Grace May Stutsman

Grace May Stutsman (1886–1970) was an American musician, teacher, composer, and music critic. A native of Melrose, Massachusetts, she studied in Indianapolis as a young person, attended Boston University, and graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music. A contemporary newspaper profile reported that she won the Conservatory's Endicott prize in song composition and received a scholarship for graduate work. New England Conservatory programs from the early 1920s also document her activity there as a pianist.

Stutsman chose a career in music education rather than concert performance. She taught music in schools and later worked with the Massachusetts State Board of Education in music appreciation. She also wrote music criticism and analysis for publications including The Christian Science Monitor and Musical America. Her work therefore crossed several areas of American musical life: teaching, composition, criticism, and public music education.

Her best-documented hymn contribution is the Christmas carol "In Bethlehem 'Neath Starlit Skies," for which she wrote both words and music. The text and tune, WAITS' CAROL, were published together in The Methodist Hymnal in 1935. Later choral arrangements by V. Earle Copes and Carlton R. Young helped extend the carol's musical life beyond its original hymnal setting.