Dr. Keith McCutchen joins Kentucky Humanities Board of Directors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LEXINGTON, Ky. (January 23, 2023) – Dr. Keith McCutchen has been elected to serve on the Kentucky Humanities board of directors.
During his term on the 23-person volunteer board, Dr. McCutchen will help set policies, award project grants to community organizations, and participate in fundraising to help meet the growing demand for Kentucky Humanities’ programs. Based in Lexington, Kentucky Humanities and its community partners across the Commonwealth invest more than $1 million annually in support of public humanities programs throughout the state.
Pianist, composer, conductor, Keith McCutchen is an Associate Professor of Music at Kentucky State University where he conducts the Jazz Ensemble, teaches Music Theory and History, and Composition and Piano. As Director of the Kentucky State University Concert Choir, McCutchen completed two national tours including concerts in Washington D.C. and New York.
McCutchen’s compositions have been performed at the World Choir Games in Seoul South Korea, American Choral directors conferences throughout the United States, and have been recorded by the St. Olaf Choir and the American Spiritual Ensemble. His arrangement of Amazing Grace, written for the St. Olaf Choir and published by Earthsongs, is also in a collection entitled Gospels and Spirituals, published by Carus-Verlag.
His arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” commissioned by the College Music Society was performed at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) international conference in Anaheim, California in 2018. McCutchen premiered his Jazz Vespers for Soloist, Chorus, Orchestra and Jazz Quintet with the Camerata Antiqua de Curitiba, Brazil, and debuted his Songs of Struggle, Hope and Triumph with the Camerata in the fall of 2018. His Jazz Vespers is scheduled for Carnegie Hall in 2023.
As a jazz pianist, McCutchen has been a guest with numerous artists including Vocalist Mel Tormé, Diane Schuur, Saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. McCutchen has also been a guest with two National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters; Bassist Richard Davis and Saxophonist, Jamey Aebersold. His CD, Beginnings, (2018) is available on iTunes.
McCutchen received his D.M.A. from Indiana University, his M.M. from the University of Minnesota, and his B.M.E. from the University of Kentucky.
He lives in Frankfort, Kentucky, with his wife Noël and daughters, Lyvia, Ella, Maya, Morgan, and Monica.
Kentucky Humanities is a non-profit Kentucky corporation affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities. Kentucky Humanities is not a state agency, but is a proud partner with Kentucky's cultural, heritage, arts, and tourism agencies. For information about Kentucky Humanities’ programs and services, visit kyhumanities.org. You can follow Kentucky Humanities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @KYHumanities.