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FACULTY RECITAL

GERRE HANCOCK Organist

Friday, February 26, 2010 7:00 p.m. Edythe Bates Old Recital Hall and Grand Organ

sfkieherd RICE UNIVERSITY Sc~ol ofMusic PROGRAM

Hymne: "Veni Creator" Nicolas de Grigny (Livre d'Orgue) (1672-1703) En taille a 5 Fugue a 5 Duo Recit de cromorne Dialogue sur les Grands Jeux

Piece d'Orgue, BWV 572 Johann Sebastian Bach Tres vitement- Gravement - Lentement (1685-1750)

Fantasia and Fugue on B-A-C-H, Op. 46 Max Reger (1873-1916)

Improvisation: A Symphony for Organ in Five Movements A rthur Gottschalk p DI J 6 3 F !-f1f ~f ~f d1,J JI ,J II

Sonata-allegro Songform Scherzo Fugue Finale

The theme was composed for Dr. Hancock's improvisation by Dr. Arthur Gottschalk, Chair of the Composition and Theory Department at the Shepherd School. Dr. Hancock will not have seen this theme before it is presented to him in a sealed envelope immediately before he begins his improvisation.

_____J BIOGRAPHY

GERRE HANCOCK, one ofAmerica's most highly acclaimed concert organists and choral directors, currently serves on the faculty of The Uni­ versity of Texas at Austin and The Shepherd School ofMusic. Prior to these positions, Dr. Hancock was the 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 Choir­ master of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, where he also served on the Artist Faculty of the College- Conservatory ofMusic, University of Cin- cinnati, and as Assistant Organist at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City. Dr. Hancock received his Bachelor ofMusic degree from The Univer- sity of Texas at Austin and his Master of Sacred Music degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York from which he received the Unitas Dis­ tinguished Alumnus Award. A recipient ofa 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. Wil­ liam Doty, Robert Baker, , 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 ofAnglican Musicians. He has served on the faculty of The Juilliard School in New York City and taught improvisation on a visit­ ing basis at the Institute of Sacred Music, in New Haven, Connecticut, and The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. In 1981 he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music, and in 1995 was appointed a Fellow ofthe Royal College of Organists. f Gerre Hancock has received honorary Doctor ofMusic degrees from the Nashotah House Seminary and The University ofthe 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 ofMusic 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 ap­ pearances. Possessing a masterly interpretive ability, he is an artist of taste, warmth, perception, and style. A featured recitalist and lecturer at numer­ ous regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and at nation­ al conventions ofthe Guild in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Boston, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Houston, and New York City, he also represented the American Guild of Organists 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 per­ forms 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 text­ book, Improvising: How to Master the Art, is used by musicians through­ out 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.

Dr. Hancock is represented by i Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.

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