Candlelight tribute for Highland musician
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A SOPRANO singer has paid tribute to her “special” friend who inspired her to perform a candlelit concert to raise £1700 for a cancer care charity.
Liz McLardy laid on an evening of music and song for Maggie’s Highlands to show her admiration to staff who lifted the spirits of her close friend Helen Sproston in the final days of her life.
Mrs Sproston, a 72-year-old artist and musician who played alto saxophone in the Bonny Vista Social Club, and the Highland Swing band, would have been parted from her beloved Tibetan terrier called Mac had Maggie’s not allowed friends to bring the dog in for visits while she was being treated at neighbouring Raigmore Hospital.
The concert, called Baroque by Candlelight, in which Ms McLardy performed with pianist Tonya Clement and James Ross on clarinet, was held at St John’s Church in Inverness on February 21.
Poignantly, Mrs Sproston passed away on the same day.
Ms McLardy said: “Helen was special. She was just so full of life. She did all sorts of outrageous things like climbing Mont Blanc and she travelled a lot.
“She was a good artist and musician and she loved her little dog. She was unique. You’d never have believed she was in her seventies.”
Mrs Sproston’s ex-sister-in-law Kay Hall, with whom she attended Altrincham Grammar School in Cheshire, and had held a close bond as the pair married twin brothers, said Mrs Sproston has a son, Stuart, who lives in Barcelona. Her late husband Ron died several years ago.
Paying her own tribute, she said: “Helen was a free spirit and a very determined woman. Some people would say she was stubborn and that helped with the diagnosis. She was determined to make best use of the time that she had left.”
Bonny Vista Social Club guitarist Pete Gavin said he enjoyed Helen’s “hard-wit” and her stoic approach to living and dying.
He said: “A couple of us in the band are aware of our own mortality for various reasons and Helen was a good example for us because her attitude was very much like ‘it’s time for the last song and I’m okay with that’.”
Fellow band members made a music recording for her, which she wanted to be played at her funeral.
She also recorded a few final words which were edited into the track, thanking friends for all their love and good wishes and paying special thanks to the exceptional buddy who “sneaked in the G&Ts” during visits.
Then the music fades out with her laughter, Helen’s parting gift.
