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Headshot photo of Mickey Thomas Terry
Faculty
Faculty

Mickey Thomas Terry, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

Master Instructor – Organ, Howard Concert Choir Accompanist, Blacks in the Arts

mickey.terry@Howard.edu
(202) 806-7084

Department/Office

  • Department of Music

School/College

  • College of Fine Arts

Biography

Mickey Thomas Terry, a native of Greenville, North Carolina, holds degrees from East Carolina University in Greenville, and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His principal organ teachers were Clarence Watters, Charles Callahan, and Ronald Stolk (Improvisation).

Dr. Terry was the Second Prize winner of the 9th Annual Clarence Mader National Organ Competition (Los Angeles/Pasadena, 1986), and a finalist in both the Michigan International Organ Competition (Ann Arbor, MI, 1987), and the Flint International Competition (Flint, MI, 1989). He is currently the Organist of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia. Dr. Terry has concertized throughout the United States and the Bahamas, and has been broadcast several times on American Public Media's "Pipedreams," the official radio program of the American Guild of Organists. Dr. Terry was also a featured recitalist at the national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. Moreover, he has presented masterclasses, lectures, and music workshops at various institutions around the country.  He has been a featured artist at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and organ recitalist at the Piccolo-Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Dr. Terry has taught on the faculty of Georgetown University and has written several journal articles for The American Organist Magazine, The Diapason, and the British journal Choir and Organ, as well as The Musical Quarterly. There is also an article that appears in Volume IV of Essays in American Music (Garland Publishers, 1999). He is the former Sub-Dean and Program Chair of the District of Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He has also served on the Advisory Board for the ECS/AGO African-American Organ Music Series published by E.C. Schirmer Music Company of Boston. Dr. Terry is the editor of a critically-acclaimed, multi-volume African-American Organ Music Anthology published by MorningStar Music Publishers of St. Louis.  He is the current recipient of a 2021-2022 Artist Fellowship from the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Dr. Terry appears on the Albany Records label compact disc George Walker—A Portrait, playing the organ works of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker and on the American Public Media compact disc Pipedreams Premieres, Volume 2, playing an organ work of African-American composer Thomas H. Kerr.  He is recognized as the leading authority on the organ music of African-American classical composers.

Education & Expertise

Expertise

Organ Performance and Pedagogy; African-American History; the Organ Music of African-American Classical Composers.

MICKEY THOMAS TERRY "His organ technique is easy and perfect ... his career in the organ world will reveal him conspicuously and in the best way.”    Jean Guillou - Paris “Dr. Terry is a nationally known organ virtuoso”      George Walker - 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Music -----“A superb recitalist of unquestionable ability”         George Walker - 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Music    “Playing with zeal and intelligence, with equal parts passion and poetry.”  “Pipedreams” - Minnesota Public Radio “Terry’s performance growled and pounded the walls to fine effect.”   The Washington Post [Reubke Sonata; 1997 AGO Region III Convention] “Terry showed extraordinary skill in elucidating what in lesser hands can seem opaque ...”     The Washington Post  [Marcel Dupre-Stations of the Cross]                                                                  “Terry played an impressive recital (from memory).”     The American Organist Magazine “A precise performance ...”  The Washington Post [Organ concerto program] “ ... Elegantly played ...”  The American Organist Magazine  [Albany Records CD-Three Pieces for Organ by George Walker] “ ... An unusually fertile musical mind.”  The Diapason “…great technical skill and impeccable musicianship.”  Raoul Abdul [The New York Amsterdam News] “A rousing program…inspired.”   The American Organist Magazine [2001 Region IV American Guild of Organists Convention] “[Terry] played brilliantly….”  The Washington Afro-American “Playing entirely from memory, Terry’s execution was crisp and energized…”  News Sentinel (Knoxville, TN) “Ending the recital was the Fantasia and Fugue on B-A-C-H by Franz Liszt.  For this showpiece, Terry flourished at the instrument, playing with remarkable virtuosity…dazzling pedal action.”   The Washington Examiner [John F. Kennedy Center-Washington, DC] 

Academics

Academics

Blacks in the Arts; Concert Choir

Blacks in the Arts is a course that is designed to provide students with general knowledge and understanding of the contributions of African-American artists and the interrelationship of their achievements with the world of art and culture.  It is hoped that students will profit from the integrated discussion and demonstration of three types of artistic expression: music, theatre, and visual art.  The course also provides a thorough grounding in the history of African-Americans as it pertains to the development of the arts.Concert Choir is a performance entity (for course credit) wherein students learn the music repertory of the choral literature.  This music includes works by traditional European Classical Composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, as well as African-American composers such as George Walker, Mark Fax, Thomas H. Kerr, and Adolphus Hailstork, all of who had affiliations with Howard University.  In addition to the study of music from the categories of oratorio, motet, cantata, and anthem, the choir also champions the Negro Spiritual. 

Research

Research

Specialty

The Classical Music of African-American Composers

Accomplishments

Accomplishments

2019-2020 Artist Fellow

This fellowship is awarded by the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities for outstanding achievements in the Arts and Humanities.