-Chisholm Twinkie Clark-Terrell Denise Clark Dorinda Clark Cole Karen Clark Sheard Kierra "Kiki" Sheard J Moss |
Mattie Moss Clark (born Mattie Juliet Moss; March 26, 1925 – September 22, 1994) was an American gospel choir director and the mother of The Clark Sisters, a world-renowned gospel vocal group. Clark is credited for creating the three-part harmony (separating vocal parts into soprano, alto and tenor), a technique which is prevalent among gospel choirs today.
Mattie Juliet Moss was born the seventh of nine children to ministers Fred and Mattie J. (née Walker) Moss in Selma, Alabama. She began playing piano at six. By twelve, she had become the musician for her mother's services at the Holiness Temple Church of Christ in Prayer and traveled with her mother to play at mission services, a trend she passed on to daughter Twinkie.
After high school, she attended Selma University and received training in classical music and choral singing. Moss moved to Detroit in her early twenties to be with her sister Sybil Burke and became a member of Greater Love Tabernacle Church of God in Christ. There, under the leadership of Bishop W. Rimson, she gave her life to Christ, was water baptized, received the infilling/baptism of the Holy Ghost and subsequently became the Minister of Music. She served a historic tenure as Minister of Music for both Southwest Michigan Jurisdiction and Bailey Temple Church of God in Christ, under Bishop John Seth Bailey. Soon she was in demand to train choirs at churches throughout the brotherhood of COGIC.
In 1958, she recorded "Going to Heaven to Meet the King", with the Southwest Michigan State Choir, becoming the first person to commit the sounds of a choir to record. She was also the first person to separate vocal parts into soprano, alto and tenor. She received three gold albums with the Southwest Michigan State Choir, and went on to write and arrange hundreds of songs and recorded over 50 albums. She directed Cadillac Motor Company's Christmas choir for 11 years and also conducted community-wide mass choirs for the prestigious NAACP Freedom Fund Dinners.
In 1979, she founded the Clark Conservatory of Music in Detroit, which established itself as one of the most prestigious schools of its kind in the country. In 1981, Trinity College in Pennsylvania conferred upon her one of their highest honors, the degree of Doctor of Humanities. After the death of Bishop Bailey in 1985, she continued as State Minister of Music for Southwest Michigan Jurisdiction #1, attending Greater Mitchell Church of God in Christ, under Bishop J.H. Sheard.
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