John Barr Biography
JOHN BARR was born in Myrtle Point, Oregon in 1938. After taking piano lessons since the age of six, he began organ and composition study in college. He graduated in 1960 from Manchester College in northern Indiana, receiving a B.S. in Music Education. He received master's and doctor's degrees in sacred music from the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where his teachers included Donald Coats and Robert S. Baker for organ and Joseph Goodman for composition.
Dr. Barr was music teacher at Hillcrest School for Missionary Children in Jos, Nigeria, 1962-65; Organist/Choir Director at University Presbyterian Church, Madison, WI, 1965-68; and Professor of Organ and Piano at Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA, 1968-2003 retiring as Professor Emeritus. Most of this time he has also been organist at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren, a position in which he continues to serve.
He has given a number of organ recitals, mainly in Virginia, and has numerous organ preludes published by publishers including Warner Bros., H.W. Gray, and Wayne Leupold Editions. He and his wife, Ann Lootsma, have two grown children, one son-in-law, and one grandson.
Works by John Barr
A flowing, free-form adaptation of the tune SURSUM CORDA, this work is especially useful as a backdrop for Communion. The work is written as a musical painting of the hymn text "You Are Before Me Lord" by Ian Pitt-Watson; the text is included in the music for illustration.