In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Gerre Hancock

Director

Gerre Hancock

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 2004 he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree (Honoris causa) from The General Theological Seminary in New York, and 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. He is listed in "Who's Who in America," his biography appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, and the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists has given him the International Distinguished Performer of 2010 Award.

Dr. 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 their national conventions 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.

Discography

Displaying 1-4 of 4 items.

Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys : A Cappella II

Review: This disc, featuring a variety of sacred works by 20th-century composers and arrangers, fully measures up to this revered choir's reputation for first-rate singing and for being what can only be described as America's finest English cathedral choir. Everything from the bright, prominent treble tone to the enunciation and inflection--even the choir's vestments--comes from the long-established Anglican tradition, and under the careful tutelage of director Gerre Hancock these choristers have nothing to apologize for, either in technique or in musicianly command of the repertoire. The repertoire includes several traditional favorites--Stanford's Latin motets, for example--along with works closely associated with Saint Thomas, including choir-member Anthony Piccolo's beautiful anthem Heaven and Heart, T. Tertius Noble's Go to Dark Gethsemane, and Hancock's own arrangement of the Spiritual Deep River. Along the way we encounter the intensely overwrought and way-too-long Magnificat by Alan Gray and the tedious-and-fussy Vox dicentis by Edward Naylor. Stanford's gorgeous but extremely tricky motets provide many moments of listening pleasure but also reveal their challenges as the choir trebles struggle with intonational control in several places, especially in the somewhat cumbersome and awkwardly written eight-part Coelos ascendit hodie (no choir sings this piece well) and in the opening and closing bars of Beati quorum via.

Songlist: Eternal Light - Sowerby, Go To The Gethsemane - Noble, A Setting Of Collect - Parker, Heaven And Heart - Piccolo, Draw Us In The Spirit's Tether - Ossewaarde, Three Motets - Stanford, Magnificat - Gray, Nunc Dimittis - Wood, "Tis The Day Of Resurrection - Wood, Vox Dicentis: Clama - Naylor, Sonate En Ut Mineur - Gui;mant, Deep River , The Good News, Ezeckiel Saw De Wheel

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Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys : Anthem - Edward Bairstow Choral Music

Review: One of the leading Anglican choirs in the US sing the works of noted English choral composer Sir Edward Barstow (1984 - 1946)

Songlist: Anthems, Blessed city, heavenly Salem, Jesu, the very thought of thee, Let my prayer come up, I will was my hands in innocency, I sat down under his shadow, Lord, thou hast been our refuge, Let all mortal flesh keep silence, Communion Service in D, Sanctus, Benedictus, Gloria in excelsis Deo, Evening service in D, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, Anthem, Sing ye to the Lord, Rhapsody in C-sharp minor, Op. 17, No. 3

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Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys : Most Sacred Banquet

Review: Considered by major critics both here and abroad to be the outstanding choral ensemble of the Anglican musical tradition in the US today. The 12 men, who are professional singers, and 18 boys, who are students at NYC's St. Thomas Choir School, one of 4 such schools in the world. Included here are 14 songs, some accompanied by the massive St. Thomas Church organ. There are single pieces by Poulenc ('Exultate Deo'), Messiaen ('O sacrum convivium), and Cesar Franck's 'Psalm 150;' 4 tunes by Maurice Durufle, and 5 tunes by Jean Langlais, ('Kyrie,' 'Gloria,' 'Sanctus,' 'Benedictus' and 'Agnus Dei').

Songlist: Exultate Deo, O Sacrum Convivium, Psalm 150, Quatre Motets on Gregorian Themes, Op. 10, Ubi caritas, Tota pulchra es, Tu es Petrus, Tantum ergo, Petite rapsodie improvisee, Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei

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Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys : Rejoice In The Lamb - Benjamin Britten

Review: The 29 men and boys of New York City's renowned Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys present the choral music of British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). Included are 'Te Deum in C Major,' 'A Hymn of St. Columba,' 'Jubilate Deo in C,' 'Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op 27,' 'Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria,' 'Hymn to St. Peter' and the 7 movements of 'Rejoice in the Lamb, Op. 30.' Britten's compositions are brilliant, eclectic and difficult to perform, but they are handled beautifully and seemingly effortlessly by the Choir. There is some organ accompaniment. A fine collection of the works of a British master composer, by one of America's great all-male choirs.

Songlist: Te Deum in C Major, A hymn of St. Columba, Jubilate Deo in C, Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op. 27, Prelude and Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria, Hymn to St. Peter, Rejoice in the Lamb, Op. 30

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