Mickey Thomas Terry’s unique combination of historical study and music performance has led to national and international recognition. A native of Greenville, Terry’s career in music began with childhood experiences at the Sycamore Hill Baptist Church where he first heard the organ performed during church services. From childhood through his high school years at J. H. Rose in Greenville, Terry was a dedicated student of the organ. After graduating from Rose High, Terry completed his undergraduate work at East Carolina University, 1973-1977. He subsequently completed a master’s degree in history at ECU, writing his thesis on evangelical thought in the music of Franc?ois Rabelais.
Terry served as the principal organist at Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church in Greenville from 1977-1980. Subsequently, he completed his Ph.D. in late medieval and early modern history at Georgetown University. While studying at Georgetown in the early 1980s, Terry’s reputation as a premier concert organist began to grow. In 1986, he won second prize at the Ninth Annual Clarence Mader National Organ Competition in Los Angeles, California. In 1987, he was a finalist in the Michigan International Organ Competition, and a finalist two years later in the 1989 Flint Competition. Terry was a featured recitalist in the American Guild of Organists’ national competitions in 1997 and 1998. Terry has also performed frequently on Pipedreams, a radio program sponsored by the American Guild of Organists and broadcast by American Public Media. Terry has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D. C., and at the Piccolo-Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, S. C.
Terry is currently a lecturer in music at Howard University. He also serves as the director of music and organist at Saint Rita’s Catholic Church, Alexandria, Virginia. Terry is also music director at the historic St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C., and serves as a staff accompanist at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts. As a scholar, Terry has published articles in Diapason, Choir and Organ, and the American Organist Magazine. He has served on the advisory board for the African-American Organ Music Series and is the editor of the multi-volume African-American Organ Music Anthology. 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. He is also featured on the American Public Media compact disc Pipedreams Premieres, Volume 2, playing an organ piece by Thomas H. Kerr.
In 2014, Terry received a fellowship from the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and in 2015, he received special recognition from the D. C. Commission for his important contributions to classical music.
Sources
- Abramowitz, Michael. “Concert Organist Comes Home.” The Daily Reflector, March 20, 2015.
- “Mickey Thomas Terry.” The Kennedy Center. http://www.kennedy-center.org/Artist/A72779.
- “Mickey Thomas Terry.” Pipedreams. https://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/biographies/terry-mickey-thomas.shtml.
- Terry, Mickey Thomas, ed. African-American Organ Music Anthology. Fenton, MO: Morning Star, 2000.
- Terry, Mickey Thomas. “Cultural Perceptions of African-American Organ Literature Perspectives on American Music Since 1950,” James R. Heintze, ed., Perspectives on American music since 1950 (Garland Publishing, 1999), pp. 225-241.
- Terry, Mickey Thomas, “African-American Classical Organ Music – A Case of Neglect,” The American Organist, 31/3 (March 1997), pp. 56-61.
- Terry, Mickey Thomas, “A Second Glance: An Overview of African-American Organ Literature,” The Diapason, 88 (May 1998), pp. 18-21.
- “Toccata on ‘Veni Emmanuel,’ performed by Mickey Thomas Terry, composed by Adolphus Hailstork.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-de65CJ6q8.
Citation Information
Title: Mickey Thomas Terry
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 6/25/2019