At The Break Of Day (Logo De Manha) – SATB

A soaring arrangement of a Brazilian devotional work
Also available in TTBB (HMC1748)
About Dr. Michael Cox

Music has been both a profession and a form of service throughout the life of Dr. Michael Cox. An ASCAP award-winning composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, he has spent more than five decades creating music, directing ensembles, and teaching musicians to understand not only how music is written, but why it matters. He currently serves as Composer-in-Residence at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Dr. Cox’s career began at Oklahoma Baptist University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music with honors in piano performance in 1970. After completing graduate study in orchestral conducting, he returned to OBU in 1972 as a member of the music faculty. During the next 18 years, he taught composition, conducting, music theory, and church music, establishing the broad foundation that would characterize his entire professional life.

One of his most influential roles at OBU was directing the Bison Glee Club for 13 years. Dr. Cox was the second conductor in the ensemble’s history, helping to shape a tradition that would eventually celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2012. For its members, the group represented more than choral training. It fostered musicianship, service, fellowship, and lasting friendships through rehearsals, concerts, and tours. Years later, former student Joel Engle described his experience singing under Dr. Cox as transformative and credited the ensemble with having a profound influence on his musical and personal development.

That relationship between teacher and student continued to bear fruit long after Dr. Cox left OBU. His large-scale composition *Symphonic Psalms* was commissioned by Scott Oyer, a former student and Bison Glee Club member. In 2004, Oklahoma Baptist University presented the eight-movement work for chorus and orchestra as part of its annual Oratorio Project. Drawing upon eight different psalms and unified by the joyful spirit of Psalm 100, the composition moves between stately, hymn-like writing and passages of lively syncopation and rhythmic variety.

In 1990, Dr. Cox joined Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth as Professor of Music Theory and Composition. During his 19 years at the seminary, he also directed the Men’s Chorus from 1993 to 2003 and the Southwestern Singers from 2006 until his retirement in 2009. These appointments allowed him to bring together the analytical precision of a theorist, the imagination of a composer, and the practical instincts of an experienced conductor.

Dr. Cox has written more than 160 published compositions, with works appearing through more than 16 publishers. His catalog encompasses choral, keyboard, orchestral, and instrumental music, including music for mixed, treble, and men’s voices. His compositions reflect the perspective of someone who understands music at every stage—from the first creative idea and preparation of the score to rehearsal and public performance.

His accomplishments have also been recognized by the wider musical community. Dr. Cox began receiving the ASCAP Standard Award in 1987, and in 1995 he was selected as the Texas Music Teachers Association’s commissioned composer. The association’s commissioning program supports the creation of new American music and presents the resulting composition at its annual convention.

Beyond his university appointments, Dr. Cox has conducted choral clinics across the country and appeared as a guest conductor with the Fort Worth Civic Orchestra and the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving. At Oklahoma Baptist University, he also conducted the annual Concerto-Aria Competition, providing student soloists with the opportunity to perform with members of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Cox completed his Master of Music in orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and earned his Doctor of Music in composition from Florida State University. He has also worked as a professional music copyist and engraver, bringing clarity and care to the visual presentation of music as well as to its composition. His career stands as a testament to the many ways one musician can serve an art form—as creator, interpreter, teacher, craftsman, and mentor.