The Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music welcomes Dr. Patrick Sutton as the new Professor of Practice for Guitar. Dr. Sutton brings an extensive commercial and chamber performance background and is highly accomplished in his respective field as a performer and passionate music educator.
An award-winning guitarist, chamber musician and recording artist from Evergreen, Colorado, Sutton was a featured artist at the 2016 Guitar Foundation of America Convention. His eclectic performing and teaching career has taken him to conflict zones, three coasts of Africa, both ends of Vietnam, border towns, major cities, myriad music societies, universities, and concert halls in between.
“Dr. Sutton is much admired as a classical and commercial guitarist, a chamber musician, and a teacher,” said Dr. Kevin Sanders, Director of the Rudi E. Schedit School of Music. “His work reflects all that we seek to instill in our students—the highest levels of artistry, professional flexibility, imagination, and a commitment to bringing great music into the world. We are delighted to welcome him to his new School of Music faculty role.”
Recent concerts appearances include the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, New York City Classical Guitar Society, Florida Guitar Foundation, Portland International Guitar Series, International Guitar Artist Series at the Minnesota Guitar Society, Knoxville Guitar Society, University of Cape Town in South Africa, Shanghai Conservatory in China, and the Canadian Embassy of Afghanistan. Sutton recently performed and taught as a Juilliard Global Visiting Artist at Nord Anglia international schools in Bratislava, Budapest, Dublin, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and New York City. Recent international engagements as an electric guitarist include concerts in Cairo and Alexandria with the Egyptian fusion group, The Nour Project and a concert tour of Poland with the Memphis Mix soul band. In 2018, Sutton was one of twelve musicians, including James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Natasha Bedingfield, to compose original music for the interactive art installation “Come to Your Senses” at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA).
His trailblazing cello & guitar duo, the Patterson/Sutton Duo, have been hailed by the Strad magazine for their “wit and imagination” and BBC Music Magazine for their “beguiling sound.” The duo often performs as guest artists throughout the United States and abroad. The duo’s research in cello and guitar performance has also culminated in chamber music lecture recitals at multiple venues, including the International Guitar Research Center at the University of Surrey in the UK and the Dublin Guitar Symposium. Sutton’s ongoing collaboration with the University of Massachusetts flute professor Cobus du Toit has led to recordings of new and lesser-known chamber music, including a recording of the complete chamber works of Jacques Castérède for the Naxos record label. The du Toit/Sutton Duo recently gave a nine-concert tour throughout South Africa to critical acclaim. Their eclectic debut album, Trîptico, features new music by world-renowned composer and guitarist Ricardo Iznaola.
Sutton strongly believes in educational outreach’s transformative power in developing countries. While in Kabul, Afghanistan, for guest artist residencies in 2014 and 2015, Sutton worked with the budding generation of young Afghan musicians at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and helped set up a year-by-year curriculum for the guitar program. Sutton also recently taught and performed at the Atlas Music Academy’s “Chopin in the Forest” music festival in Beni M’tir, Tunisia.
“I could not be more thrilled to join the team of world-class musicians and scholars on faculty at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music,” said Sutton. “I love this place and look forward to being inspired by UofM’s community of dynamic young artists for many years to come.”
Sutton received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Denver and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado.