August 30, UT Butler School of Music Professor of Organ and Sacred Music Gerre Hancock hit the road to Kilgore to play an outreach recital at First Presbyterian Church with an eye toward recruiting talented organists for his ever-growing organ and sacred music program. Organists and organ enthusiasts gathered from cities from as far away as Dallas and Shreveport to hear Professor Hancock play. And judging from the enthusiasm with which prospective student organists gathered UT Butler School of Music degree and audition information after his performance, it would appear Professor Hancock’s efforts will pay off come audition time.

As if a crowd-pleasing program of organ masterworks, artfully performed by one of America’s most highly acclaimed organists were not enough, Professor Hancock pulled out all the stops by his demonstration of organ pipes and how they work. Taking a sample set of pipes delivered to the University years ago for marketing and sales purposes, Professor Hancock blew into each, explained how the shape, contour, and materials effect the pipes’ sound and timbre. The lesson clearly piqued the interest of the next generation of organists, the elementary school set, and provided revelatory information for members of the congregation, who for years had appreciated their instrument, but did not understand the basic principals behind its glorious sound.
Alumnus of the Butler School of Music, Professor Hancock, earned his undergraduate degree in organ and sacred music. At the time, Bates Hall had yet to be built and the country’s largest tracker organ installed. Jessen Auditorium housed the organ on which he practiced, an instrument very similar to that of First Presbyterian Church in Kilgore and one that he dreams of acquiring for the benefit of his students.

Considered one of the top ten instruments of its kind in the United States, the organ in the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore, Texas, was developed over a period of more than thirty years under the guidance of the late Roy Perry, organist-choirmaster of the church from 1932 until 1972. Not until 1966 were the final additions made: the exposed pipework on either side of the chancel window; certain changes and additions in the chambered divisions on either side; and a new Aeolian-Skinner console, to replace a Moller, which had served since 1935. The completed instrument is made up of 53 independent stops, some of which are extended and duplicated, making 70 speaking voices. There are 69 ranks of pipes, a total of 4, 191 individual pipes, the greatest number of them concealed in chambers behind the non-speaking decorative pipes. 550 of the total number are exposed on the front wall. The Trompette-en – Chamade was the first stop of its kind installed ?in the United States. For more information about the organ, visit www.guildmusic.com/other/orgfpckt.htm