13 Facts About Frank Hutchens

Francis Hutchens OBE was a pianist, music teacher and composer originally from New Zealand.

Frank Hutchens became a popular concert pianist in Australia and was a founding member of the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, where he taught for fifty years.

Frank Hutchens was born in Leeston near Christchurch on 15 January 1892.

In 1904, at the age of twelve, Frank Hutchens had the opportunity to demonstrate his talents after his piano teacher arranged for him to play for the virtuoso Ignaz Paderewski, who was then touring New Zealand.

Frank Hutchens decided to stay, and in 1915 was offered a position by Henri Verbrugghen as a founding professor with the newly formed New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, which he accepted.

Frank Hutchens was rejected for military service in 1916, and he went on to become an influential teacher, retaining his role as a professor with the Conservatorium for fifty years.

Frank Hutchens was a professor at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, President of the NSW Musical Association, a director of APRA, and a member of the Sydney Conservatorium's advisory board.

In 1955 Hutchens married Joyce White, granddaughter of R H D White.

Frank Hutchens's wife, a former pupil of his whom he had known since 1927, was a musician herself who gave much encouragement to his career.

Frank Hutchens was still active as a performer and teacher when he sustained fatal injuries in a car accident that occurred in Sydney's northern suburbs.

Frank Hutchens was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 1939, and was named a "Bard of Cornwall".

Frank Hutchens wrote a considerable amount of music, and his works are said to have "charm and craftsmanship".

Frank Hutchens made a large number of recordings for the ABC.