James McGregor
Encyclopedia
James Bradley McGregor, born 1930 Cambridge, Ohio
Cambridge, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,520 people, 4,924 households, and 2,954 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,055.1 people per square mile . There were 5,585 housing units of an average density of 996.3 per square mile...

) is an American organist and composer.

Life

In 1953 he received a B.S. degree in music from Capital University
Capital University
Capital University is a private liberal arts university of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Bexley, Ohio, founded in 1830. In addition to its rigorous liberal arts program, the university also offers a reputable adult degree program in Columbus, Ohio. It is one of the oldest...

, where he studied with William S. Bailey. In 1959, he received an M.S.M degree from the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...

, where he studied with Vernon de Tar, Searle Wright, and Margaret Hillis
Margaret Hillis
Margaret Hillis was an American conductor. She was the founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.-Life:...

. While he was a student at U.T.S., he also served as assistant organist at the General Theological Seminary
General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States and is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York....

, New York.
In 1960, he was appointed Director of Music at Grace Church, Newark
Grace Church, Newark
Grace Church in Newark , located at 950 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey was founded on Ascension Day in 1837 at the behest of Bishop George Washington Doane, who intended it to be the standard bearer for Anglo-Catholicism in the northern part of his diocese .The church building, designed by...

, where he served until July 2008.
In 1972, he was appointed to the Liturgy and Music Commission of the (Episcopal) Diocese of Newark, and was active in its work until 1976, when it was dissolved.
He was a member of the American Training Courses Committee of the Royal School of Church Music from 1974-1992.
In 1983, he was appointed a consultant member of the Service Music Committee of the Standing Commission on Church Music (Episcopal Church). He served until 1985.

A number of his compositions appear in The Hymnal 1982
The Hymnal 1982
The Hymnal 1982 is the hymnal of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is one in a series of 7 official hymnals of the Episcopal Church, including The Hymnal 1940...

.

Of these the best known, perhaps, are the settings of the Kyrie and Sanctus from his Missa Verbum caro factum est, a work inspired by a motet of Hans Leo Hassler
Hans Leo Hassler
Hans Leo Hassler was a German composer and organist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, elder brother of the less-famous Jakob Hassler...

, bearing the same name.
His other compositions include Mass settings, anthems, motets, and responsorial settings of all the psalms assigned to Sundays and Holy Days in the lectionary of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, as well as compositions for band, orchestra, chamber ensemble, organ, and piano.

He also discovered r&b singer Timothy Hodge who was a member of the Grace Church Choir.

Sources

Glover, Raymond F. ed. The Hymnal 1982 Companion (New York : Church Hymnal Corp., 1994) 2: 513
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