2020 Alumni Award Nominations

Do you know alumni of the University of Hartford's The Hartt School who have made significant accomplishments in the performing arts as artists, scholars, or educators? We are seeking nominations for The Hartt School Alumni Award. Since 1959, The Hartt School has acknowledged an outstanding alumna or alumnus annually with this prestigious award.

 

This fall, our committee will meet to select a recipient for 2020 who will be recognized at Commencement next May. The committee seeks to collect a diverse list of nominations representing the various performing arts disciplines of The Hartt School. Our past award recipients come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and we look forward to adding to the list.

 

Qualifying criteria for the award are:

•	Distinguished professional accomplishments of a Hartt alumna/us in an area of the performing arts as an artist, scholar, educator, manager, or technician
•	Professional and critical recognition of these accomplishments

 

Do you know someone who should be honored? Submit your nomination by Monday, Oct. 7, 2019.

 

Thank you,

The Hartt School Alumni Award Committee

David Macbride Festival

On October 2-5, 2019, The Hartt School, University of Hartford, will celebrate the life and work of composer David Macbride in a series of concerts devoted to his music, and his creative influence on generations of composers. David was a faculty member at Hartt from 1984 until his untimely death in September 2018. He was an undergraduate at Hartt, and was awarded the School’s Distinguished Alumni Award. His body of work is prolific and wide-ranging, covering almost every medium of concert music. But undoubtedly his greatest impact on the field has been that of his percussion music, which are firmly entrenched in the repertoire, with continuing performances nationally and internationally.


Oct. 2 will be chamber music played by Hartt faculty.
oct. 3 will be a concert of percussion works.
Oct. 4 will be tribute works composed in David's memory by Hartt alumni and faculty. Oct. 5 will feature the Hartt Wind Ensemble in a concert of large ensemble works David composed. 


The concerts will be live-streamed HERE.

Nomination Call for Hartt Hall of Fame

The nomination period of the second class of the Hartt Hall of Fame is now open.  Please submit your nominations.


For all the information on the Hartt Hall of Fame, click here. 

Hartt Hall of Fame - Inaugural/Founder's Class Presentations

In November 2017, the Founder's Class of the Hartt Hall of Fame was inducted during a ceremony in Millard Auditorium. 


Members of the Founder's Class are Julius Hartt, Moshe Paranov, Elizabeth Warner Paranov, Irene Kahn, Samuel Berkman, Elmer Nagy, Jackie McLean, Alfred C. Fuller, Primrose Fuller, Imanuel Willheim, Raymond Hanson, and Edward Diemente.


Click on a name to view the inductee's 2-minute induction video presentation.

Connecticut Summerfest: Contemporary Music Festival

The Hartt Alumni Blog would like to welcome and thank guest blogger - Aaron N. Price

Connecticut Summerfest: Contemporary Music Festival

 

Aaron N. Price (MM in Composition ‘16) and Gala Flagello (BM in Composition ‘16) met as Composition students at The Hartt School. In discussing the festivals they had experienced in the past, they recognized the potential for an affordable, compact summer music program right in their own backyard for emerging composers and ensembles. This lead to the creation of Connecticut Summerfest: a weeklong contemporary music festival that brings together talented emerging composers and some of the country's most inventive chamber ensembles, culminating in nine world premieres. The festival provides the Greater Hartford community with new music concerts of the highest caliber through a free nightly concert series featuring our three ensembles-in-residence and brand-new pieces written by festival composition students.

 

The structure of Connecticut Summerfest was crafted from some of the most advantageous aspects of festivals Aaron and Gala had each personally attended: a weeklong event with three ensembles-in-residence, two composition faculty members, and a variety of guest speakers. In addition to live premieres, festival composers benefit from a professional recording session of their new works, commissioned by the festival and the ensembles-in-residence. Resident ensembles are also invited to give a recital of their own repertoire as part of the festival’s nightly concert series. In an effort to serve a broader audience, not only are Connecticut Summerfest’s concerts free and open to the public, they are also live-streamed so that they may be enjoyed from anywhere in the world.

