R. Don Cook is the organ area coordinator and the university

carillonneur A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU). Cook has bachelor's and master's degrees in organ from BYU. He has a DMA from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. Prior to joining the BYU faculty he was an organist at Christ Church, Cranbrook in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

and at First United Methodist Church in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

. Cook developed the Organ Tutor: Organ 101 program, a multi-media program that has been used to teach organ in multiple countries. His course plans were also used as the basis for a program began in 2003 at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. Cook has been a member of the BYU faculty since 1991. He has directed the BYU Organ Workshop since its founding in 2002. Besides being the official player of the Bell Tower at BYU, Cook was also involved with selecting the bell used in the old Brigham Young Academy building when it was refurbished into the Provo City Library at Academy Square. His playing of the Bell Tower at BYU has been featured as part of Provo's Freedom Festival. Many of the works Cook plays on the BYU carillon are his own compositions. Cook and his wife Kim live in

Spanish Fork, Utah Spanish Fork is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The 2020 census reported a population of 42,602. Spanish Fork is the 20th largest city in Utah based on official 2017 estimates from the ...

. They are the parents of six children.

Sources

Salt Lake City American Guild of Organist bio of Cook

BYU bio

''Church News'' March 14, 2009 article about Cook's organ endeavors

* ttp://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2412 ''BYU Magazine'' Spring 2009 article about Cook's playing the bells at BYU
June 28, 2007 ''Deseret News'' article about BYU's carrillon

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Don Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century organists 21st-century American keyboardists American male organists Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University faculty Carillonneurs People from Spanish Fork, Utah University of Kansas alumni American organists