Bio

John first stepped onstage in church and high school productions in Gallatin, Tennessee. While earning a B.M. in music education at Samford University, he also received awards from the theatre department for Best Actor his sophomore year and Best Minor Role his senior year. He lived in east Africa for a couple of years after college and met his wife Terri in a Champaign church choir while earning a M.M. in choral music from the University of Illinois. A twenty-five-year career as a university choir director called on his theatre background as he scripted and directed a Dickens Dinner for Longwood College and five Christmas Dinners for Milligan College. Along the way he earned a D.M.A. in church music from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. With their children Laura, Ethan and Rebecca, John became active in Georgetown (Kentucky) Community Theatre starting in 2002, appearing onstage, eventually directing, and serving as President of the Board for three years. In 2013, he moved to Huntington to become full-time Minister of Music at Fifth Avenue Baptist Church and soon thereafter auditioned for Arts Resources for the Tri-State (ARTS). When that group folded, he helped to found Alchemy Theatre Troupe, serving on the Board and directing its first show as part of the inaugural West Virginia Shakespeare Festival in 2018. Nowadays John practices organ a lot and occasionally composes or arranges music in his part-time position as Director of Music at Enslow Park Presbyterian Church.

Credits