 

For their 2018 Festival, several notable University of Hartford alumni and faculty are involved:

 

Composition Faculty and Guest Lecturers:

Larry Alan Smith (Professor of Composition): 2018 Composition Faculty Member

Carrie Koffman (Assistant Professor of Saxophone): 2018 Guest Lecturer

 

Performers in Ensembles-in-Residence
Allison Hughes (BMus in Flute Performance '16, MM in Flute Performance '18): flutist of Duo Alterity

Joseph Van Doran (BMus in Guitar Performance '16, MM in Guitar Performance '18): guitarist of Duo Alterity

 

Festival Staff

Aaron Price (MM in Composition '16): Artistic Director

Gala Flagello (BMus in Composition '16): Festival Director
Will Jones (BMus in Composition and MPT '17): Recording Engineer
Brandon Keogan (BMus in Composition '16): Technical Coordinator

 

Advisory Board Members

David Bell (Associate Dean for Administration and Finance)

Milena Erwin (Program Manager of the University of Hartford Women's Business Center)

 

Please join us for our 2018 Concert Series:
All concerts are free, open to the publics, and available via Live Stream!

 

Friday, June 15th, 2018: Duo Alterity

Allison Hughes (flute), Joseph Van Doran (guitar)

8pm in Berkman Recital Hall at The Hartt School

 

Saturday, June 16th, 2018: Akropolis Reed Quintet

Tim Gocklin (oboe), Kari Landry (clarinet), Matt Landry (saxophone), Ryan Reynolds (bassoon), Andrew Koeppe (bass clarinet)

8pm in Berkman Recital Hall at The Hartt School

 

Sunday, June 17th, 2018: Xelana Duo

Ana García-Caraballos (saxophone), Alexander Davis (bassoon)

8pm in Berkman Recital Hall at The Hartt School

 

Tuesday, June 19th, 2018: Evening of Premieres

New Works by Festival Composers Performed by Duo Alterity, Akropolis Reed Quintet, and Xelana Duo

8pm in Berkman Recital Hall at The Hartt School

 

More information may be found at www.ctsummerfest.org and www.facebook.com/ctsummerfest. Connecticut Summerfest, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Doreen Ketchens Performing as Soloist with Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

Doreen Ketchens' Performance of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in March 21, 2018

Master of Music in Jazz Studies approved as a new degree program

Among the recent changes to Hartt's programs of study is a new degree in jazz studies.  The Univeristy of Hartford recently approved the Master of Music in Jazz Studies.


Here is the program curriculum.

First Year

Semester 1 (12 credits) 

• HLM 615*: Pro-seminar in Music History (3 cr.)
• AXX 999: Instrumental/Vocal Lesson (2 cr.)
• ENS 502: Jazz Ensemble (1 cr.)
• AFR 602: Duke Ellington (3 cr.)
• AFR 623: 20th Century Jazz Analysis and History (3 cr.)

Semester 2 (10 credits)

• AXX 999: Instrumental/Vocal Lesson (2 cr.)
• ENS 503: Jazz Ensemble (1 cr.)
• AFR 603: Analysis of American Songbook (3 cr.)
• TH 645**: Graduate Ear Training (3 cr.)
• REC 671: Master's Recital (1 cr.)

Second Year

Semester 3 (10 Credits)

• AXX 999: Instrumental/Vocal Lesson (4 cr.)
• ENS 502: Jazz Ensemble (1 cr.)
• AFR 655: Graduate Jazz Arranging (2 cr.)
• TH XXX: Graduate Theory elective (3 cr.)

Semester 4 (9 credits)

• AXX 999: Instrumental/Vocal Lesson (4 cr.)
• ENS 503: Jazz Ensemble (1 cr.)
• AFR 657: Graduate Business Seminar (3 cr.)
• REC 672: Master's Recital (1 cr.)