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About
George C. Baker (born 1951 in Dallas, Texas) is an American organist, composer, and dermatologist.
Baker received his first musical instruction at age four. In 1961, he began to take organ lessons with Phil Baker, organist at Highland Park Methodist Church in Dallas. He completed his organ studies with Robert T. Anderson at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1973 with a Bachelor's degree in Music. In 1969, he won the Regional Competition, and, in 1970, the National Organ Competition of the American Guild of Organists in Buffalo, NY.
Additional organ studies in France followed with Marie-Claire Alain, André Marchal, Pierre Cochereau, and Jean Langlais. In 1974, Baker won the Grand Prix de Chartres in organ performance. A year later, he obtained a Diplôme de Virtuosité from the Schola Cantorum in Paris, and, in 1977, a Master of Music from the University of Florida. He graduated with a DMA from the University of Michigan in 1979 and joined the faculty of the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. The same year, he won a first prize at the International Organ Improvisation Competition in Lyon. His recordings include the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Louis Vierne (along with Pierre Cochereau), as well as the world premiere recording of the organ compositions of Darius Milhaud, which was awarded two Grand Prix du Disque.
In addition to his musical career, Baker obtained a MD from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1987 and began to practice medicine in 1991, after an internship in Internal medicine and Dermatology. In 1996, he entered the Executive MBA program at Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, where he graduated with a MBA in 1998.
Currently, George Baker is lecturer in Organ Improvisation at Rice University, Houston.