UGA School of Music Director Accepts Dean Position at University of Cincinnati

The University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music (HHSOM) announced today that Peter Jutras, PhD, NCTM, professor of piano and piano pedagogy and director of (HHSOM), has accepted a position as dean of the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati. His last day at HHSOM will be July 31, 2024. His wife Kristin Jutras, HHSOM Community Music School director, will be joining the CCM faculty as well.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to work with all of you,” Jutras said at a faculty meeting April 10, 2024, “I am so proud of the work that all of you have done and will continue to do at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.”

Peter Jutras, an award-winning professor and educator, has been a member of the HHSOM faculty for 18 years and served as associate director for research and graduate studies prior to being named director in 2019. Within seven months of his time as director, he found himself facing unprecedented challenges of making and teaching music, as well as leading a team of 70 faculty and over 500 graduate and undergraduate students, through a contactless pandemic lockdown.

“We navigated the challenges of Covid with Pete's guidance and support and have become an even stronger school and community,” said HHSOM professor of bassoon and associate director of performance Amy Pollard, “Pete encouraged all of us to find innovative ways to continue to teach our students and make music for our audiences…not to mention lift our spirits during such a difficult time.” This included an online holiday concert, ensemble rehearsals and performances outdoors, and zoom lessons for the majority of the students. 

During his tenure at HHSOM, Peter Jutras has become known for an innovative and creative vision, community building, and student success. He led school-wide efforts to launch new curricular offerings and review core requirements to create opportunities for more relevant and flexible course options. Additionally, Jutras has tapped innovative collaborations across campus to partner with new educational programs such as an Innovation Bootcamp for musicians, the Athens Hip-Hop Harmonic, and the interdisciplinary Arts Lab. 

Most recently, Peter and Kristin joined twenty other UGA faculty and students on a cultural exchange with a school in Kenya. This program has been in place for over ten years, and it has evolved to include both the HHSOM and the UGA Department of Dance.

Prior to coming to UGA, Kristin Jutras held violin positions in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.  With the Dallas Symphony, she performed in Carnegie Hall numerous times, recorded much of the standard orchestral repertoire, and toured Europe three times.  In recent years she has performed many times as a substitute with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. 

Upon her arrival at UGA in 2006, Kristin turned her attention to teaching and pedagogy, specifically in the Suzuki Method, a method through which she learned to play the violin as a child.  She completed extensive training to become a Suzuki Association of the Americas Violin Teacher Trainer – she is the only one in the state of Georgia - and created undergraduate and graduate certificate programs for School of Music students wishing to learn how to teach with the method.  She hopes to offer this pedagogical training to students at the University of Cincinnati next year.

“The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is very grateful to Dr. Jutras for his extraordinary leadership of the Hodgson School," said Anna Stenport, dean of the Franklin College. "His innovative thinking has strengthened programming and instruction in the Hodgson School, benefitting students and faculty today and in the years to come. I look forward to meeting soon with the faculty and staff on next steps to identify a new leader of our music programs.”