Hartt History: 1936 - 1955

1936 - Julius Hartt retires as director of The Hartford Musical Foundation and the name of the foundation is changed to The Julius Hartt Musical Foundation in his honor.


1937 - Alfred C. Fuller becomes a member of the Board of Trustees.

1938 - The Board purchases 187 Broad Street in Hartford from the Hartford Seminary.  Dedication exercises are held and feature Harold Bauer, one of the world's greatest pianists, with the Hartt School Chorus and Orchestra.  Samuel Berkman is appointed Dean of the Julius Hartt School of Music.

Moshe Paranov is appointed Music Director at WTIC.

1939 - Irene Kahn, accomplished ensemble player and accompanist, joins Moshe Paranov in the first of many highly acclaimed duo-piano recitals at the new Broad Street location.

1940 - By vote of the Connecticut State Board of Education, Hartt becomes the first independent institution in the state with the right to confer the Bachelor of Music degree.

Alfred Einstein, preeminent German musicologist and critic, joins the Hartt faculty.

1942 - Dr. Elemer Nagy joins the Hartt faculty.  The first Hartt opera production, a double bill, is presented.  The program features the first American performance of Franz von Suppe's Ten Maidens and No Man, Moshe Paranov conducting, and the first Hartford performance of Paul Hindemith's Here and There, with Hindemith conducting.

1943 - Moshe Paranov conducts Hansel and Gretel, the country's first televised grand opera, over television station WRGB in Schenectady, NY.

1944 - Wagerian baritone, Friedrich Schorr, is appointed chair of Hartt's voice department.


1947 - A.C. Fuller is elected President of The Julius Hartt Musical Foundation.


1948 - Hartt becomes the first independent music school in Connecticut to be granted approval to award the Master of Music degree.


Composer Isadore Freed establishes the Institute of Contemporary American Music (ICAM) at Hartt.


Moshe Paranov conducts the first concert of the rejuvenated Hartford Symphony Orchestra.


1950 - Hartt is voted a full member of the National Association of Schools of Music.


1951 - The Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Education degree programs are approved by the State Board of Education.


The Connecticut State Legislature passes an act creating the Hartt College of Music.  The non-collegiate junior and adult divisions become the Julius Hartt School of Music.


Dame Myra Hess, distinguished English pianist, performs Beethoven's Piano Concerto in C Minor, Op. 3 with the Hartt Symphony Orchestra at the Bushnell Memorial Hall, contributing her services for the support of the Hartt Building Fund.


1953 - William Schuman, President of the Julliard School, selects Hartt to premiere his first opera The Mighty Casey.  Philadelphia Musical Academy awards Moshe Paranov an honorary Doctor of Music degree.


1955 - The Hartt College is approved for membership in the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.  It is the first independent school of music in Connecticut to be admitted to membership and the second in New England, the other being the New England Conservatory of Music.