Rodney Barbour, a Huntington native who is a Cincinnati-based concert organist and church worship and arts director, will perform on Saturday, November 11, 2023, at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Ironton. Mr. Barbour’s program will feature a salute to veterans playing the five service songs along with selections for classical organ. Admission is $15, season tickets to all six concerts are $40 and tickets may be purchased at the door. All veterans will be admitted for $10 in honor of their service. Students of all ages and children are admitted free. The church is handicap accessible.

The Ironton Council for the Arts would like to thank the Foundation for the Tri-State Community, Inc. for providing their generous financial support for this concert through their Artists in Concert Fund.

Rodney serves as Director of Worship and Arts at Crestview Presbyterian Church, West Chester, Ohio and also plays trombone. He has published articles in several national music periodicals and has contributed to three published organ music collections.

Rodney’s organ concert presentations feature a myriad of tonal colors and styles which he describes as “traditional-orchestral”. Audiences are delighted with the breadth of literature Rodney is able to successfully include in his programs, and are left breathless at the variety and quality of the sounds they hear. At a recent church organ dedication concert, it was noted that “Rodney captured the whole room! While the concert was informative and educational, it was also played with excellence, humor and was glorifying to the Lord.”

Born in Huntington, W.Va., Rodney Barbour attended Vinson High School and Marshall University (B.M. Music Education, Organ, Trombone), earned the M.M. Degree in Organ performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and pursued doctoral studies there and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

Rodney has presented masterclasses in Organ-MIDI performance at national and regional American Guild of Organists (AGO) conventions as well as national gatherings of musicians of most denominations. He has held several AGO Offices including Dean of the Huntington, WV and Cincinnati, OH chapters. He has worked as Product Specialist for Church Organ Systems-Baldwin Piano and Organ, and Rogers Instruments. Rodney has published articles in several national music periodicals as well as contributing to three published organ music collections. As Director of Worship and Arts at Crestview Presbyterian Church, West Chester, OH, he conducts a 45-voice Chancel Choir, Handbell Choir, Worship Band, and Brass Choir and plays pipe and digital organs, a grand piano, a keyboard, a Hammond B-3 organ, and his accordion.

Rodney enjoys playing concerts and conducting organ workshops across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and all Canadian provinces. He recently recorded five CDs on Verdin and Content Organs for the Verdin Company Organ Division in Cincinnati, OH where he maintains a consulting relationship. (https://rodneybarbour.com/).

The Ironton Council for the Arts received ArtSTART and Ohio Artists on Tour grants from the Ohio Arts Council for the 2023-24 subscription concert season which will help defray performance costs and would like to thank the Ohio Arts Council for these awards.