Eastern Michigan University School of Music & Dance appoints new school director and a director of orchestral activities

An exterior view of Alexander Hall

YPSILANTI – Eastern Michigan University’s School of Music and Dance has announced two major appointments in its leadership. Christopher Barrick has been named director of the School of Music and Dance, and Chad Hutchinson has been named director of orchestral activities.

Each brings a strong background of performance and expertise in his field. They will both begin at Eastern Michigan starting with the Fall 2019 term.


Christopher Barrick
Christopher Barrick

Christopher Barrick

Barrick was previously the James and Ann Bumpass Distinguished Chair of Music and head of the Department of Music and Professor of saxophone at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith.     

He has presented clinics and research at conferences of the National Association for Music Education, the West Virginia Music Educators Association, and the Arkansas Bandmasters Association. 

Barrick is a frequent performer at the US Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium and conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance.

He has shared the stage with performers such as Doc Severinsen, Johnny Mathis, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Sonny Turner and the Platters, The Crystals, The Coasters, Wayne Newton, the Harry James Orchestra, The Four Tops and The Temptations.

Barrick is in demand as a jazz clinician, adjudicator, and educator, and has more than ten years of experience directing collegiate jazz ensembles at three different institutions. 

He holds music degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (DMA), the University of Tennessee (MM) and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (BA and BS).


Chad Hutchinson
Chad Hutchinson

Chad Hutchinson

Prior to his appointment at Eastern Michigan, Hutchinson was the interim director of orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served as the assistant conductor of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO), as music director of the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestras, and as a faculty member at Northwestern College in Iowa.

During his tenure, he led the SDSO in numerous pops concerts. He implemented the orchestra’s inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program in a partnership with the Sioux Falls Public School District, conducted family concerts, and led the annual Christmas on the Prairie concert in Hoven, SD.

Hutchinson has served as a guest conductor for numerous orchestras and festivals throughout the Midwest, Montana and New York and has been on the conducting faculty of International Music Camp for several years.

He has a long-standing commitment to education, demonstrated in his teaching orchestra in the public schools for nine years in Williamsville, NY and Sioux Falls, SD, and was the coordinator and music director of the Siouxland Youth Orchestras in Sioux City, Iowa.

Hutchinson is as comfortable in the pit as on the stage. He was recently named the 2017-2018 winner of The American Prize in Opera Conducting for his performance of Suor Angelica with University Opera Theatre at the University of Minnesota.

He is an Iowa native, and holds conducting degrees from the University of Minnesota and Bowling Green State University and a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Morningside College.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 19,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Health and Human Services; Technology, and its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.

May 08, 2019

Written by:
Geoff Larcom

Media Contact:
Geoff Larcom
glarcom@emich.edu
734-487-4400