Event Calendar & News: Faculty News

Musique 21 features premiere of Hutcheson's 'Mrs. Dalloway's Party' and brings 'Dead Elvis' to life

Jere Hutcheson, professor of composition at MSU, premiered Mrs. Dalloway's Party in April at the Musique 21 (MSU School of Music's contemporary music ensemble) performance.

Hutcheson composed the piece in Fall 1999 for MSU voice alumna Suzanne Stevens Aaron. Her parents commissioned the work for her as a surprise. Accompanying her was MSU graduate student Gaston Etchegoyen on piano.

"I chose this piece because the text excited me, and served as a potent vehicle for a gifted singer, one who possesses a highly charged sense for anything theatrical or dramatic," said Hutcheson.

The piece was a dramatic scene in four parts for mezzo-soprano and piano, a setting of several sections from Virginia Woolf's novel "Mrs. Dalloway." "There's a bit of hysteria in the stream-of-conscious writing. My four songs form more of an operatic scene than a song cycle, which makes it a demanding work, requiring the utmost from singer and pianist," said Hutcheson.

Hutcheson considers this one of his best compositions because he was able to delve into an interest of his - dramatic presentation - which he is rarely called upon to exploit. "A strong text propels the musical ideas from my imagination," he said.

Other works that were performed at the concert included Hutcheson's Three Notions for saxophone quartet; Mirage by Shulamit Ran; and Dead Elvis by Michael Daughert. MSU graduate bassoonist Laura Speicher brought the piece and the "King" to life though her own rendition - incorporating his struts and poses to a tee.