Gregory Lynn Barnes

Greg was a native of Hampton Roads, Virginia. He was born on October 14, 1939 in Fairmont, West Virginia. His family moved from West Virginia to Portsmouth in 1942 to find work. He was raised by his grandparents, Mamie and Howard Bunner. Music was always a vocation and an avocation for him. He started violin in the 6th grade and had two paper routes to buy his first violin. He started playing with the Norfolk Symphony when he was 16. He did not expect to go to college but got a call at the last minute asking him if he wanted a scholarship to attend the Norfolk College of William and Mary (now Old Dominion University). During his time there, his teacher encouraged him to switch to viola. There was a summer job for him if he could learn the instrument.

After his undergraduate degree, Greg went to East Carolina for his Masters. Following that, he moved to Atlanta for jobs with the Fulton County School District and the Atlanta Symphony. The US Army interrupted that career path when they drafted him. They ended up not taking him (he was a skinny lad) but kept the right to call him up again. Always making the best of things, Greg played in the Norfolk Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Peninsula Orchestra and worked at WRVC (the predecessor of WHRO). After marrying his first wife, Sandra Porter, he was offered a job at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After a time there, he got a call from C. Sidney Berg, proposing that he start string programs in the "downtown" (All-Black) schools and he and Sandra took the opportunity. Greg worked through many changes and challenges in the school system but through it all, was determined to maintain equity for under-represented youth.

Greg, along with C. Sidney Berg, Linda Althoff and "Easy" Birshtein started the Tidewater Youth Orchestra and Junior Youth Orchestras. When the Norfolk Symphony changed their name to the Virginia Symphony, the youth orchestra did also, becoming the Virginia Symphony Youth Orchestra. After some policy decisions by the VSO, Greg started the Bay Youth Orchestra and the Bay Youth Concert Orchestra. He was innovative in his programming and guest artists, inviting Bob McGrath of Sesame Street and Chinese artists (playing pipa and erhu) for the East Meets West Concert.

After the death of Greg's first wife, he married Gail Van Aernum and the two, along with Greg's daughter Alison became a blended family. They had many adventures, first traveling across the United States in their orange Volkswagen camper and then to Europe as members of the Puccini Festival Orchestra in Torre del Lago, Italy. Gail is also a violist and the two played side-by-side in the Virginia Symphony and Virginia Opera. After his retirement from the Norfolk Public Schools, Greg supported Gail's decision to go to The Ohio State University for her PhD. They did not know it would ultimately mean moving to South Carolina for her job at the University of South Carolina where she was a professor of music education and director of the University of South Carolina String Project. Again, making the best of things, Greg worked as an interim sub at a local school district, started another youth orchestra (in Spartanburg, SC), taught at Limestone College and Presbyterian University and most recently was an adjunct faculty member at the University of South Carolina. He is the editor of Playing and Teaching the Viola: A Comprehensive Guide to Central Clef Instrument and Its Music. In addition, he wrote concert reviews for local papers.

In retirement, Greg loved listening to music, reading great literature, keeping up with current events and travel. He and Gail traveled to five out of seven continents and had cherished trips with Alison and her family to Italy and Greece.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Gail, his daughter Alison (John) Tisaranni, his granddaughters (Jordan, Ashley and Julia), his brother Paul (Marcia) Gibson, nephews (Steven, Thomas, Brian) and his sister-in-law, Kathryn VanAernum. The family will have a Celebration of Life in Maryland, with the date to be announced. Those wishing to donate in Greg’s memory can do so at Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia or Alzheimer’s Disease Research.

We will miss him greatly.