Rhett Barnwell returned to his Embry Hills roots in January 2011 to serve as Music and Worship Arts Director. Members may remember Rhett when he served as Director of Music at EHUMC from 1992 – 1997. He has also performed in concert for the Embry Hills family a number of times over the years.

For those who are not familiar with Rhett’s many talents, here are some highlights from his career:

Rhett Barnwell has enjoyed a diverse musical career as a classical and Celtic harpist, organist, conductor, cellist and French horn player. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in French horn performance from Florida State University, and a Master of Music degree in the same field from the St. Louis Conservatory. He performed with a number of orchestras in the US and abroad, including the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy, the AIMS Orchestra of Graz, Austria, Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife, Spain, the Atlanta Symphony, Charleston Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic and others. Feeling a calling to church music, he went on to Doctoral studies in Choral Conducting and Organ at the University of Georgia. He has also pursued post-graduate studies at Westminster Choir College, the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, Italy, and the Abbey of St. Pierre in Solesmes, France, for Gregorian chant study. He has also spent time studying the music of the ecumenical Taize Community in France.

More recently, he has focused on healing and meditative music for the harp, and is the founder of Seraphim Music, which publishes and distributes harp arrangements, compositions, and recordings worldwide. He is in demand as a guest artist and lecturer for harp conferences and festivals around the country. He frequently collaborates with soprano Victoria Lawson, who is featured on the CD, “The Lord is My Shepherd”. They have given a number of performances together throughout the Southeast. In addition to serving as Director of Music at Embry Hills from 1992-1997, Rhett has served other parishes in Atlanta and Charleston, South Carolina. He has led choir tours of Italy on three occasions, including the Embry Hills Choir, which was selected by audition for the Loreto Festival of Sacred Music. In 2007, he led the St. Brigid Catholic Church Choir (Alpharetta, GA) on a concert tour of Italy, performing in Rome, Assisi, and at the Vatican for Pope Benedict XVI.