Eric Wall is first holder of faculty chair in sacred music

Eric Wall was installed on November 10, 2022, as The Gene Alice Sherman Associate Professor of Sacred Music at Austin Seminary. Wall has served on the faculty since 2016 and is also the dean of the chapel. As the Seminary musician, he helps oversee the worship life of the campus and teaches courses in church music and worship. He earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in organ performance and the master’s degree in choral conducting from Florida State University.

Professor Wall is also the staff musician at Montreat Conference Center, a national conference center of the PC(USA) in Montreat, North Carolina, where he spends the summer season overseeing the music for worship, directing the Summer Staff choir, offering concerts and lectures, being available as a resource musician for summer events, and engaging in the life of the conference center as a music and worship consultant. He was previously director of music at First Presbyterian Church, Asheville, North Carolina, from 1998 to 2015.

Eric just completed a term as president of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) and continues as co-chair of PAM’s DEI Committee. He has been a contributor to the PC(USA)’s Call to Worship journal and to the Hymn Society journal, The Hymn. He has taught at Columbia Theological Seminary and served as a music and worship consultant in various congregational settings. His new book Awake and Sing: Introductions and Accompaniments, a volume of his hymn introductions and accompaniments for organ, was published in June 2022 by Augsburg Fortress.

Donor and Trustee Emeritus Max Sherman was present for the service and shared remarks.