Gerre Hancock

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Gerre Edward Hancock (born February 21, 1934 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American organist, improviser, and composer. Hancock is currently Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at the University of Texas, Austin.

Dr. Hancock received his Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin and his Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York, from which he later received the Unitas Distinguished Alumnus Award. A recipient of a Rotary Foundation Fellowship, he also studied in Paris at the Sorbonne and during this time was a finalist at the Munich International Music Competitions.

Dr. Hancock has served as Assistant Organist at Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York, Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church (now Christ Church Cathedral) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Organist and Master of the Choristers at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York.

Dr. Hancock's compositions are published by Oxford University Press (OUP). His textbook, Improvising: How to Master the Art, also published by OUP, is studied by organists throughout the USA.

Hancock studied organ with E. William Doty, Robert Baker, Jean Langlais, and Marie-Claire Alain, and improvisation with Nadia Boulanger and Searle Wright. A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Dr. 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. 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. In May 2009, Hancock was made Doctor of Music (Honoris causa) at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. In June 2010, Dr. Hancock was presented the International Performer of the Year Award by the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. This is viewed by many as the most distinguished award that the American Guild of Organists bestows upon its colleagues. ^[1]

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, Dr. Hancock 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 and worldwide. On occasion he performs in duo recitals with his wife, Dr. Judith Hancock.

His compositions for organ and chorus are widely performed. 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.

1. ^ http://nycago.org/html/IPYA.html

External links

• Publicity site at Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.
• Faculty page at the University of Texas at Austin

Preceded by William Self

Organist & Master of the Choristers, St. Thomas Church, New York 1971–2004

Succeeded by John Scott

Persondata
Name	Hancock, Gerre
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Date of birth	February 21, 1934
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