M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Utah Musician Receives Distinguished Alumni Award from BYU-Idaho 

Greg Hansen is an award-winning professional composer, record producer/arranger, and new age recording artist. He is also a columnist for Meridian Magazine.

REXBURG, Idaho–Greg Hansen of Eagle Mountain, Utah, received the Eliza R. Snow Distinguished Alumni Award for Performing and Visual Arts Thursday at Brigham Young University–Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho.

Hansen attended Ricks College, now BYU-Idaho, during the 1976-77 school year before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Paraguay. After his mission, he attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where he eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in studio compositions.

He is a 1998-2003 11-time Pearl Award winner. In 1986 he won the Peabody Award for Broadcasting along with others for the radio drama series "Bradbury 13," based on the science fiction stories of Ray Bradbury. That series also garnered two Gold Cindy awards. Later he scored the music for the United States Film Festival's Silver Screen Award-winning film, and also arranged and produced several of the tracks found on the 2002 Olympic CD. His album "Wilderness" went to number 21 on the national airplay charts in 1994.

Greg has produced and arranged over 300 albums for various clients, and has over 800 sheet music arrangements and compositions in print. He has three solo albums and five compilation albums with his and others' material. He has scored more than 80 industrial and dramatic films for clients including the Public Broadcasting System (PBS); National Public Radio; Disney movie trailers; Discovery Channel; NASA; Turner Broadcasting; National Geographic; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Gladys Knight; Thurl Bailey; and a host of others.

While he completed his education in Utah, Hansen remembers his time at Ricks as an important time in his life.

"It was one of the greatest experiences of my life because of all the groups I was in," he says. "That’s when I made my decision to get in to music. It was a very pivotal time in my career."

His arrival in Rexburg marked a return to his roots. Hansen’s father, Burdette, grew up in St. Anthony, Idaho before moving to Laurel, Wash., where Greg was raised. Since graduating from BYU he has remained in Utah with his wife, Beverly. They have four children.

The Ricks College/BYU-Idaho Alumni Association gives out six awards annually to distinguished alumni in five different categories. The school was founded in 1888 and is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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