Remembering Brenda Lewis

Brenda Lewis passed away on Saturday in her home in Westport, CT.  She was born on March 2, 1921.  After a long and critically acclaimed career singing and acting on Broadway and, among others, at City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, she was a professor of voice and acting at Hartt.


Here is the obituary that appeared in the NY Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/16/arts/music/brenda-lewis-dead-opera-soprano.html

Dr. Macbride to Receive the Humphrey R. Tonkin Award for Scholarly and/or Artistic Creativity

At the 2017 Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 21, Professor David Macbride '73, Professor of Composition and Music Theory, will be presented with the Humphrey R. Tonkin Award for Scholarly and/or Artistic Creativity.


Composer and pianist David Macbride ’73, DMA, has written numerous works, ranging from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to music for film, TV, dance, and theatre, with an emphasis on percussion. During his more than 30 years teaching composition and music theory at The Hartt School, he has inspired and mentored hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to become noted professional musicians.


An alumnus of The Hartt School, Macbride is universally recognized as one of the world’s most important composers of percussion music. The Humphrey R. Tonkin Award for Scholarly and/or Artist Creativity recognizes his works that challenge musicians technically, musically, and emotionally. His ability to embrace life’s issues and struggles is evident in pieces such as “Staying the Course,” a composition known to “shake the listeners to their core,” as it presents one note for every soldier who died in the Iraq war.


As a pianist, Macbride has toured much of the world performing recitals and is also known for his innovative audience-centered compositions. A recent work, “Percussion Park,” is a musical landscape where the audience is invited to freely roam the performance site in search of the music. The commissioned piece “Silent Hands” features an American Sign Language interpreter as part of the ensemble, and is intended to show connections between the expressiveness of sign language and musical gestures.


Macbride’s artistic endeavors have had a major influence on his teaching. He founded The Hartt School’s “Composers Ensemble,” providing an outlet for student composers to perform their own works, and initiated a course encouraging students to perform locally, having presented countless concerts himself throughout the Greater Hartford area and earning the University of Hartford’s Community Service Award in 2001.


Reflecting on his career at the University, Macbride acknowledges his mentor, Professor Emeritus Edward Diemente: “He provided me with positive experiences that set the stage for my composing to develop into a lifelong habit… I often remind my students that we are blessed to be in this world, the world of music, the world we live in.”     

Bert Lucarelli's Memiors

I had the pleasure to read Bert Lucarelli's memoirs.  Styled as "conversations," anyone who had the pleasure of working with or spending time with the professor would really enjoy reading about his philosophy and approach to music and life. 


There are lots of ways for young musicians to get their career going.  Bert made the decision not to take non-music jobs.  His view was that if he was going to be a musician, he was going to be a musician.  That being said, he also was clear that performing is performing, regardless of whether that is as a soloist, ensemble member, chamber music, or playing Ice Capades (yup, look for that story in here).  Even the title - We Can't Always Play Waltzes - is charming when you read that vignette. Enjoy!

Former Hartt Professor, Bernard Lurie, Passes Away

The Hartt family mourns the passing of long-time professor, Bernie Lurie, and extends condolences to his family.

Bernard Lurie, retired Concertmaster of the Hartford Symphony, CT Opera and Hartford Ballet passed away peacefully on March 31, 2016 at the age of 82. Bernie was born in Philadelphia on June 20,1933 to Bertha and Morris Lurie and was the loving brother of Ruth Lurie Snyder. Bernie was also a retired Professor of Violin, Viola, Ensemble, Conducting and Orchestra Studies at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. For 25 years he conducted the Greater Hartford Youth Orchestra (GHYO) with concert tours of Romania (1973), Switzerland (1976), England, Ireland and Scotland (1979), Italy (1983) and China (1987). He also founded the orchestra at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.


