John, born in 1946, is a multifaceted composer, choral director, organist, pianist, and educator whose extensive body of work spans various musical genres and age groups. His compositions are featured in the catalogs of more than ten national publishers and have been showcased on national television in both the United States and Great Britain. To date, he has over 150 anthems in print for children, youth, and adults. In 1988, he contributed songs for the school music series published by Silver Burdett & Ginn and Macmillan. More recently, his compositions have focused on virtuosic solo performers, both vocal and instrumental.
John dedicated twenty-six years to teaching within the Montgomery County, Maryland Public School System. During this time, he spent twenty-one years teaching general music at the elementary level and five years at the secondary level, while also extensively working with choruses at both educational stages. His contributions to children's music composition earned him the Broom Award for Excellence from his home county. Additionally, he served as the Organist and Director of Music at Warner Memorial Presbyterian Church in Kensington, Maryland, for forty-three years, where he led three choral groups and two bell choirs, engaging over eighty congregation members. He retired from this role at the end of July 2013. In the fall of that year, he took on a four-month interim position as organist and director of music at Rockville United Church in Rockville, MD. After his interim service at First Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) in Washington, D.C., in 2014, he was appointed to a permanent position there, retiring on July 1, 2021. He continues to teach piano and compose from his home in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Throughout his career, John has served as a clinician for children's and youth choirs at national conferences for various denominations, including Presbyterians, Reformed Presbyterians, American Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Disciples of Christ. His expertise as a choral clinician has led him to participate in over 50 children's choir festivals in the past 15 years. He has taught Children's Choir Techniques at the Church Music Institute at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. More recently, he has offered courses titled “So You Think You Can’t Sing” at the Strathmore Center in Bethesda, Maryland, aimed at helping adults with pitch matching and singing.
John has participated on the Boards of Directors for both the Choristers Guild and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. He worked as a consultant for the Exploring Faith Sunday school curriculum published by the United Methodist Publishing House, assisting writing teams and providing musical resources. Previously, he edited the junior level of Abingdon's graded choir curriculum, Church Music for Children, and has contributed as a freelance writer to various periodicals, including Church Music Workshop and The Chorister.
In collaboration with a consultant group called New Paths, John co-authored two volumes, "Something Old, Something New: Hymns to Sing and Things to Do," published by Abingdon Press. In 2008, he released "Sing the Stories of Jesus: Twenty-Five Songs for the Youngest Singers," a collection of lectionary-based songs for ages 4-7, featuring words by Mary and music by John, along with teaching suggestions. This was followed by "Sing the Stories of God’s People: Thirty More Songs for the Youngest Singers" in 2010. A third collection, "Sing the Stories of God’s NEW People: Twenty-five More Songs for the Youngest Singers," is set to be published by Augsburg Fortress in the coming year.
John has also collaborated with Mary on three hymn collections: "Come Away With Me" and "Time Now to Gather," published by Abingdon Press, and "The Song Lingers On," published by Zimbel Press. A fourth collection, "Faith That Lets Us Sing," is scheduled for publication by Wayne Leupold Editions in 2016. His hymns and others have been included in various hymnals, such as the United Methodist supplement "The Faith We Sing," the Presbyterian supplement "Sing the Faith," and others from denominations including the United Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church.
