GERRE HANCOCK
Biography
Gerre Hancock, one of America’s most
highly acclaimed concert organists and choral directors, is Professor of Organ
and Sacred Music at The
University of Texas at Austin, where he and Dr. Judith Hancock are directing
the Organ Performance and Sacred
Music Center
programs; they teach organ and are developing a curriculum for the study of
Sacred Music. Prior to this appointment,
Dr. Hancock held the position of Organist and Master of Choristers at Saint
Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City where, for more than thirty years,
he set a new standard for church music in America. Previous to his time at Saint Thomas Church,
he held positions as Organist and Choirmaster of Christ Church Cathedral in
Cincinnati, where he also served on the Artist Faculty of the
College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, and as Assistant
Organist at St. Bartholomew’s Church, New
York City.
Dr. Hancock received his Bachelor of
Music degree from the University
of Texas and his Master
of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York from which
he received the Unitas Distinguished
Alumnus Award. A recipient of a Rotary
Foundation Fellowship, he also studied in Paris
and during this time was a finalist at the Munich International Music
Competitions. His organ study has been
with E. William Doty, Robert Baker, Jean Langlais and Marie-Claire Alain.
A Fellow of the American Guild of
Organists, Gerre Hancock has been a member of its National Council and is a
founder and past president of the Association of Anglican Musicians. He has served on the faculty of The Juilliard
School in New York City
and taught improvisation on a visiting basis at the Institute of Sacred Music,
Yale University in New Haven, CT,
and The Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
NY. In 1981 he was appointed a Fellow of the
Royal School of Church Music and in 1995 was appointed a Fellow of the Royal
College of Organists. Gerre Hancock has
received honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the Nashotah House Seminary, and
The University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. In May 2004 he was awarded
the Doctor of Divinity degree (Honoris causa) from The General Theological
Seminary in New York. He is listed in “Who’s Who in America,” and
his biography appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd
edition. In 2004 he was honored in a
ceremony at Lambeth
Palace in London where he was
presented the Medal of the Cross of St. Augustine by the Archbishop of
Canterbury.
Gerre Hancock’s consummate skill is
clearly apparent in his concert appearances.
Possessing a masterly interpretive ability, he is an artist of taste,
warmth, perception and style. A featured
recitalist and lecturer at numerous regional conventions of the American Guild
of Organists and at national conventions of the Guild in Philadelphia,
Cleveland, Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Houston and New York City, he also
represented the AGO as recitalist at the Centenary Anniversary of the Royal
College of Organists in London. Considered the finest organ improviser in America, Dr.
Hancock has been heard in recital in many cities throughout the United States, Europe, South
Africa, and Japan. On occasion he performs in
duo recitals with his wife, Judith Hancock.
Compositions by Dr. Hancock are
published by Oxford University Press.
His compositions for organ and chorus are widely performed and his
textbook, Improvising: How to Master
the Art, is used by musicians throughout the country. He has recorded for Gothic Records,
Decca/Argo, Koch International and Priory Records, both as a conductor of The
St. Thomas Choir and as a soloist.
Current as of June 2008