Facebook pixel N. Lincoln Hanks | Pepperdine University | Seaver College Skip to main content
Pepperdine | Seaver College
N. Lincoln Hanks Faculty Profile

N. Lincoln Hanks

Divisional Dean of Fine Arts
Professor of Music
Director of The Pickford Ensemble
Fine Arts Division, Seaver College
CAC 200A
310.506.7644
https://nlincolnhanks.com/

Biography

The compositions of N. Lincoln Hanks have been performed throughout the United States by distinguished artists and ensembles, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Cyprus String Quartet, The Dale Warland Singers, and the California Bach Society. His monumental solo piano work Monstre sacré was featured on New Generations, a solo recording by pianist Paul Barnes released on Philip Glass’s Orange Mountain Music label.

In 2024, Lincoln completed Eden, a companion piece to Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, commissioned by the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society. The work premiered at the College Music Society/Pi Kappa Lambda National Convention in Washington, D.C. that November. His luminous piano solo Hristos Anesti received its European premiere in June 2025 at the Eleventh International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, hosted by the International Society for Orthodox Church Music at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu.

Lincoln currently serves as Divisional Dean of Fine Arts at Pepperdine University in Malibu, where he also conducts The Pickford Ensemble, the university’s premier new music group. In addition to his work as a composer and conductor, he is an accomplished singer specializing in early music, having performed with leading Los Angeles-based ensembles including Tesserae and Musica Angelica.

Education

  • DM, Composition, Indiana University School of Music, 2000
  • MM, Composition, Indiana University School of Music, 1995
  • BA, Applied Music - Piano, David Lipscomb University, 1991

 

Notable Compositions

Recent Presentations

  • Paul Barnes, piano (Marguerite Scribante Professor of Music, Piano at University of Nebraska), 2024-2025
    Histros anesti piano work, featuring the Greek chant Histros anesti, premiered at Pepperdine University, February 6, 2025; European premiere at the International Society for Orthodox

  • Church Music's Eleventh International Conference on Orthodox Church Music, to be held at the University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, June 12, 2025 

  • Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, 2024-2025
    Eden for violin, clarinet, cello, and piano, premiered at the Pi Kappa Lambda/College Music Society National Convention, November 7-9, 2024, Washington, D.C. at John Hopkins University Bloomberg Center

  • Deanna Little and Jerome Reed, 2021
    Look Out for flute and piano, premiered September 12, 2021 (Lipscomb University); September 12, 2021 (Middle Tennessee University)               

  • Pepperdine University Theatre Program, 2018
    Original electronic music 5.0 surround sound score composed for the production   of Medea at Pepperdine University, premiered April 4, 2018, Pepperdine University.

  • Pepperdine University Choral Program, 2018
    When I Behold, SATB choir and piano, premiered March 15, 2018, ACDA Western Division Conference 2018, Pasadena United Methodist Church, Pasadena, CA

  • New Generations: The New Piano Etudes: The New Etudes of Philip Glass and Music of the Next Generation (Orange Mountain Music, 2015), Paul Barnes, piano, featuring Monstre sacre (solo piano)

Topics

  • Composition
  • Early Music
  • New Concert Music
  • Scoring for Silent Film

Courses

  • Music Theory
  • Aural Skills
  • Introduction to Music Technology
  • Counterpoint
  • Music Composition
  • Music Fundamentals

Links