Open Thou Mine Eyes – SATB

A moderately-advanced new setting of the text by Lancelot Andrewes
About Dr. Michael Cox

For Dr. Michael Cox, composing, conducting, performing, and teaching have always been closely connected. An ASCAP award-winning composer, pianist, conductor, and educator, he has devoted his career to creating music while helping singers, instrumentalists, and developing musicians discover their own artistic voices. He currently serves as Composer-in-Residence at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Dr. Cox’s academic career included nearly two decades as Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s School of Church Music. He joined the faculty in 1990 and remained there until his retirement in 2009. Earlier, he taught conducting, composition, and music theory at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

His years at Oklahoma Baptist University also gave Dr. Cox the opportunity to shape one of the school’s most enduring musical traditions. For 13 years, he directed the Bison Glee Club, an auditioned men’s chorus founded in 1938 that has toured throughout the United States and internationally. He also conducted OBU’s annual Concerto-Aria Competition, in which student soloists performed with members of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a composer, Dr. Cox has more than 160 published works, including music for choirs, piano, orchestra, and instrumental ensembles. His professional recognition includes receiving the ASCAP Standard Award annually beginning in 1987. In 1995, he was selected as the commissioned composer for the Texas Music Teachers Association Conference. The association’s commissioning program encourages the creation and performance of new American music, with each commissioned work receiving its premiere at the organization’s annual convention.

Dr. Cox’s experience on the podium extends well beyond the university setting. He has conducted choral clinics across the country, directed the Southwestern Seminary Men’s Chorus, and appeared as a guest conductor with the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving and the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra. Founded by volunteer musicians in 1977, the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra has long provided North Texas musicians and audiences with an accessible community-centered symphonic experience.

His musical training reflects the same range found throughout his career. Dr. Cox earned a Bachelor of Music with honors in piano performance from Oklahoma Baptist University, a Master of Music in orchestral conducting from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and a Doctor of Music in composition from Florida State University. In addition to composing and conducting, he has worked extensively as a professional music copyist and engraver.