Gerre Hancock, is Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at The University of Texas at Austin, where he and Dr. Judith Hancock direct 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 that time was a finalist at the Munich Int’l 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 (AGO), 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 has taught improvisation on a visiting basis at the Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University, and at The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. In 1981 he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal School of Church Music. In 1995 he 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, Sewanee, Tennessee. In 2004, he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree (Honoris causa) from The General Theological Seminary in New York, and was presented the Medal of the Cross of St. Augustine by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He represented the AGO as recitalist at the Centenary Anniversary of the Royal College of Organists in London and has appeared frequently at regional and national conventions of the AGO. 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 and are widely performed. His textbook, Improvising: How to Master the Art, is used by musicians throughout America. 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.