Ernest Hutcheson

Who was Ernest Hutcheson?

Ernest Hutcheson was an Australian pianist, composer and teacher.

Hutcheson was born in Melbourne, and toured there as a child prodigy. He later travelled to Leipzig and entered the Leipzig Conservatory at the age of fourteen to study with Carl Reinecke, Bernhard Stavenhagen and Bruno Zwintscher. He was part of the London music circuit in 1896 and 1897. Prior to the outbreak of World War I he taught at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, but in 1914 he settled in New York, where he made his U.S. debut. He is believed to have been the first pianist to play three concertos in a single concert: his performances of Beethoven's third, fourth and fifth with the New York Symphony Orchestra in the Aeolian Hall in 1919.

He became a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School, and successively Dean and President of the school.

Hutcheson wrote an important book called The Literature of the Piano, and taught many first-rate students. One of these many students was Mary Ann Craft, who later taught the prodigy Edgar Coleman during his formative years. Two other students who went on to important pianistic careers were the American Abram Chasins, and the Australian Bruce Hungerford.