Marshall Anthony Rutter (October 18, 1931 – December 4, 2024) was an American lawyer, arts patron and choral music administrator. He was one of the founders of the

Los Angeles Master Chorale The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional Choir, chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one ...

in 1964, and also a leader of the advocacy group Chorus America.David Salazar. Obituary, ''OperaWire'', 8 December 2024
/ref> His daughter is the arts administrator Deborah Rutter.

Life and career

Rutter was born in

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts (Pennsylvanian), John Potts. The old name was abando ...

. He attended

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

in the UK for one year (1949-50) on an Exchange Fellowship from the Hill School, then studied arts at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

and law at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. Rutter moved to Los Angeles in 1959 and was called to the bar in 1960. He joined the Los Angeles-based lawyers

O'Melveny & Myers O'Melveny & Myers LLP is an American multinational law firm founded in Los Angeles in 1885. The firm employs approximately 800 lawyers and has offices in California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Texas, Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, London, S ...

and later co-founded the Californian law firm Rutter Hobbs & Davidoff in 1973, specializing in family law. After retirement at the age of 75, he set up his own small practice in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

from 2010 to 2019. At the urging of founding conductor

Roger Wagner Roger Wagner, KCSG (January 16, 1914 – September 17, 1992) was an American choral musician, administrator and educator. In 1946 he founded the Roger Wagner Chorale, which became one of America's premier vocal ensembles. He also founded the ...

, Rutter helped set up the Master Chorale in 1964 as a resident company of the then newly constructed

Los Angeles Music Center The Los Angeles Music Center (officially the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pa ...

, and served as its president and later chairman.Obituary, ''Pasadena Now'', 5 December 2024
/ref> He was continuously on its board for over six decades and as 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. Rutter was particularly noted for commissioning new music, including

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen III (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer and teacher. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is professor emeritus of c ...

's ''

O Magnum Mysterium O magnum mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. Text The text is drawn from the Matins of Christmas in the Roman Breviary. ; Latin text: : O magnum mysterium, : et admirabile sacramentum, : ut animalia viderent ...

'', which he commissioned in 1994, in honor of his wife Terry Knowles (they had married two years earlier). It was the composer's first commission and its popularity made him famous.

Personal life

Marshall Rutter married Winifred Hitz in Amhurst on June 6 1953 and there were three children: Deborah (born 1956), Gregory (born 1957) and Theodore (born 1958).

Deborah F. Rutter Deborah F. Rutter (born September 30, 1956) is an American arts executive. She was the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. from September 2014 to February 2025. Rutter was the first woman to head t ...

was president of the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in Washington, D.C. from 2014 until February 2025. The marriage ended in divorce in 1970, and Rutter married Virginia Ann Hardy in January 1971. They divorced in 1992.''Who's Who in the West'' (1998-1999 edition), p. 627 In December 1992 he married Terry Knowles, also an executive director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Rutter died at his home in Pasadena on December 4, 2024, at the age of 93, survived by his wife Terry Knowles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutter, Marshall 1931 births 2024 deaths American arts administrators American lawyers Amherst College alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni People from Pottstown, Pennsylvania People educated at Radley College