Bernie studied violin under world renowned pedagogue Raphael Bronstein who brought him to New York and then to the Hartt School where he earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees. He was the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships including those awarded by Tanglewood and Hartt. Bernie was a former member of orchestras in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New England, and served many as Concertmaster including the Brattleboro Music Festival, Hartford Music Festival, New Haven Symphony "Concerts on the Green," as well as symphonies in Bristol, New Britain, Waterbury, Meridan, CT. He performed under the batons of such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Aram Khachaturian, Charles Munch, Lorin Maazel, Jorge Mester, Arthur Winograd as well as Arthur Fiedler and Lucas Foss. His former students continue to perform in major symphony orchestras and chamber groups around the world.


Bernie was a beloved husband of Sheila Lurie, loving father to Elena Lurie Meinhardt and Stephen Lurie, loving Poppy to Jillian and Garrett Meinhardt and Jadyn Rose Lurie. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, April 3 at 11am at Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Road, Livingston, NJ 07039 with internment following at B'nai Abraham Memorial Park in Union, NJ.


In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in memory of Bernie to the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy or Temple B'nai Abraham. The family wishes to give special thanks to Dr. Eilon Krok and the staff at Saint Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ.       


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?n=bernard-lurie&pid=179490730&fhid=12152

Series of Concerts to Honor Bert Lucarelli

On December 10 and 11, 2015, The Hartt School will present a series of concerts to honor recently retired, professor emeritus Bert Lucarelli.  Professor Lucarelli has retired after 45 years of teaching. 

On December 10, Hartt is celebrating his legacy by hosting a recital performed by his former Hartt students. The recital begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Hartford, 50 Bloomfield Ave.  The concert is free and open to the public.  Performing on the recital are:

Karen Birch Blundell

Dan Brimhall

Jolie Chrisman

Dan Frostman

Ziqian Guan

Trevor Johnson

Katy Kammeyer

Galit Kaunitz

Micheal Loveland

Lissa Stoltz

On December 11, the Hartt Symphony Orchestra will accompany five of Professor Lucarelli's students as they perform the John Corigliano's Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (1975), which was written for him.  Each student will perform one of the movements.  This concert will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person.  The soloists will be:

Karen Birch Blundell

Stuart Breczinski

Casey Hill

Charles Huang

Kirstin Leitterman

In the meantime, here are some photos of Prof. Lucarelli from throughout his career.

In honor of the 75th birthday of James Sellars

This post is contributed by Thomas Schuttenhelm.  Thanks, Thomas. 

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On Sunday, October 7, 2015 Hartt presents a concert in Berkman Auditorium at 2:00.
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James Sellars (b. 1940) has enjoyed a long and varied musical career. His path to becoming a professional composer followed a traditional course but his extraordinary imagination has led him to create an increasingly original music that has set him apart from his contemporaries.

His generation includes some notable names such as Joan Tower, Charles Wuorinen, and Brian Ferneyhough. But notability is not a consequent of ingenuity. All too often the monotone of historians and commentators compress the narrative of music history into a predictable continuum of pedigreed names that lead to an over-determined ending. Only the most astute critic, such as Arthur Danto, has asked: what do we do “after the end?” James Sellars has a most convincing answer.  

If I had to identify a creative artist equal to Sellars it would be Thomas Pynchon. Both create counter-fictions with intricate interiors and alternative histories. Parodies and puns pervade their work and they are the unmatched virtuosi of apophasis. 

 If Pynchon’s favored genre is the novel, Sellars gravitates towards chamber music, and what is represented here today is some of his best. In it he celebrates a distinctly American tradition and by doing so he distances himself from the European models that could not accommodate his accent in a musical language that was accustomed to convention. His music is not without influence but his affiliations are self-selected and add an interpretive dimension to the compositions.   

