Name George Decker | Died April 4, 2014 | |
George Wayne Decker (November 6, 1938 – April 4, 2014) was a classical musician. He was born at Pittsgrove, New Jersey to Vincent W. Decker and Nina May (Garrison) Decker. As an adult, he worked and lived in Syracuse, New York.
Decker graduated from Rider University's Westminster Choir College, and continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Later, he studied with Marie-Madeleine Chevalier-Duruflé in Paris.
He worked for three years as assistant organist to William Self at St. Thomas Church in New York City, before accepting the Organist and Choir Director positions at St. Paul's Church in Syracuse, New York, in 1967. A few years later, the church became St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral.
Decker performed all of Bach's organ works in a series of afternoon recitals, and directed all of Bach's cantatas at St Paul's Cathedral. He premiered several works in Syracuse with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra including Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor and Handel's Organ Concerto in F major "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale". He was called upon to perform a solo recital at Notre-Dame, Paris in which he performed notable American composers for the organ and Maurice Duruflé's Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator'. Decker made the recording My Favorite Hymns with Leontyne Price. This recording is still in print.