Music / Religion
Mattie Moss Clark
1925–1994 · gospel choir director, composer, arranger
Detroit choir director who introduced three-part harmony to gospel choirs, led the Church of God in Christ's music for decades, and launched the Clark Sisters.
- Born
Selma, Alabama- Died
Southfield, Michigan
aged 69- Birth name
- Mattie Juliet Moss
- Also known as
- Dr. Mattie Moss Clark
- Detroit years
- 1947–1994
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Classically trained at Selma University, Mattie Moss moved to Detroit in 1947 and joined Greater Love Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, soon becoming minister of music for the Southwest Michigan Jurisdiction and Bailey Cathedral. Her arrangements replaced unison or two-part singing with three-part soprano, alto and tenor settings, a model that shaped gospel choirs for decades. In 1958 she recorded "Going to Heaven to Meet the King" with the Southwest Michigan State Choir, one of the first mass choirs drawn from many churches; she earned three gold albums and made more than 50 records. She directed the Cadillac Motor Company Christmas choir for 11 years. In 1968 she and Elma Hendricks staged a 1,000-voice Sing-A-Rama at New Bethel Baptist Church with James Cleveland as guest, the event that inspired his Gospel Music Workshop of America. She founded the Clark Conservatory of Music in 1979 and guided her daughters as the Clark Sisters.
Highlights
- Longest-serving international minister of music of the Church of God in Christ
- Pioneered three-part harmony in gospel choirs
- Three gold albums with the Southwest Michigan State Choir
- Her 1968 Sing-A-Rama at New Bethel inspired the Gospel Music Workshop of America
- Founded the Clark Conservatory of Music in Detroit (1979)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1968
New Bethel Baptist Church
She convened a 1,000-voice Sing-A-Rama here in 1968, with James Cleveland as guest.
Founded · 1979
Clark Conservatory of Music
Status being checked
She founded this Detroit music school, later headed by her daughter Dorinda Clark-Cole.