Ministry Team

A native of Greensboro, NC, Rusty has a strong Methodist background having grown up at Muir’s Chapel UMC, active in the music and arts ministries there. At various times he sang, played organ, piano, viola, trombone, handbells, and percussion, and conducted the Chancel Choir for services and special concerts. He also acted in plays and in musicals both at MCUMC and at Page High School (1980 graduate), most notably as Jesus of Nazareth in “Jesus Christ, Superstar.” 

Rusty brings a wealth of diverse musical education and experience to his position as Director of Music and the Arts. As a professional church musician, he has held the Music Director positions at Mount Tabor Lutheran Church, ELCA from 1998-2003 and at First Presbyterian Church 2003-2011, both in Salt Lake City, Utah. At Mount Tabor, he had oversight of all musical activities and lead the Chancel Choir and the Praise Band. At the historic First Presbyterian Church of SLC, he founded a concert series and led the Chancel Choir both in services and sacred concerts in collaboration with members of the Utah Symphony. In each church, he built the size and scope of the music programs dramatically.

Trained at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore as a bass trombonist, Rusty held positions with The Chattanooga Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (long term substitute), and the Utah Symphony where he was bass trombonist for 22 years. He was also active in Utah as a studio recording artist, having played on many soundtracks for TV and movies. Rusty performed with the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony, and the Kennedy Center Orchestra as a substitute musician. He was a faculty member at the Eastern Music Festival and member of the Eastern Philharmonic from 1986-1989.

As an educator, Rusty has been Director of Low Brass Studies at Snow College, Assistant Lecturer of Bass Trombone at Brigham Young University, and Music Director of the Westminster Chamber Orchestra at Westminster College, all in Utah. He has held positions as Adjunct Associate Professor of Music at the University of Utah, and Adjunct Professor of Trombone at both Southern College and Lee University in Tennessee, as well. 

Since returning to NC in 2011, Rusty performs as a substitute musician with the North Carolina Symphony and other leading ensembles in the Triangle area. He arranges and composes music for use in worship services and for brass ensembles of various kinds.  Some of Rusty's work is published by Cherry Classics, Ltd in Vancouver, B.C. 

Rusty is married to Linda, who is a former music educator, and who is also from Greensboro. They have three (nearly) grown children- Nate, Laura, and Abbie.