artist | ENTREPRENEUR | producer

Rodney Sharard Whitley - is a Minister of Worship & Arts and Baritone singer extraordinaire. He has put an impeccable stamp on the professional arena of church worship, through the inclusion of liturgical dance, drama and theater productions, professional audio and visual integration into the worship experience, and vocal performance.


A graduate of the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts and the University of Maryland, Rodney currently serves as the Minister of Worship & Arts at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Arlington, VA, where the pastor is the Rev. Dr. James E. Victor, Jr. There, he oversees the preparation and execution of every aspect of the worship life of the church through liturgical dance, drama, music, and the audio/visual ministry.  

As the Assistant to the Musical Director for the Hampton Ministers' Conference since 2015, Rodney served as organist and guest Clinician for the for the same as well as The Gospel Music Workshop of America and the Church Music Summit. Mr. Whitley currently sits on the Board of Directors for the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, Inc. (NCGCC) and serves as National Supervisor for the Soloist Bureau Division. In 2020 he was honored to produce the NCGCC's 2020 Virtual Convention. 


Highlights in Rodney’s career include serving as the choral conductor for the Gala Celebrations at the Kennedy Center for the President of the United States. He was also asked to conduct the choirs for the hit play “God Is Trying to Tell You Something!” He has served many years as Musical Director for The Black Engineer of the Year Awards and the Women of Color S.T.E.M. Awards show sponsored by Career Communications Group, Inc. of Maryland. 

While he is also a choral conductor and organist, Mr. Whitley’s true love for performance music is through vocal performance.  He has studied voice with Mrs. Jean Carter, Dr. Samuel Gordon and Mrs. Beverly Benso.  Having performed on many stages, Rodney has performed excerpts from “Porgy and Bess” with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; the role of Balthazar from “Amahl and The Night Visitors” with the Annapolis Opera Company; and  Mendelsshon’s “Elijah” with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and One Voice Chorus. At Christmas, you can always find him performing as the bass soloist for Handel’s Messiah. 

Mr. Whitley’s musical achievements have taken him to various places around the globe (or world) including England, Wales, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, China, and Italy.  For years, Rodney has led choirs on various concert tours in Israel with performances in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth.

Currently, Mr. Whitley is working on his own first CD project to be released soon. He is the proud father of two adult sons, Julian and Christian who are both in the music industry and educators.