Dr. Don Cook
Don Cook joined the organ faculty of Brigham Young University in 1991. In that capacity he serves as organ area coordinator, as university carillonneur, and oversees the group organ program.
Formerly he held associate organist/ choirmaster positions at Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and at First United Methodist Church, Lubbock, Texas. He toured Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia with the Lubbock choir, and accompanied the Parish Choir of Christ Church Cranbrook on a singing tour of England.
After earning Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in organ at Brigham Young University, he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance from the University of Kansas. His principal organ teachers were J.J. Keeler at BYU and James Moeser at KU. For many years he served as head of the instrumental area for the BYU Workshop on Church Music, and currently directs the annual BYU Organ Workshop, founded in 2002. He appears frequently as a Guest Organist at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Cook studied carillon with Albert Gerken while pursuing doctoral studies in organ at the University of Kansas. He became a full member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America in 1984, and has performed actively throughout North America since that time. He has served on the Board of Directors and as chair of the Music Publications Committee for the Guild. Carillon performances include a concert tour of Holland in 1990, and a recital tour of east-coast carillons in the summer of 1992. In 1994 he hosted the annual Congress of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America at Brigham Young University.
He has developed and published the first multimedia organ tutorial for pianists, Organ Tutor Organ 101 in several versions. The tutorial is used for private and group instruction, BYU Independent Study courses, and by individuals in at least nine countries.
Dr. Daniel Kerr
Dr. Daniel Kerr is the Chair of the Music Department at BYU-Idaho, where he also oversees the Organ program. Additionally, he coordinates the BYU-Idaho Hymn Festival, which commissions new hymn texts and tunes each year.
He received his bachelor’s, master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he studied organ with Dr. Ladd Thomas and Professor Cherry Rhodes. Prior to his appointment at BYU-Idaho, he taught at USC and at California State University Los Angeles and was organist and handbell choir director at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. He was also the accompanist for the Claremont Chorale and musical director of the Foothill Summer Theatre.
He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as well as at various conventions of the American Guild of Organists (2004 National Convention, 2011 Northwest Regional Convention, and the 2017 West Regional Convention). He was a soloist for the 2008 Eccles Organ Recital Series at Salt Lake’s Cathedral of the Madeleine and is a regular recitalist on the organs of Temple Square in Salt Lake City. He is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists and is currently the dean of the Eastern Idaho Chapter of the AGO.
Dr. Seth Bott
Seth is a native of Castle Dale, Utah. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance at the University of Kansas, where he studied under James Higdon and Michael Bauer. He was appointed to a graduate teaching assistantship, where he taught private lessons and worked closely with the organ faculty to organize and execute organ department business. Before attending the University of Kansas, he received his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in organ performance and pedagogy from Brigham Young University, where he studied with Don Cook and Douglas Bush.
Seth is an active recitalist and performs many recitals around the United States every year. He served for many years as a Guest Tabernacle Organist on Temple Square and participated in the daily recital series performed on the famous Mormon Tabernacle Organ. Seth has had an abundance of church music roles in many denominations and is currently serving as Director of Music and Organist at St. James Episcopal Church in Midvale, Utah. His church playing experiences in the LDS Church have afforded him to play for many large and small meetings, with several of them being televised.
In 2009, he took first place in Region IX of the RCYO AGO organ competition for young organists, allowing him to perform at the National AGO Convention in Washington, D.C. in 2010. As a natural teacher with much background, Seth loves to share his passion for music and the organ with others.
Kimberly Moody
Kimberly Moody received her Bachelor and Master’s degree in Organ Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University, studying under Dr. Parley Belnap and Dr. Don Cook.
During the spring of 1997, she received first runner-up in the national MTNA organ competition in Dallas, Texas. Currently she performs as a Tabernacle guest organist in Salt Lake City.
As a mother of five children Kimberly stays active performing and teaching private and group lessons. She has a small studio of organ and piano students and has taught group organ at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.
Kimberly was born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California, and is the daughter of Elmo and Betty Keller. She and her husband, Jonathan, reside in Kaysville, Utah with their five children.