Simon Hutchinson’s work as an artist and composer spans several genres. Having grown up as a “Third Culture Kid” in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Boston, Hutchinson developed an appreciation of cross-cultural interchange and communication. Now, drawing on experience from his life as a global nomad, he composes unique works integrating music of different cultures and styles, exploring themes of nature, humanity, and global community.
Hutchinson holds a BA in Music from Bates College, an MA in Music Composition from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a PhD candidate in Composition with supporting coursework in Intermedia Music Technology (IMT) at the University of Oregon. Notable composition teachers include Bill Matthews (Bates), Hi Kyung Kim (UCSC), David Cope (UCSC), Peter Elsea (UCSC), Robert Kyr (UO), David Crumb (UO) and Jeffrey Stolet (UO). Additionally, Hutchinson spent several years in Japan studying shamisen (three-stringed lute) and Japanese Folk Music with virtuoso Sato Asao and shakuhachi (vertical bamboo flute) with Sato Chikuen.
Hutchinson’s compositions have been performed across the US, Japan, and Korea, including at various music festivals and conferences, including SEAMUS (2011), Miso Music Portugal (2010), the Music Today Festival (2011), April in Santa Cruz (2006, 2007), and the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium (2009). In 2008, he was awarded the 1st Young Composers’ Competition of CMEK (Contemporary Music Ensemble Korea, 2008), and his work has also been recognized by the University of Oregon Graduate School Research Award (2008, 2010), the University of Oregon Ruth Close Musical Fellowship (2008), ASCAPlus Composer’s Awards (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), the Porter Associate Fellows Graduate Arts Research Grant (2007), UCSC Music Department Graduate Fellowship (2005, 2006), and the Bates College Key Music Award (2002). Currently, Hutchinson is a Graduate Teaching Fellow in Intermedia Music Technology at the University of Oregon, where he teaches classes on digital audio and sound design.

As a shamisen player, Hutchinson regularly performs public concerts with Japanese, American, and Korean performers. He has appeared on the Japanese national public broadcasting station NHK and the program “Kubota Min’yô Okunimeguri” (”Folk Music Around the Country”), as well as on the 2006 folk-music album “Tamashi no Hibiki” (”Sounds of the Soul”). He currently acts as the director of the pacific-rim group, the TaiHei Ensemble.

As a bassist, Hutchinson performs in a both concert and vernacular genres, appearing on a number of albums, including mrs. skannotto’s burning inferno of fire, Oscarson and Blauer’s Brewed for Good Times, and David Brusie’s Flyover State. He is currently principal bassist of the ECCE (Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble).
You may contact him at simon [ at-sign ] simonhutchinson [ period ] com.

Selected Works
2011
Doppelgänger; bassoon and electronics
Chaji; for orchestra
bioMechanics; saxophone, bassoon, and electronics
Fushimi Inari Jinja; video fixed media
tonbo; revised version, mixed octet
Waves on West Cliff; percussion, piano, e. guitar, and e. bass
2010
Suzuki’s Song; mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble
Canned; live electronics (five performers)
Everybody on the One; for infinite musicians
Beautiful Soup; baritone and chamber ensemble
sweet; shamisen and cello
PulseStream; ajaeng and electronics
Umagata; flute and guitar
Requiem; shamisen and electronics
Diaspora; gayageum and alto sax
Long Distance; brass trio
On This Day in March; solo soprano and piano
21st-Century Matsuri; eight-channel fixed media
Sea Lily; solo soprano
2009
In this short Life; men’s choir
Touch lightly Nature’s sweet Guitar; mixed chorus
five; piri, gayageum, flugelhorn, violin, cello
Ewha, Nabi; soprano voice, gayageum, and fixed media
Zephyr; soprano saxophone (or flute), e. guitar, piano, e. contrabass
The Morphology of Nature in an Industrialized World; clarinet, perc.
haru no umi; electronic (8-channel)
hayashi; chamber orchestra
BEAM; Balinese gamelan
The Tundric Ecotone; mixed septet
membrana tympaniformis; solo piccolo
hatsuyuki; electronic (8-channel)
2008
fûrin; flute and trumpet
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove; pierrot ensemble
Through Frozen Fields; soprano, violin, viola, cello, bass
An Evening with Noriaki Yuasa; alto sax and DVD
PRAYERS; clarinet & violin, violin & viola, or alto flute and viola
bioComputer; shakuhachi and clarinet
Three Haiku; a cappella choir
The Great Peace of Gyeonggi; violin solo
Momijigari; mezzo-soprano, flute, and two percussionists
Epsilon Aurigae; gayageum duet
2007
of modesty and splendor; daegeum, gayageum, janggu, clarinet, cello
colloquy for Sanjo Gayageum and Tsugaru Jamisen
Tr!o; treble, bass, & percussion
interaction in the subatomic world; mixed sextet
Four Short Pieces for American Trio; banjo, saw, percussion
Sotapanna; solo piano
Ten Bulls; string quartet & Tsugaru shamisen
Spheres; piano & percussion
2006
hanami; solo piano
Raindrops; synthesizer
tonbo; mixed octet
When I Sing Unto Thee; a cappella choir
Anamnesis & Catharsis; violoncello & gayageum
becca+joel; mezzo-soprano & wind-controller
gaikyoku; woodwind quintet
2005
den gen; compact disc, electro-acoustic 
Nightmares in Binary; synthesizer & guitar
2004
Towa, June 1st, 2004; tape & synthesizer
hoshi meguri no uta; electro-acoustic
You’re Always Angry in My Dreams; solo piano

