Ian Evans Guthrie, D.M.

About Ian

Currently based in the Kansas City area, Ian Evans Guthrie has received the Mile High Freedom Bands 2021 Commission, a nomination for a 2020 award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, first prize for the Arcady Composition Competition, twice received second prize for the American Prize, and other accolades for his compositions. Many of his works have been performed publicly around the world by fEARnoMUSIC, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Dakota Valley Symphony, Erik Drescher, Del Sol String Quartet, and others, with works published by Verlag Neue Musik and T.U.X. People’s Music. Upcoming performances include premieres with the Northwest Symphony, KU Philharmonic Orchestra, and other ensembles. He has served on various committees, including NACUSA, where he is the National Treasurer, and the SCI, where he is the Marketer. As a pianist, Guthrie has won awards from MTNA, the Great Composer Competition, and others, and actively accompanies instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers, most recently the Interlochen Center for the Arts and Kansas City Ballet School.

He has studied composition with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Stephen Montague, Mark Wingate, and others, and piano with John Owings, Gloria Lin, Heidi Louise Williams, and Renato Fabbro.

As an instructor who believes every student brings a unique perspective to music, my job is to cultivate everyone in technique and musicality through the lens of their specialties. Students who learn by ear will bring different backgrounds and strengths than one who is a sight-reader, who is still different from one who loves to improvise from chord charts, yet each one is capable of acquiring similar foundational skills to enhance their individual interests and pursuits.