Dr. John G. Barr, Professor of Organ and Piano, Emeritus, who taught at Bridgewater College for 35 years, died on Dec. 16, 2024. He was 86.
Barr was born in Myrtle Point, Ore. He attended Manchester College and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in sacred music from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Prior to coming to Bridgewater, he taught music at Hillcrest School for Missionary Children in Jos, Nigeria, and was Organist and Director of Music at the University Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wis.
Barr joined the BC faculty in 1968 and retired in 2003. He also served as organist at the Bridgewater Church of the Brethren for many years and was a composer of choral and organ music, many of which were commercially published. In 2016 the Shenandoah Valley Choral Society honored his accomplishments with a pair of concerts that featured his choral and organ compositions.
Barr was preceded in death by his wife, Anna L. Barr, and is survived by his son, John A. Barr ’94, and his daughter, Rebecca Ann Barr Simmons ’92, and her family.
6/23/2025
