John Creger is a professional player of:
He is also a:
John came to Richmond, Virginia in 1978 to play String Bass with The Richmond Symphony Orchestra upon graduation from Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. Soon afterward, he also took a position with Henrico County Public Schools as an Orchestra Director and Classroom Teacher.
Henrico County wraps around the nothern part of Richmond, and is included in the Greater Richmond Region. Henrico is the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Ashland is located a few miles to the north of Henrico County in Hanover County up U.S. 1 and I-95.
He now lives just north of Richmond in Ashland, Virginia.
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad initially developed the town of Ashland in the 1840s as a mineral springs resort with a racetrack. The town was named "Ashland" after Henry Clay's estate of Ashland located in Kentucky. (Henry Clay was orignally a native son of Virginia before he moved to Lexington, Kentucky.) The town was officially incorporated on February 19, 1858.
Previously the area had been known as "The Slashes", sometimes translated as "swamp", but which also reflected the small ravines that formed in the sandy clay soil after hard rains.
Even before the Civil War, the railroad began offering monthly passes to Richmond for people who were buying lots and building houses in Ashland. When tycoon Jay Gould established a streetcar line between Ashland and Richmond in 1908, the town became an early streetcar suburb of Richmond. (1)
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Since shortly after the American Civil War, Ashland has also been the home of Randolph-Macon College, i.e., Ashland is a College Town.
Randolph–Macon College was founded in 1830 by Methodists Rev. Hekeziah G. Leigh and Staten Islander Gabriel Poillon Disosway. The school was the second-oldest Methodist-run college established in the country, and is the oldest in continuous operation. (Northwestern in Chicago was not founded until 1851.)
Randloph–Macon was originally located in Boydton, near the North Carolina border. The railroad link to Boydton was destroyed, like many others in the Confederate States during the American Civil War, and it was not rebuilt after the War. Therefore, only a few years after the end of the War, in 1868 the college's trustees decided to relocate the school to Ashland to be on a major north-south rail trunkline.
The college takes its name from Virginia statesmen John Randolph of Roanoke, VA and North Carolina statesman Nathaniel Macon. (In the companion book of histories about these hymns, the history about the hymn "Angels from the Realms of Glory" by James Montgomery, includes the story about Macon being responsible for getting newspaper man Joseph Gales to locate from Philadelphia to North Carolina and start the paper, Raleigh Register. (See details about Joseph Gales in the portion of the history story from "Angels from the Realms of Glory" subtitled What Happened to Joseph Gales and Family in the companion history book.)
Randolph–Macon College became the first college south of the Mason–Dixon line to require physical education coursework for graduation. The old gym, built in 1887, was the first structure in the South to be constructed solely for instruction in physical education.
Randolph–Macon is considered to be:
Since 1923, the college has been home to the Zeta of Virginia chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation's oldest academic honor society.
Chi Beta Phi, the national science honorary society, was founded at Randolph–Macon in 1916.(2)
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During his tenure with Henrico County public schools, John Creger developed one of the largest and most active string programs in Central Virginia. As a guest conductor for many All-County, Regional and Festival Orchestras throughout the State, John also served as adjudicator and chairmen for many such events. His compositions and arrangements for String Orchestra have been performed by numerous student groups throughout the area.
His Electronic Music Lab, developed through a technology grant process, was the first such facility in the region, leading John to present on emerging technologies in the field of music production and performance at state education conventions. Upon his retirement from teaching in 2008, John held the position of Fine Arts Department Chairman at Brookland Middle School in Henrico County.
As a freelance musician, John continues to play upright/string/double bass, electric bass guitar and acoustic guitar in numerous duos, combos, chamber ensembles and pit orchestras. Those groups' music encompasses a variety of styles including:
He's been writing music for many years, mostly as an individual endeavor. He currently plays with his two bands:
(Mr. Creger refers to the musicians in those groups as both being wonderful groups of musicians, and are some of the best of the best, musically and personally.)
Editor’s note about Premiere Duo from The BashTM
Premiere Band is on furlough due to Covid-19. However, Premiere Duo has formed from Premiere Band! Premiere Duo consists of Jeanette Creger, the keyboard player and John Creger, the bass player from Premiere Band. Both of them sing. They play a variety of styles including Motown, Classic Rock, today's hits, pop, blues and country, oldies, and a few jazz standards. They provide full PA and lights, and are veteran professional musicians ready to perform for you!
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Mr. Creger also plays with the:
In addition to his playing, from 2008 to 2021 he owned and operated BTR AudioVideo Inc, an audio and video recording studio. It specialized in solo artists, bands, singer/song writers, voice over and concert audio and video production. He still does individual projects as a private contractor for audio and cinema/video projects that come along.
When not writing or making music, or running BTR AudioVideo, John is devoted to spending time with his grandchildren, while also enjoying:
John maintains a web presence on Facebook, Instagram and at the following websites:
Footnotes
1 Ashland, VA, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashland,_Virginia
2 Randolph–Macon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph%E2%80%93Macon_College
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