His earliest acknowledged work, The Merry Guide (1961), is a series of short piano pieces that were in stark contrast to the more ‘notable’ premieres of that year, that included Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima and Pli selon pli: improvisations sur Mallarmé (No. 2) by Pierre Boulez. The severity of the contrast is evident on many layers, not the least of which can be detected in the titles alone. If Sellars did not compose his Merry Guide in conscious opposition to these works one cannot resist accompanying him on his alternate path which, interestingly, also motivated Boulez, who was attracted to the phrase: ‘Dans le doute du Jeu supreme” (“In the doubt of the supreme Game”) that provided the conceptual impetus to his “portrait” of the poet. 

Sellars excels at undercutting the ‘game of music’ in whatever form it has presented itself and which has, regrettably, taken over an art form that was once evaluated on craftsmanship and aesthetics. These latter qualities were cultivated in careful and deliberate degrees by Sellars and they occupy a central place in his music. Sellars has an impeccable ear (at one time a necessary prerequisite for a composer) and outstanding facility as a pianist, which he studied for many years. He has so successfully fused technique and intuition that it is often impossible to determine where one begins and the other ends and the pieces on the program display this quality supremely.

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.”

Hartt Grants Emeritus Status to Three Professors - Gryc, Provost, and Lucarelli

Hartt recently announced that it was granted the status of "Professor Emeritus" to three long-time faculty members.  Stephen Gryc, Richard "Dick" Provost, and Humbert "Bert" Lucarelli have a combined 137 teaching years at Hartt and have influenced generations of Hartt alumni. 

I can't imagine to guess how many music students at Hartt have been influenced by and have benefited from these Hartt gentlemen.  I, personally, was fortunate to learn from and teach aside each of them and I congratulate them on this honor, which adds to the long list of honors and accomplishments each has earned throughout their careers.

Steve has taught composition and music theory at Hartt since 1980.  Steve's website is here.

Dick is a Hartt alumnus and has taught guitar at Hartt since 1960.  Dick's website is here.

Bert has taught oboe at Hartt since 1968.  Bert's website is here.

Anne Koscielny Passes Away

Former Hartt faculty member, Anne Koscielny, has passed away. 

 In addition to being a professor of music at The Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, she also taught at the University of Maryland at College Park and the Eastman School of Music.  In recent years, Ms. Koscielny lived with her husband, pianist and former Hartt professor Raymond Hanson, in western Massachusetts.

 
Ms. Koscielny had an very active performing career.  She performed solo recitals, chamber ensembles and with orchestras throughout the United States, in Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia. She won many awards and prizes including first prize in the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition in New York City and first prize in the National Guild of Piano Teachers Recording Competition. She received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Cecile Genhart, then a Performer’s Certificate and Master of Music Degree from the Manhattan School of Music studying with Robert Goldsand. She has also studied with Frank Mannheimer and she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for study in Vienna.

Her London debut in 1972 was received with great critical success. The Daily Telegraph described the performance as follows: “Fire and feeling. Outstanding interpretations. Power and control. This was a remarkable debut.” Koscielny also performed the complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas in several states including Connecticut (University of Hartford, in 1984 and again in 2000), Maryland (University of Maryland at College Park), Louisiana (Centenary College in Shreveport), Massachusetts (Gordon College in Wenham) as well as many from the cycle in numerous other cities. At Yale University, Koscielny performed several solo recitals and also the complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano with Yale faculty violinist Syoko Aki.

Hilda Morales, Hartt Dance Faculty, Interviewed in BWW

BWW Interviews: Hilda Morales: An Extraordinary Career with Pennsylvania Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Antony Tudor and the Hartt School of Dance

Hilda Morales was born in N.Y. City, and grew up in Puerto Rico. Her early training was with Ana Garcia of the Ballet San Juan. At 14 years of age, Ms. Morales received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. She danced as a principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, artist-in-residence with the Colorado Ballet and guest appearances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Albuquerque Ballet and Jacksonville Ballet. During her dancing career, Ms. Morales performed in full-length classic ballets as well as works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, John Butler, Alvin Ailey, and Jose Limon. Ms. Morales was featured in the movie The Turning Point, in the role of Sandra, directed by Herbert Ross. She guest teaches and is on the faculty of the Central Pennsylvania summer programs, and joined The Hartt School faculty in 1998.

