Dr. Andy J. Patterson

Musician and University Professor

Andy James Patterson was born February 1929 in Gordon, TX, to Andrew E. Patterson and Ida Kate Fulfer Patterson, a family of Vaudeville entertainers. He was exposed to improvisation, in life and in music, at an early age. Vaudeville life meant constant travel across the country. At one point, while in California, Andy also worked as an extra in the Our Gang series.

Andy J. Patterson composed his first melody at age 5 and became a music teacher at 13. He began giving private lessons while maintaining his own learning experiences on several instruments. He became proficient in the trumpet, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, viola, violin, bass, piano, and bassoon. During junior high in Fort Worth, Texas, Andy J. studied composition under organist-choirmaster William J. Marsh, author of “Texas, Our Texas,” the State Song of Texas.

While attending Damond Hill High School in Fort Worth, Dr. Patterson taught a full schedule of private music students at the L.S. Mondier School of Music. His intense study and practice resulted in a recommendation by a Texas Christian University (TCU) drama instructor to study with Arnold Schoenberg with whom he studied music composition privately for two summers (1945-46). He graduated, head of his class, from Diamond Hill High School in 1945 at age 16.

In 1948, at the age of 19 (the youngest at that time), Andy J. graduated from TCU with a bachelor’s degree in music; and, in 1951, he earned his master’s in music from TCU. During the summer of 1952, he studied composition with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California. While working towards his master’s, he served as an instructor at TCU until 1956, at which time he became a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University (FSU). While at FSU, Andy J. worked towards his doctorate in music composition and later returned in 1967 to complete his doctoral requirements, studying with John Boda and Ernst von Dohnanyi.

Before coming to Hardin-Simmons University, Dr. Patterson taught at Texas Christian University, Florida State University, Georgia Teachers College, and Florida A&M. Dr. Patterson taught at Hardin-Simmons University for over 40 years, beginning his career at HSU in 1959 and retiring at the end of the spring semester in 2000.  His tenure was one of the longest in HSU history. At Hardin-Simmons, Dr. Patterson was quickly promoted from associate professor to professor and head of the Department of Music Theory and Composition and chairman of graduate studies in music.

Dr. Patterson married Beverly Jane Shaw in January of 1963 and the couple welcomed three sons: Andy, Jr., Michael, and Philip. Dr. Patterson was an active member of First Central Presbyterian Church in Abilene, serving as an Elder, clerk and leading committees. He also contributed a number of compositions to the worship life of that congregation.

Dr. Patterson received many honors throughout his career. He helped organize the Delta Mu Chapter at TCU, the Theta Lambda chapter of Phi Mu Alpha at HSU, the national men’s professional music fraternity, and was honored with the fraternity’s Orpheus Award. He was also honored by Sigma Alpha Iota, a women’s professional music fraternity, as an honorary member, being named Friend of the Arts.

In addition, Dr. Patterson was nominated on several occasions for the prestigious Stevens Piper Award and the Council for the Advancement of Education (CASE) Award. He was the recipient of the Texas Composers League Composition Prize in 1969; and was honored twice by his faculty colleagues with Cullen Professor awards – the teaching award in 1980 and the research-creativity award in 1984. At the time of his passing, he was the only HSU faculty member to receive this award twice.

Dr. Patterson attended workshops, seminars, and lectures with musical legends such as Igor Stravinsky, Hector Villa Lobos, and Carlos Chavez. He toured with the Roger Wagner Chorale as bassoonist throughout Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Israel, and several European countries. During his time in Florida, he toured with the NBC Opera Company as bassoonist. He played the bassoon, viola, and trumpet in the Fort Worth, Shreveport, Mobile, Jackson, and Savannah orchestras. He also played with several Texas orchestras, including the San Angelo and Abilene Philharmonics for 11 years; and his compositions, poems, and articles have been performed and published throughout the United States and Canada.

Dr. Andy J. Patterson honored Hardin-Simmons University with his expertise, passion, and profound sense of humor, receiving a commission from Hardin-Simmons University’s Centennial Committee to compose a work in honor of the University’s 100th birthday which was performed in 1991. In 2004, friends and former students of Dr. Patterson donated funds to name a studio in his honor in the refurbished Caldwell Hall; and, after his passing on September 21, 2005, Dr. Patterson’s friends and family established the Dr. Andy J. Patterson Memorial Scholarship in his memory.

In recognition of his significant career accomplishments, and for his positive influence on students in the classroom and beyond, Hardin-Simmons proudly inducts Dr. Andy J. Patterson into the HSU Hall of Leaders.