Gregory Youtz has served as Professor of Music at PLU since 1984. He is a regular pre-concert lecturer for Symphony Tacoma and a frequent public speaker and MC, presenting on topics ranging from classical and world music to Chinese culture and the study of creativity. His compositions include works for orchestra, band, choir, voice and chamber ensembles, and four operas including the 1991 Songs from the Cedar House about Native American-White interaction in the Puget Sound region, 2016’s Fiery Jade-Cai Yan, (libretto by Zhang Er) based upon the life of a historical Han Dynasty Chinese woman and 2021’s Tacoma Method (libretto by Zhang Er) about the expulsion of the Chinese from Tacoma in 1885. His 60 minute oratorio Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War for orchestra, choir and SATB soloists, was nominated for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in music. Yout'z music for wind ensemble has won the NBA and Ostwald awards and his 2015 piece For Those Who Wait, addressing the anxiety of military families waiting for the return of their loved ones, was commissioned by a national consortium of 62 schools and universities.

A member of the Pacific Lutheran University music faculty for many years, Youtz has done research on Chinese music, instruments, and the use of Chinese musical techniques applied to western instruments, and has a list of compositions based upon Chinese ideas, from poetry and painting to history and philosophy. He was Chair of Chinese Studies at PLU for five years and directed the study abroad program in Chengdu for 15 years. He currently directs the university’s study abroad program in Trinidad and Tobago. Youtz is on the Board of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, served for 10 years as Chair of the Tacoma-Fuzhou Sister City Committee and directed a grant from the Freeman Foundation for 8 years to build partnerships between Pierce County schools and schools in China. He is a Senior Fellow with the Tacoma Pierce County Chapter of the American Leadership Forum (ALF). When not teaching or composing, Youtz can be found gardening, hiking or traveling.