Kyle Hutchins
Kyle Hutchins, , Assistant Professor of Practice, saxophone

School of Performing Arts
242-T Squires
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-3907 | jkhutch@vt.edu
Kyle Hutchins is an internationally acclaimed performing artist, chamber musician, improviser, and educator, hailed as “epic” (Jazz Times), "formidable" (The Saxophone Symposium), "an impressive achievement" (VitaMN), "skilled improviser, no doubt about it" (I Care If You Listen), and "transcendental... original and inspiring" (Avant Scena). He has performed and been broadcast across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America at Carnegie Hall (NYC), Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (Germany), Shanghai Conservatory of Music 上海音乐学院 (China), Muzička akademija u Zagrebu (Croatia), Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen (Belgium), Janáčkova konzervatoř a Gymnázium v Ostravě (Czech Republic), St. Leonard's Chapel (Scotland), NOVA RTE Lyric.fm (Ireland), ISSTA Sonic Practice Now (Ireland), Seensound: Visual Music Series (Australia), University of British Columbia (Canada), New York City Electronic Music Festival, National Sawdust (Brooklyn), Art Share (Los Angeles) Center for New Music (San Francisco), NUNC! (Chicago), Punk Ass Classical (Minneapolis), Twin Cities New Music Festival (St. Paul), New Music Gathering (Boston), Holocene (Portland), International Jazz Conspiracy (Minneapolis), among others. He has recorded over a dozen albums for labels Carrier, Noise Pelican, Klavier, GIA, farpoint, Avid Sound, and Emeritus, and has participated in the creation of more than 150 new works. His work has been recognized by awards and grants from DOWNBEAT, New Music USA, American Protege International Competition, MTNA, MMTA, Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation, and many others.
Hutchins is a member of 113 (One Thirteen), a collection of composers and performers of experimental new music who curate concerts, educational programs, festivals, seminars, and masterclasses around the world. He is one half of Binary Canary, a woodwind-laptop improvisation duo alongside electronicist Ted Moore. As a chamber musician, Kyle performs with ACUTE Trio, AVIDduo, The Broken Consort, Hutchins/Qiang Duo, The Poem Is Done, and Strains New Music Ensemble.
As an educator, Hutchins has presented masterclasses and lectures at major institutions throughout the United States and abroad, and has been invited to present pedagogical clinics and workshops at The Midwest Clinic, ATMI, NACWPI, and numerous Music Educator Association Conferences around the country. Kyle is Artist/Teacher of Saxophone at Virginia Tech where he directs the Jazz Lab Band and NME, and is the Artistic Director of the Spatial Music Workshop at the Institute of Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
Hutchins has a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Minnesota and Bachelors of Music and Bachelors of Music Education degrees from the University of North Texas. His teachers include Eugene Rousseau, Eric Nestler, Marcus Weiss, and James Dillon.
He is a Yamaha, Legere, and Rousseau Music Product Performing Artist.
- Saxophone Literature and Pedagogy
- Jazz Studies and Improvisation
- Chamber Music
- Contemporary and Experimental Performance Practice
- Electroacoustic Music
- DMA, Saxophone Performance, University of Minnesota, 2015
- MM, Saxophone Performance, University of Minnesota, 2013
- BM, General, Choral, and Instrumental Music Education, University of North Texas, 2011
- BM, Saxophone Performance, University of North Texas, 2011
- Spatial Music Workshop at Virginia Tech, Artistic Director
- SOPA Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Member
- 113 (One Thirteen) Collective, Staff and Communications Committee Chair
- Symposium (College Music Society Journal), Audio Review Editorial Board Member
- North American Saxophone Alliance
- Mu Phi Epsilon
- Yamaha Performing Artist
- Legere Performing Artist
- Rousseau Music Product Artist
Published Books
Saxophone Music with Minimalistic Tendencies: An Annotated Bibliography. 2017. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing / OmniScriptum GmbH & Co. KG. Saarbrücken, Germany, ISBN 978-3330089860
Selected Recordings
The Leesta Vall Sessions/TOASTED. 2020. Kyle Hutchins, Eric Lyon. Avid Sound Records (ASR 20201-2)
Death Waltz. 2020. Joshua Clausen/Joe Horton/Kyle Hutchins. Noise Pelican Records
GLOW. 2020. Spearfisher feat. Kyle Hutchins. Independent EP release.
iterative systems. 2019. Binary Canary. Carrier Records (042)
BC+1. 2017. Binary Canary with Scott Miller, Pat O’Keefe, Brittany Primavera, Adam Zahller. Avid Sound Records (ASR 20171)
click/blow. 2015 Binary Canary. Avid Sound Records (ASR 20152)
Interactions. 2014. AVIDduo with Peter John. Avid Sound Records (ASR 20141)
Images: American Sonatas. 2013. Hutchins-Choi Duo. Emeritus Records (ER 20135)
Selected Media
Engineers’ Forum. Volume 40 - No. 2. April 2019. “This Is Maximalist: The Cube @ Virginia Tech.” Alexander Pestopoulos. Cover, pg. 4-8.
Jazz Times. October 13, 2019. “Binary Canary: Iterative Systems (Carrier)” Album Review. Brad Cohan.
Downtown Music Gallery. November November 15, 2019. “DMG Newsletter” Album Review. Darren Bergstein.
I Care If You Listen. August 9, 2017. “Binary Canary and Guest Improvisers on bc+1” Album Review. Colin Holter.
- MUS 1104 Music Appreciation
- MUS 2115 Survey of Western Music
- MUS 2244 Class Applied Saxophone
- MUS 2614 Individual Applied Saxophone
- MUS 3045 Advanced Ear Training III
- MUS 3046 Advanced Ear Training IV
- MUS 3314 Instrumental Ensemble Music, Jazz Lab Band
- MUS 3314 Instrumental Ensemble Music, New Music Ensemble
- MUS 3314 Instrumental Ensemble Music, Saxophone Quartet
- MUS 3316 Music In America: History of Jazz
- MUS 4614 Advanced Individual Applied Saxophone
- MUS 5614 Grad Individual Applied Saxophone