Marshall Rutter
Marshall A. Rutter (18 October 1931 – 4 December 2024) was an American lawyer and choral administrator, one of the founders of the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1964, and also a leader of the advocacy group Chorus America.[1]
Rutter was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and studied arts at Amherst College and law at the University of Pennsylvania. He was called to the bar in 1960.
He served as president of Master Chorale and later Chairman, and was continuously on its board for over six decades. He was appointed Director Emeritus from 2007. For Chorus America he served on the board from 1987 to 1996, chairing the board from 1993 to 1995. He received Chorus America’s Michael Korn Founders Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art in 2001.[2]
He was particularly noted for commissioning new music, including Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, which he commissioned in honor of his wife, Terry Knowles, in 1994. It was the composer's first commission.[3]
He died at his home in Pasadena on 4 December 2024, aged 93, survived by his wife Terry Knowles and three children.[1] His daughter Deborah F. Rutter is president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.[4]
References
- ^ a b David Salazar. Obituary, OperaWire, 8 December 2024
- ^ Chorus America. In Memoriam: Marshall A. Rutter, 5 December 2024
- ^ 'O Magnum Mysterium', ClassicFM
- ^ Boehm, Mike (2013-12-11). "Kennedy Center picks L.A.-trained Deborah Rutter as next president". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-12-15.