An Update on the Hartt Dance Division

Last semester, Hartt hosted Misty Copeland for a master class with the dance students. Misty stands out for her warmth, passion, and genuine love of the art of ballet. It was thrilling to watch her impart her passion and knowledge to the Hartt dancers and watch them all revel in it. Her visit was an event they will remember throughout their lives.

It is events like this that distinguish Hartt our school from others. Hartt has a top notch ballet faculty committed to real professional practice and standards and fosters a repertoire of the best ballet choreographers from Petipa and Bournonville through Balanchine and on to those who are working today. The school also has, of course, very meaningful preparation in contemporary forms, which gives the dancers a strong foundation for success in their chosen field.

The work speaks for itself. Recently, four professional ballet companies have offered contracts to graduates of The Hartt School’s BFA program. Graduates of our Ballet Pedagogy program are teaching at prestigious schools in New York City and elsewhere including the Joffrey School (three graduates), Ballet Academy East, and Peridance Capezio Center. That is on top of the many dancers who are finding success in the modern and contemporary dance world. This is extraordinary for a school of Hartt’s size. The Dance Division should be proud of what it has accomplished in the last four years since Stephen Pier has joined as director of the division.

To read more about Misty’s visit, and see photos taken during her master class, please visit the UNotes article .

The Hartt faulty is very grateful for the encouragement and support of the school’s alumni and other supporters as it continues to strengthen the program and provide the best opportunities for the students to create successful lives in ballet and dance.

If anyone would like to make a gift to the dance program at Hartt, please visit our giving page and select “Other/Dance” in the designation box.

An Embarrassment of Riches - Fall 2014 Master Classes at Hartt

Hartt is in the midst of an amazing semester of visiting artists - an embarrassment of riches for the students.

So far this year, the master classes have included:

Oscar Ghiglia - guitar
Classical guitar legend and founder of the Guitar Department at the Aspen Festival, the Festival de Musique des Arcs and the “Incontri Chitarristici di Gargnano,”  He has been artist in residence, or visiting professor in such centers as the Cincinnati and San Francisco conservatories, Julliard, the Hartt School, and Northwestern University.

Christine Brewer - soprano
Grammy Award-winning American soprano.  Her appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked by her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the great sopranos of the past. Named one of the top 20 sopranos of all time (BBC Music), her range, golden tone, boundless power, and control make her a favorite of the stage and a highly sought-after recording artist, one who is 'in her prime and sounding glorious' (Anthony Tommasini, New York Times).


Russell Malone - jazz guitar
Malone began working with Jimmy Smith in 1988 and went on to work with Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall throughout the 1990s.

Stephen Schwatrz - music theatre
Oscar, Grammy, Drama Desk, and Golden Globe Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, and many more).

Still to come this semester:

Misty Copeland - dance
American Ballet Theatre soloist Misty Copeland, who has been attracting national media attention for her talent, perseverance, and message of equality in the world of ballet, comes to Hartt to present a master class to Hartt’s dance students and invited guests. 

Randy Brecker - jazz trumpeter and composer.
Mr. Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius, and Frank Zappa.

Kenny Washington - jazz vocalist virtuoso.
Emulating the classic styles of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan and infusing colors of Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, Kenny's free, playful approach, with over a four-octave range is awe inspiring.

The Chiara Quartet - string quartet
One of America's premier young ensembles, is in residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Harvard University. They will present a chamber music masterclass and mini concert at which they will perform a string quartet of Bela Bartok from memory.

Vincent Herring masterclass

On Wednesday, February 13, 2013, Vincent Herring conducted a master class with the Hartt jazz studies students.  Several faculty members and Dean Flagg attended the master class along with several dozen students.  Mr. Herring is an internationally renowned saxophonist and has, for several decades, performed along side of legendary masters, including Nat Adderly, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Taylor, and many others.  He has taken bands to Japan and Europe and has performed at almost all major jazz festivals around the globe.  Having a guest of Mr. Herring’s reputation, experience and musicianship was great opportunity for Hartt.

The students were fortunate to play for Mr. Herring and received feedback.  Moreover, they benefited from him as he demonstrated concrete ways they might consider expanding their own music vocabulary.  In addition, Mr. Herring provided real world advice on what is demanded of musicians who expect to have a career in today’s world.  He was honest, straight-forward, blunt, sincere and helpful in his critiques of the students and freely shared his wisdom.  Among the observations he shared with the students was how a thorough mastery of knowing standards (in every key!) and the rudiments of the jazz idiom, even things as basic as knowing your bebop scales (which he felt today’s students sometimes skip over in their haste to get to more cutting edge styles), continue to be the foundation on which the students must base their development.  Among the other points stressed were: focus on being the best musician you can without getting too caught up on what brand and model instrument you play or other gear you use; listen to everything possible, including those musicians and styles that other tell you are no good; and don’t box yourself into one style, but instead learn many different style of jazz so that you can easily play with and compliment a variety of musicians.  He made special note of one reason Prof. Nat Reeves’ is a bassist in such demand – his ability to play with so many different musicians in a variety of styles and with a mastery of repertoire that is unsurpassed.

Professor Abraham Burton was among those attending.  He provided a memorable story at the point of the master class when Mr. Herring was discussing developing your own sound.  Prof. Burton recalled when he was growing up in NYC, he could tell from blocks away that the saxophonist he was hearing was Mr. Herring because of his distinct sound.  (Mr. Herring added that he used to play and practice outdoors in those days because he had such a small apartment in NYC that he needed more room to practice than he had in the “modest” studio apartment.)

It was clear from the care Mr. Herring expressed when working with the students that he is not only a tremendous musician, but is committed to jazz education.   

Mr. Herring has a website, which is www.vincentherring.com     Hartt was fortunate that he spent some time with us.

Posted by Michael Menapace (’93)

Trustee