Remembering Composer, Teacher, and Champion of MSU Music Jere Hutcheson
Dr. Jere Hutcheson worked at MSU for 51 years, leaving a strong body of compositions, texts, and immeasurable influence on colleagues and students. He died on August 8, 2026 at the age of 87.
It is with admiration and sadness that the Michigan State University College of Music shares the news that on August 8, 2026, Professor Emeritus Jere Hutcheson died at the age of 87. When he arrived at the in 1965, he began what would become a remarkable career dedicated to composition, teaching and mentoring generations of students.
“Jere absolutely loved his job,” said College of Music Dean James Forger. “A mainstay here for 51 years, he always arrived early and ready to work, with his briefcase in hand and off each day to compose, to teach, and to mentor generations of students. He loved what he did, and he did it with a smile on his face.”
Composition remained at the center of Hutcheson’s professional life. Over the course of his career, he wrote numerous commissioned works, with more than 60 compositions published. His music was written for a variety of ensembles and performers, including orchestra, band, chorus, chamber groups and piano.
His achievements were recognized nationally through honors including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Berkshire Music Center. In 1976, he was named Distinguished Composer of the Year by the National Music Teachers Association. He also contributed to music scholarship through several textbooks, including Musical Form and Analysis, a volume used by generations of music students.
This photo, described by MSU Professor of Composition Ricardo Lorenz as “a cherished picture,” shows Lorenz (left) during his first semester at MSU in Fall 2005 in which Jere Hutcheson (right) stands next to famed composer Karel Husa who was visiting MSU for performances of his music. The image includes three composition students, now alumni, following one of Dr. Hutcheson’s orchestration classes.
While his accomplishments as a composer brought widespread recognition, colleagues say it was his dedication to the College and its people that left an equally lasting mark. His decades of service helped shape MSU’s composition program during periods of growth and change, and his passing brings to light the creation of a new endowed professorship.
“Along with his years of service and leadership, Jere and his wife, Mary, made sure to remember the College in their estate plans,” explained Forger. “Their foresight and leadership has now established the Jere Hutcheson Endowed Chair in Composition. It is a tremendous act by someone who means so much to our composition program.”
Among his prolific contributions to music are textbooks including editions of the popular Musical Form and Analysis published in 1995 and 2013.
MSU Professor Emeritus Charles Ruggiero experienced Hutcheson’s influence from several perspectives over the years. He was Hutcheson’s student and graduate assistant and later became a faculty colleague and fellow composer.
“Jere was incredibly supportive of my efforts both as a creative artist and teacher,” Ruggiero said. “During the 1980s and 1990s, Jere did a superb job of developing the school’s composition degree programs. He was able to attract many talented composers, some of whom went on to successfully pursue composition at higher levels.”
Hutcheson’s reputation as a composer remained strong throughout his career. Even while maintaining a full teaching load and mentoring students, he continued producing new work that attracted attention from fellow composers and performers.
“Many of his early compositions were quite dissonant, even atonal, however towards the end of his composing career, he produced several magnificent works for wind ensemble, which display his consummate command of orchestration and effective adaptation of traditional forms and harmonic structures in such work as Characters for Wind Ensemble. Some of this music reflects Jere’s unique wit and distinctive handling of language,” Ruggiero said.
Hutcheson’s impact is still reflected in opportunities available to composition students today. In 2016, the Composition Area established the Jere Hutcheson Large Ensemble Composition Competition. The competition gives students the opportunity to create works specifically for the College of Music Concert Orchestra and Campus Band and to hear those pieces premiered by the ensembles.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, colleagues remember Hutcheson for the encouragement and generosity he extended to those around him. His mentorship helped support composers like MSU Professor of Composition Ricardo Lorenz as they joined the MSU Music faculty.
“I felt honored to be Jere Hutcheson’s colleague for over ten years and looked up to him as a teacher and composer. He was always extremely supportive of my work and of my role in advancing the Composition Area. I admired and still enjoy his modernist sense of aesthetic. His unique approach to orchestration made his wind music stand out.”
A native of Marietta, Georgia, Hutcheson earned a bachelor’s degree from Stetson University, two master’s degrees from Louisiana State University and completed a doctorate in music composition at Michigan State University. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Gayley Cleland Hutcheson, with whom he enjoyed 41 years of marriage filled with family, learning, travel, and the arts.
“At social events, it was always such great pleasure to spend time with Jere and his lovely wife Mary, and they both will be missed by us tremendously,” Ruggiero said. “His family, his friends, colleagues, and his many composition students are fortunate to have had the opportunity to benefit from Jere’s personal charms and professional excellence.”
Following his retirement in 2016, Hutcheson’s influence continued to be felt throughout the College through the students he guided and the body of creative work he left behind.
“All of us in this profession are so lucky to make a living in music, and Jere knew it,” Forger said. “He is remembered fondly and will be missed greatly.”