Broadwayworld Dance recently sat down to interview Ms. Morales.

Click here for the full interview.

Hartt is Saddened by the Passing of Malcolm Morrison

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The following is a message from the Hartt Dean, Aaron Flagg.
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It is with great sadness that I must communicate the passing, today, of former Dean and University Professor of Theatre Malcolm Morrison. The Hartt family has just lost a great leader, mentor, faculty member, and friend.

Malcolm Morrison bravely battled illness for over ten years and always maintained his wit and good humor while serving the students and art form he so dearly loved. Professor Morrison was our dean from 1998 to 2008 and oversaw the expansion of Hartt from a distinguished music conservatory to a comprehensive performing arts conservatory including dance and theatre divisions. He oversaw the design and construction of the Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, which observes its fifth anniversary this month.

59 Years! Watson Morrison performs this weekend (UPDATED)

Among the fantastic events coming up this week, the Hartt Orchestra performs on Friday evening, and Watson Morrison, who celebrates 59 years of teaching at The Hartt School, performs a special 85th birthday concert on Sunday. Check out all upcoming performances at http://harttweb.hartford.edu/events/calendar.aspx!

11/8 UPDATE - Due to Illness, Dr. Morrison's recital has been cancelled.

 

5 Questions with Peter Boyer

Peter Boyer (M.M. 1993, D.M.A. 1995, Alumnus of the Year 2002) studied composition and conducting at Hartt from 1991 to 1995. He is currently living in the Los Angeles area.

 

What have you been up to since you graduated from Hartt?

That’s a big question. Many things! My career has been divided roughly into three areas.

First and foremost, I’ve been an orchestral composer for the concert hall, and very active in that arena. I’ve been fortunate to have over 300 performances of my works by more than 100 orchestras; several recordings on labels such as Naxos, Koch, Albany, BSO Classics, and FWSO Live; and hundreds of radio broadcasts of my music in many countries. I’ve had a pretty steady stream of orchestral commissions, starting shortly after my student days, and continuing to the present. Recent commissions have included a work for the 50th anniversary of the Eastern Music Festival from Gerard Schwarz; my Symphony No. 1 from the Pasadena Symphony; and the Boston Pops 125th anniversary commission, celebrating the legacy of the Kennedy Brothers. Keith Lockhart chose me for this project, which was narrated by actors including Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Alec Baldwin, and was recorded and televised, including on the Fourth of July for 750,000 people! My most popular work to date has been Ellis Island: The Dream of America, the premiere of which I conducted with the Hartford Symphony in 2002; it’s had nearly 150 performances, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

The second area of my career has been as an orchestrator for films and television. I’ve contributed orchestrations to more than 20 feature film scores, by some of the top Hollywood composers, including Thomas Newman, James Horner, Michael Giacchino, Alan Menken, Mark Isham, and others, for most of the major film studios. Films I’ve worked on have included Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, Star Trek, Up, Mission: Impossible III, Super 8, Cars 2, and Dolphin Tale. I’ve also arranged music for the Academy Awards on a couple occasions, and have composed music for The History Channel.

The third area of my career has been teaching. I’ve been on the faculty at Claremont Graduate University, part of the Claremont Colleges (located east of Los Angeles), since 1996. I hold the Helen M. Smith Chair in Music and the rank of Full Professor there. I should also mention conducting, though that’s largely taken a back seat to my other work in recent years. I’ve conducted various orchestras, mostly in my own music, including the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Pasadena Symphony, and Richmond Symphony in concert; and the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and various studio orchestras in recording sessions.

What is your current project?

