John P. Brock, Jr., 83, of Knoxville, Tennessee, died November 25, 2024. He was born April 9, 1941, in Montgomery, Alabama, where he attended Forest Park Baptist Church. He began organ lessons at this church, and his parents bought a pump organ for their home. Brock accompanied the choir at the church on the organ as a teenager. He met Dinah Lee in high school, and they were married in 1963 after his college graduation.
In 1959 Brock began music studies at the University of Alabama, where he studied organ with Warren Hutton, and went on to earn the Master of Music degree in organ performance and church music. Brock then taught for a short time at Mitchell College in Statesville, North Carolina, but soon accepted a professorship at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville, in 1967.
There Brock taught organ, harpsichord, and music theory for 49 years until 2016. As a performer he played recitals on organs modern and historic across the United States and in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. He consulted on the construction, design, and rehabilitation of several organs in the United States and one in Germany. He assisted in overseeing the installation of the UT Cox Auditorium Alumni Building organ, as well as collaborated on his own home organ built by B. Rule & Co., owned by a former student and friend. In 2009 he began to teach adjunct at Carson-Newman University and continued this work after his retirement from UT. He composed music and continued to perform and played at local churches as substitute until October 2024 when he was honored for filling in at Knoxville’s Westminster Presbyterian Church for the summer of 2024.
Upon the move to Knoxville in 1967, Brock became organist and choir director at Lake Hills Presbyterian Church and then organist and choir director at Messiah Lutheran Church in 1978. At Messiah, Brock acted as organ consultant in 1980 and 1981. In 1982 the first parts of the organ were installed and dedicated with its first manual and six stops. Work continued over the years, and in 1990 the fully completed Andover organ was rededicated. He retired from Messiah in 1991. Brock then served from 2002 until 2013 at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Knoxville, as music associate, playing organ and directing the choir with Jim Garvey.
Brock was active in the American Guild of Organists at local and national levels. He served as AGO dean, 1970–1971 and 2010–2011, and he often was a featured performer or clinician at conventions. He was active in the Organ Historical Society and the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society, for which he served as president in 1990. He was instrumental in the AGO’s Church Music Workshop development and teaching. In 2007 he was honored by the AGO with the creation of the Brock Organ Education Fund (BOEF) to award scholarships to promising high school and college organ students.
Brock was the author of Introduction to Organ Playing in 17th and 18th Century Style and co-editor of 101 Chorale Preludes: German Organ Works of the 17th and 18th Centuries, both published by Wayne Leupold Editions. He was actively co-editing another book with Leupold at the time of his death. Brock recorded a wide range of organ repertoire on over 150 compact discs, including two volumes of A Tennessee Organ Tour (Raven OAR-270) and Hugo Distler: Complete Organ Works (Calcante 022). With his interest and talent in woodworking, he built parts for organs, three harpsichords, one clavichord, one virginal, and two mandolins.
John P. Brock, Jr., is survived by his wife of 61 years, Dinah; daughter Joanna Loden of Knoxville (Alan); daughter Laura of Southern Pines, North Carolina, (Geoff), and two grandchildren. A memorial celebration was held at Messiah Lutheran Church, Knoxville, on December 21, 2024. Memorial gifts may be made to The Brock Organ Educational Fund of the American Guild of Organists, in the memo line “BOEF,” c/o Jim Garvey, Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 800 Northshore Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919; or Messiah Lutheran Church Memorial Fund, in the memo line: “Memorial Fund-John Brock,” c/o Messiah Lutheran Church, 6900 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919; or The Leupold Foundation (theleupoldfoundation.org).
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