American composer of operatic and orchestral works sought after for her lyricism and captivating musical energy.
Hailed by the Washington Post for her “appealing…sinuous…” musical flavor, creating scores that capture the essence of dramatic subjects and multifaceted ensembles.
Her works have been performed and commissioned by Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Boston Metro Opera, and members of the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Symphony, Stuttgart Philharmonic, CCM Philharmonia, the Prague Talich Chamber Orchestra, Florida Chamber Ensemble, Manchester Symphony, and the Alleghany Chamber Ensemble.
Sarah Hutchings has previously apprenticed composer Ricky Ian Gordon while assisting the workshop of Gordon’s opera, Morning Star, as part of the Opera Fusion program at Cincinnati Opera, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She has also apprenticed composer Carlisle Floyd during his residency at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Sarah Hutchings was also a Composer Fellow in 2013, working under composers Michael Ching, Charles Wourinen, and Libby Larsen during her residency at the John Duffy Composers Institute, and again as a Composer in Residence with Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative Program in 2015.
She continues to stage direct and has appeared as an Assistant Stage Director for a production of An American Tragedy and Stage Director for Christine Goerke in Concert and Young Artists Bel Canto at The Glimmerglass Festival, working with composer Tobias Picker, librettist Gene Scheer, and director Peter Kazaras. Previous stage direction credits include two seasons at Cincinnati Chamber Opera, directing productions of Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Haydn’s Il mondo della luna, and with Houghton Lyric Theater, directing productions of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Schwartz’s Children of Eden, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. She has recently directed a production of La Serva Padrona with the Florida Atlantic University Opera Theatre in 2022.
Sarah Hutchings has received awards from the American Prize Competition, the ASCAP Morton Gould Composers Competition, the NATS ArtSong Composition Award, Hartford Opera Theater’s New in November Competition, Women in Music, Columbus, Florida State University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music in Composition and Theory from Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Music in Commercial and Electronic Music from Western Carolina University.
Sarah uses Steinway & Sons pianos exclusively while composing. She currently owns a vintage heirloom Steinway & Sons Model A grand piano (no. 55162); made in America in 1885.