I just returned from London, where I conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios. We recorded five of my works for an upcoming release by Naxos in its American Classics series. The centerpiece of the recording was my Symphony No. 1, a 24-minute, 3-movement work dedicated to the memory of Leonard Bernstein, and premiered just recently. We also recorded my works Festivities, Silver Fanfare, Celebration Overture, and Three Olympians. The LPO are one of the world’s greatest orchestras, and I had been hoping to work with them ever since I heard them in Howard Shore’s Oscar-winning scores for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The LPO and I recorded nearly an hour of my music in three sessions over a single day and evening—quite a feat, and quite a thrill! I’m really looking forward to the Naxos release in early 2014.

Who were your most important teachers during your time at Hartt, and why?

My two principal teachers at Hartt were Larry Alan Smith and Harold Farberman. I studied with them both for three years, from 1992-1995. Larry was my primary composition teacher, and Harold was my primary conducting teacher. As I was focused on both composition and conducting, it was very valuable for me that both of them were highly skilled and trained both as composers and conductors. Their personalities and approaches were quite different, and I benefited greatly from their different experiences and wisdom. I also studied with Harold during the summers of 1992-95 at the Conductors Institute (which was then at Hartt).

I should also mention some other instructors whose teaching was valuable to me in different ways: Robert Carl was my composition teacher there in my first year; I had James Sellars for 20th-century music; Steve Gryc for orchestration; Anthony Rauche for counterpoint and other subjects; and Kenneth Nott and Charles Turner for music history. They were all highly committed teachers. I learned a great deal from all of them, and look back on all of these courses with great affection. (I still have all of my class notes!)

What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned during your time at Hartt?

My four years at Hartt were a time of incredible growth for me. I had done my undergraduate work at a relatively small state college music department (Rhode Island College), which was a very fine department, but limited in its resources compared to a full-fledged conservatory like Hartt. Being surrounded by so many excellent professional musicians on Hartt’s faculty was eye-opening for me in many ways. Besides my primary work on acquiring techniques and skills as a composer and conductor, probably the most important thing for me was immersion in a huge variety of musical repertoire. My classes exposed me to so much repertoire from so many different composers, and I spent countless hours in the library exploring unfamiliar music. This practice of constantly attempting to broaden one’s horizons was invaluable then, and still is now.

What is next for you?

The most significant upcoming career milestone for me will be the Naxos release of my recording with the London Philharmonic in early 2014. I’ll be on sabbatical leave from my teaching gig for the 2013-14 year, so I’ll be focusing completely on my freelance musical work. It looks like there will be some exciting film orchestration gigs in the near future, but since they’ve not yet begun, I can’t discuss them “on the record” yet. Please stay tuned.

How can your fellow Hartt alumni get in touch with you?

My website is www.PropulsiveMusic.com, and on Facebook, I have both a personal page and a “fan page” for Propulsive Music.

CT ARTISTS INITIATIVE PAYS TRIBUTE TO HARTT'S NAT REEVES

This past weekend, the Connecticut Artists Initiative paid tribute to world-renowned bassist Nat Reeves, faculty member of Hartt’s Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, as part of Elizabeth Park’s Rose Weekend.  The celebration included a variety of activities and performances throughout the weekend. The events included a performance by Prof. Reeves and his ensemble.  Along with Nat, featured artists from the Jackie McLean Institute included Josh Bruneau, trumpet; Andrew Renfroe, guitar; Taber Gable, piano; Jovan Alexandre, tenor saxophone; acclaimed Hartt faculty member Steve Davis, trombone; and Mike Dick, percussion.  Prof. Reeves, along with Eric Alexander, tenor saxophone; Harold Mabern, piano; and Joe Farnsworth, drums, will tour extensively throughout Japan this July and August, performing more than a dozen concerts.

Paul Olefsky Obituary - Hartt Cello Prof.

The link below is for the obituary of former Hartt faculty member Paul Olefsky.  Prof. Olefsky taught cello at Hartt in the 1960s and 70s.  He passed away on June 1, 2013.

http://wcfish.tributes.com/show/Paul-Olefsky-95933605