Update to Hartt Alumni

Here is the September 2015 email update sent from the Hartt Board of Trustees' Alumni Committee to all alumni for who the University of Hartford has an email address.

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Dear Fellow Hartt Alumni, I hope you have been well since last summer’s email sent to all Hartt alumni about the exciting things that were happening at Hartt and preview for the 2014–15 year. Now, I wanted to reach out, once again, on behalf of the Hartt Board of Trustees’ Alumni Committee to highlight some of the exciting things that happened at Hartt during the past year and to preview some upcoming events. Hartt, and the University of Hartford as a whole, have made a real commitment to improving alumni engagement. Everyone at Hartt wants you to feel a continuing connection to the school and this update is one way we are doing that. We hope that you will consider coming to a performance, reaching out individually to a former professor, attending an alumni event, or finding another way to remain involved. For now, let’s talk about our alma mater.

THEATRE DIVISION presented the rarely performed musical On Your Toes and is preparing for Nicholas Nickleby.

In 1936, the musical On Your Toes, written by Rodgers and Hart, opened on Broadway.  Prior to Hartt’s production, On Your Toes had never been performed north of New York City. The show, which requires both a full ballet company and a music theater company, is a massive undertaking. Hartt’s production was directed by Alan Rust, director of the Theatre Division, and choreographed by Ralph Perkins and Stephen Pier. A full orchestra, conducted by Edward Cumming, skillfully added an important component to the grand show, which includes the jazz ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." This coming year, the Theatre Division will present another rare production. Charles Dickens’s Nickolas Nickleby will be performed in two parts on consecutive nights and both parts combined during weekend days in November. The Hartt School Theatre Division Presents The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby Presented in Two Parts Tuesday–Sunday Nov. 3–8, 2015 Part I: Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 3 p.m. Part II: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Dickens’s England Evening Package Saturday or Sunday Parts I and II with a traditional Dickensian dinner between shows, hosted at the University of Hartford’s 1877 Club. Tickets are available by visiting hartford.edu/tickets or calling 860.768.4228.

Hartt Alumni Award—2015 Recipient and a Call for 2016 Nominations

Boykin speaks on Lincoln stage in May. Phillip Boykin ’95 was the 2015 Alumni Award recipient. Boykin was presented this honor at the Hartt Commencement in May. At commencement, Boykin spoke passionately to the graduating students and assembled guests sharing both the struggles he has experienced and his triumphs. He was a featured performer in the recent Broadway production of On The Town, Boykin has had an amazing career since graduating Hartt. Visit his webpage. If you know of a Hartt alumnus or alumna worthy of consideration for the Hartt Alumni Award, please nominate him or her.

Hartt Welcomes a New Class as the Tradition of Opening Convocation Continues!

Dedication of Hartt's New Harpsichord

On Sunday, September 20, 2015, Hartt will present a special concert to unveil and dedicate the new harpsichord that it commissioned.  The harpsichord was custom built by Norfolk, Conn., resident Carl Dudash.

To mark the acquisition, Hartt's internationally recognized faculty will present a free concert of music written in the heyday of the harpsichord.
A Musical Offering: An Inaugural Concert of the Dudash Harpsichord will take place at 5 p.m. in Berkman Recital Hall.

 
A pre-concert lecture by Professor of Music History Kenneth Nott on the importance to the harpsichord of preserving and studying music of the Baroque period will begin at 4:30 p.m.

“A large body of music — primarily composed before 1760 — requires the harpsichord in either a solo or chamber capacity,” said Nott. “This acoustic harpsichord will provide an essential source of rhythm and harmonic support to our music students, who will benefit immensely from its use.”

Fall/Winter 2015 Hartt Performances

Here is the Hartt Performance calendar for 2015 Fall and Winter.

Check back here soon for a list of performances that will be live streamed.