Robert Hutchinson, Professor of Music Theory and Composition
Dr. Robert Hutchinson teaches music theory, orchestration, analysis, counterpoint, improvisation, and composition. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music in 1992 at California State University, Bakersfield, his MMus in 1993 from Northern Arizona, and his PhD in 1998 from the University of Oregon.
"Puget Sound provides the ideal setting for working with highly motivated students individually and in small groups. Students know I care about providing them with skills they can use after graduation, whether they're performers, educators, or scholars," said Professor Hutchinson. This dedication to teaching earned him the 2007 Thomas A. Davis Teaching Award.
Hutchinson's most recent premiere was Pas de Quatre, a commission from Timothy Christie for the 2010 Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. During his Spring 2009 sabbatical, Hutchinson composed The Forest Nocturnal Triptych, a commission from Rickey Badua and the Peninsula High School Band premiered in May 2010. In 2009, Hutchinson's three-movement, 25-minute Concerto for Violin and Wind Ensemble was premiered at the University of Puget Sound by violinist Maria Sampen and the Puget Sound Wind Ensemble, directed by Professor Robert Taylor. An orchestral version of the concerto will be premiered by the Tacoma Youth Symphony with Professor Sampen during their 2010-2011 season. In February 2007, the Tacoma Concert Band commissioned and premiered As the Blue Night Descends Upon the World. The “Rondo” from Hutchinson’s Suite for Wind Quartet was premiered in May 2006 by the Auburn Chamber Winds (of the Auburn Symphony Orchestra). The Northwest Sinfonietta commissioned and premiered Fantasia on Themes of Mozart in March 2006. In 2005, the Musser Overture was premiered at the retirement concert for Robert Musser, Director of Bands. The Tacoma Youth Symphony commissioned and premiered From the Sea to the Stars in 2004. Hutchinson's Jeux d’Enfants was selected by the Charles Ives Center for American Music for a June 2002 premiere by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. His composition Dancing on the Strand for wind ensemble was presented at the Symposium 29 for New Band Music in Richmond, Virginia, in 2004, and received an honorable mention in the competition for ASCAP's 2004 Rudolph Nissim Award. Both Jeux d’Enfants and Dancing on the Strand were selected for performance at the Society of Composers National Conference in Oklahoma in 2004. In 2002, The Slow Voyage Through Night for symphonic band was performed at the Society of Composers' National Conference in Akron, Ohio. The Oregon Festival of American Music, Oregon Wind Ensemble and the Oregon Festival Choirs commissioned Liberatio in Morte for solo baritone voice, children's choir and wind ensemble, for a February 2000 premiere. His Trio for flute, clarinet and marimba was premiered in July 1998 as part of the American Milestones series at the Oregon Bach Festival. In 1997, Hutchinson won the Third Angle New Music Ensemble's Young Composers Competition. Portland-based Third Angle performed his Three Character Pieces for mixed chamber ensemble in Portland and Salem in February 1998. Hutchinson’s band music is published by Walrus Music. As a professional jazz bassist, Professor Hutchinson has performed with trumpeter Bobby Shew and guitarist Mary Osborne, among others.
