In December 1955, Joseph Bernard Winters was born the second of three children to Theo and Eunice Winters. Their home, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was located just two doors away from their church. The North Side Church of God held choir rehearsal every Saturday evening. When Joey, as he is affectionately called, was a young boy, he loved to sit in his backyard and sing along with the choir. During church services members of the congregation were amazed and never figured out how a five year old boy knew every word of every song the choir sung!
Joseph's love for music prompted his parents to sacrifice and allow him to study piano at six years of age with Carmen P. Rummo. He remained a student of Mr. Rummo until 1973. At the age of 14, Joey entered the Pittsburgh Centers for the Musically Talented and studied voice with Charles Gillesppi. His studies there opened many performance opportunities including an appearance at the Apollo in Harlem, New York with the Ozanam Strings of Pittsburgh.
In 1973, Joseph graduated from Holy Innocents High School, a member of the National Honor Society and he graduated in 1977 from Carnegie-Mellon University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Music. While attending Carnegie-Mellon, he was under the tutelage of fine instructors like Lee Cass, Helen Gossard, Leonard Ballada, Marta Sanchez, Frederick Stevens, Robert Page and many more.
 After completing his secular education in the field of music, Joseph moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue the ministry. He enrolled in the Word of Faith College of Theology, operated by Word of Faith Christian Fellowship (now known as just Faith Church) in New Orleans. Faith Church also operated a K-12 academy for Christian students. While studying for the ministry, a need arose at the academy for a music teacher. Faith Church Academy choirs under Joseph's baton consistently won superior sweepstakes in LMEA choral contests on the regional and state levels.
Joseph was very active in the American Choral Director Association and the Music Educators National Conference and occupied the Louisiana State Chair for Ethnic and Minority concerns in La. DCA for ten years. He was in demand as clinician and adjudication in Louisiana and Mississippi. His compositions and arrangements are a major draw for him in these circuits. He served for three years as the conductor of the Jefferson Performing Arts Society's Youth Chorale, served as a guest conductor of the North Shore Performing Arts Society and served as a teacher in the P.O.P. Performing Arts Center in Covington, LA.
After Joseph’s ordination, he was hired as an Associate Pastor of Word of Faith Christian Fellowship. He remained at that post until August 2005 when hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area including the church and the academy. Joseph relocated to northern Virginia and served as the Minister of Music at the Community Church of Leesburg Pike. Under his influence the program expanded to include not only the music of such contemporary musicians, as Chris Tomlin, Israel Houghton, and Martha Munizzi, but the music of Martin Luther, Fanny Crosby, J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Rene Clausen, John Rutter, and other classical composers found a welcome place in the worship service. On special occasions (Easter, July 4th, and Christmas) one would experience many of Joseph’s arrangements and original compositions for choir and chamber orchestra.
Early in 2008 Joey received a call to return to the New Orleans area and serve as Minister of Music at The Life Gate Church, formally known as Faith Church. On March 30th The Life Gate Church opened and dedicated their new North shore facility with Joey at the keyboard. He is currently at that post building the music program.
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