Roger G. McMurrin (born 1939) is an American conductor and pastor who moved to Ukraine and founded a symphony orchestra there to perform sacred music.

Early life

McMurrin was born in

Bedford, Indiana Bedford is a city in Shawswick Township, Lawrence County, Indiana, Shawswick Township and the county seat of Lawrence County, Indiana, Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. In the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 13,7 ...

. As a youth, he moved to

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. It is east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Miami Valley region. The name comes from the Greek l ...

. He earned a degree in music from

Olivet Nazarene University Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) is a private Nazarene university in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Named for its founding location, Olivet, Illinois, ONU was originally established as a grammar school in east-central Illinois in 1907. In the late 1930 ...

and became a teacher at Xenia High School. He then earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He later became a music instructor in a college where he also studied conducting techniques.

Musical career

United States

McMurrin started working in music in 1972 at

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is a Christian megachurch within the Presbyterian Church in America located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was founded in 1960 by D. James Kennedy (1930–2007), who served as the church's senior pastor until s ...

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He later became the director of music at the church. After 16 years at Coral Ridge, McMurrin left to become director of music at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and then moved on to First Presbyterian Church in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, Florida. McMurrin has also performed on

Diane Bish Diane Joyce Bish (born May 25, 1941) is an American organist, composer, conductor, as well as executive producer and host of ''The Joy of Music'' television series. As a concert organist, she performs at concerts throughout North America and Euro ...

's The Joy of Music, including as part of the Coral Ridge choir during an episode about the life of

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

Ukraine

In 1991, McMurrin was invited to

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

by Episcopal priest, George McCammon to conduct local musicians in a performance of

Georg Friedrich Händel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training ...

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

. McMurrin had initially planned to go to the Caribbean and was only aware of Kiev from The Great Gate of Kiev from

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite (music), suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's ...

. Upon arrival in 1992, McMurrin became aware that the Ukrainians had not heard Handel's ''

'' before as it had been banned by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. McMurrin conducted the musicians in performing two concerts in Ukraine, where Messiah was performed for the first time in 70 years in Ukraine. During the plane ride back to the United States, McMurrin felt that God wanted him to move to Ukraine. McMurrin moved to Ukraine permanently in 1993 where he taught English and musical theory at St. Andrew's Preparatory School. In December McMurrin had to return to the United States as he only had $16 left. Friends gave McMurrin money for him to return to Ukraine and set up the

Kyiv Symphony Orchestra The Kyiv Symphony Orchestra is a Ukrainian symphony orchestra based in Kyiv. It has been conducted by Luigi Gaggero since 2018. The orchestra played music by Ukrainian composers on a tour to major concert halls in Poland and Germany, beginnin ...

and Chorus, the first private orchestra in Ukraine. The orchestra later went on tours of Ukraine and the United States. In 1994, McMurrin established the Church of the Holy Trinity as a place for the orchestra to play, becoming an ordained pastor in the process. At the time, most of the orchestra members were atheists or agnostics; however, a group of them became Christians after performing

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

with McMurrin. McMurrin became the pastor of the church, which was assisted in funding as a result of the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

Personal life

McMurrin is the son of the Reverend Albert McMurrin. McMurrin is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and an ordained minister in the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church. McMurrin is married and has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMurrin, Roger Living people People from Xenia, Ohio Olivet Nazarene University alumni Ohio State University alumni American male conductors (music) American expatriates in Ukraine 1939 births American Presbyterian ministers American Presbyterian missionaries Schoolteachers from Ohio Classical musicians from Ohio 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians