Dr. Andrew Hutchens currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina, where he serves on the faculty of Benedict College as an Assistant Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music/Music Industry. In this role, he teaches applied lessons, coaches chamber ensembles, teaches audio technology courses, and coordinates the capstone and internship courses. Many of his students have won major competitions, been accepted into graduate saxophone programs, and had internships and mentorships with organizations like V12 Worldwide, Mezz Entertainment, Zync Music, and the HBCU in LA program. He earned his DMA and MM in saxophone performance from the University of South Carolina and a BM in saxophone performance from Western Carolina University. His dissertation focuses on the commissioning, analysis, and performance of four new works for saxophone.

Dr. Hutchens has performed extensively across the United States in both professional and casual venues, including NASA Biennial Conferences, American Single Reed Summit, and Navy Band Saxophone Symposium. He has also been a solo guest and held residencies at various institutions and venues such as Appalachian State University, Western Carolina University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and more. As an active performer and educator, and audio engineer he is well-versed in multiple genres, including classical, jazz, pop, and commercial music. He performs with jazz ensembles and combos at Benedict College, directs and records commercial music performances, and participates in community theater productions as a woodwind doubler.

As an advocate for new music, Dr. Hutchens is actively involved in commissioning and premiering works for saxophone by contemporary composers such as such as Robert Honstein, Baljinder Sekhon, Jenni Watson, Kenneth Fuchs, and Stacy Garrop His principal teachers included Ian Jeffress, Clifford Leaman, Will Peebles (bassoon), and Bryson Borgstedt (jazz).

Dr. Hutchens is also a Propel Faculty Fellow and has worked on various grant initiatives to enhance the Music Industry program. He has collaborated with industry partners and guests such as Apple, Interscope Records, Atlantic Records, Roc Nation, Trillian Smith, David ‘5-1’ Norman, Nathan Felix, Telefunkin, Josh Rogosin, Yudu Grey Jr, and Young Guru,. Through these efforts, he has renovated the studio, created a new computer lab with industry-leading software, and established outreach to independent artists in the community. He founded the Tiger Tempo Music Festival, a student-driven cross-disciplinary event highlighting the campus entertainment scene. This event was featured at Apple's education headquarters as part of the Propel Center + Apple Faculty Fellowship Showcase.

In addition to his work on numerous audio advisory councils including the Eventide Audio, Bettermaker, Oeksound, Neumann Immersive Audio, and The Les Paul Foundation, he fostered a unique collaboration with companies to help further the development of the music industry program. Dr. Hutchens has sparked many partnerships with the likes of Splice, Simply Soundless , V12 Worldwide, the Muhamad Ali Center, the Ray Charles Foundation, American Music Supply, and Yamaha of America. As an advocate for the incorporation of AI technologies within the classroom, Dr. Hutchens has leveraged his partnership with Splice for generative AI to become a staple within a music industry curriculum, while also consulting with their educational team. He was recently quoted by DJ Life Magazine, Rekkerd.org, and the Splice CEO in articles about his implementation of Splice’s AI technology, Splice Create, within a music industry curriculum. He has presented a variety of topics centering around curriculum development, experiential learning in the music industry, and Artificial Intelligence at the NAMM show, HBCU Faculty Development Network, NCMEA conferences, and more.

Outside of his work at Benedict College, Dr. Hutchens maintains an active performance schedule, while also recording and producing audio and video productions. He has served as an audio engineer for several institutions and has worked with many independent artists throughout the Carolinas. He is currently the education chair of the Audio Engineering Society of the Carolina’s and is working on a self-produced album featuring newly commissioned works.