Wednesday, July 25 Evensong

Wednesday, 25 July 2007

Tonight's Service

Preces/Responses: Hancock
Psalm 94
Service: Hogan Mt. St. Albans
Anthem: Marshall He Comes to Us



Gerre Hancock, (born February 21, 1934 in Lubbock, Texas) one of America’s most highly acclaimed concert organists and choral directors, is Professor of Music at The University of Texas at Austin where he teaches organ and is 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. 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. He is listed in “Who’s Who in America,” and his biography appears in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition. 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. 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.

H. David Hogan was a noted composer of liturgical music, a choral director, singer, writer of art and theater songs and a musical educator who co-founded the esteemed Walden School in New Hampshire. His life came to an early tragic end as a passenger on TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996. The Mt. St. Alban Service was written in 1990 for Washington National Cathedral in celebration of the completion and consecration of their new building.

Jane Marshall is an author as well as a composer whose published works cover a 50-year span. She was a consultant for the United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, and many of her hymns appear in hymnals of various denominations. A longtime member of the Meadows School of the Arts theory faculty and the Sacred Music graduate faculty at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, she is also the author of Grace, Noted, a collection of homilies, essays and hymns published by Hope Publishing Company.

Tonight's service will be accompanied by Parish Choir member, and frequent guest organist, Dr. Grace Ohlenbusch.