5 Questions with Ryan Bauer-Walsh

Ryan Bauer-Walsh (BFA ‘o6), studied Music Theatre at Hartt from 2002 to 2006.  He is currently living in New York City. 

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

After Graduating in 2006 from the Theatre Division at Hartt I moved straight to NYC. I had worked with Goodspeed’s Festival of New Artists through the Music Theatre divisions relationship with their theatre company and it helped them get to know me. After a few auditions in NYC, Goodspeed cast me in Nell Benjamin’s PIRATES! It was a new take on Pirates of Penzance and I got my Equity card.  Getting my card helped me make the transition from school to performing professionally. I went on tour after that with Theatre Works USA for my first national touring experience with Paul Revere. It was a great way to see the country and it really developed my work ethic.

After that I realized the only way to work in NYC was to audition constantly. I did about 260 auditions in one year back when you could go to four a day. I was running between audition studios and getting to know all the casting directors in town and finally I booked my first Production Contract. Lonny Price, who I had met at the American Theatre Wing’s SPRINGBOARD boot camp two years prior, cast me in BROADWAY: 3 GENERATIONS at The Kennedy Center. It was my birthday that day and he called me personally to let me know I was going to be part of the show. It was life changing to work with that team of creatives. After that, I did the First National Tour of BILLY ELLIOT, the International tour of ZORRO, toured Europe with Silver Sea, ENCORES Most Happy Fella, and I’ve worked regionally in theater around the country.

I also have built a career as a Voice Over actor, as an illustration artist, commissioned painter and I recently published my first book; Rusty The Rescue- which proceeds from the sales go to help shelter dogs. 

What are you involved with right now and is there a specific career highlight?

I was recently invited back to reprise my role as Pietro, with the Prospect Theatre Company in their production of Death For Five Voices. We will be doing a developmental residency to workshop the production in Gesualdo, Italy- which is where the story in the musical takes place.  We will be performing in the castle where the protagonist lived. I also just made my debut as Jean Valjean in the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s production of Les Miserables— which to date was one of the most thrilling experiences I have had on stage.

But I think one of the best experiences I have had as a performer in a while was actually just this last month. I was invited by The New York Special Olympics to perform at their opening ceremony on October 16th. Over 1000 athletes gathered with supporters and fans at the Glenn Falls Civic Center for the event. Meeting such an amazing group of people and being able to be a part of that evening was incredible! The event is completely built on the strength of volunteers. We had less than 20 minutes to tech the performance, but in that time we were able to create a flash mob of 60 dancers who took to the floor while I sang a version of Katy Perry’s FIREWORK— for which Hartt Professor Michael Morris created an amazing orchestration for the evening. Thank you again, Mike!!

What is one of your most memorable moments from your time at Hartt?

5 Questions with Trevor Johnson

Trevor Johnson (MM degree Oboe Performance ‘95) studied at Hartt from 1993 to 1995. He is currently living in Jeffersonville, Indiana (suburb of Louisville, Kentucky).

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

A few months after graduating from Hartt, I won an audition for a position with the Louisville Orchestra, and with the exception of two seasons’ leaves of absence, have been 2nd and Assistant Principal Oboe ever since.  In the past few years, I have also been playing English horn regularly with the orchestra.  In 2000, I was the host/conference coordinator of the annual meeting of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) when it met in Louisville.

What are you involved with right now?

Coaching double reeds in a local high school, and a recording project with the Louisville Orchestra to provide the soundtrack to Thunder Over Louisville, the largest fireworks display in North America.

What is one of your most memorable things about your time at Hartt? What is a career highlight?

Performing with the Emerson String Quartet and traveling to New York with Performance 20/20 to see performances at Carnegie Hall and Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Performing under the baton of John Williams, and accompanying Rostropovich in a performance of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto.

What did you learn during while at Hartt that you did not appreciate or recognize until after time passed and you had some time to reflect?

Not only did I receive excellent performance instruction and opportunities while at Hartt, but I also had hands-on experience with other aspects of being a musician that are necessary to make a career.  As part of my financial aid package, I learned a great deal about behind-the-scenes responsibilities as stage manager for the Conductors’ Institute Orchestra, manager of the Hartt Contemporary Players, and producing aspects of the first Performance 20/20 CD recording.

What is next for you?

I plan to continue to work with the ever-rising Louisville Orchestra and collaborate in a recording project with my chamber music group, the Ceruti Chamber Players. I also will serve on the Executive Board of the local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians.

If people to get in touch, how can they do so?

Trevoboe1@msn.com and https://www.facebook.com/trevor.johnson.3766952

5 Questions with Javier Colon

Javier Colon (B.M. 2000) studied Music Education at Hartt from 1995 to 2000.  He is currently living in West Hartford.

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

A couple months after graduating from Hartt, I was asked to be the lead singer of a band called The Derek Trucks Band. (Now known as the Tedeschi Trucks Band.) It was my 1st touring gig as a musician and I got to see what being on the road was like. I learned so much from Derek, who I believe is one of the best guitarists out there. I was with him for almost 2 years before I left the band to pursue a solo career. I signed to Capitol Records as a solo artist in 2002 and released albums with them in 2003 and 2006. The albums had moderate success but I was eventually dropped from Capitol and found myself searching for a new deal. 

After 5 years and many meetings with labels but no offers, I found myself in a tough position. I still toured as much as I could doing mainly college and corporate gigs but it was getting to the point where it wasn’t enough to support my family. Right around that time, my management had heard about a new show called “The Voice” that was starting up. After being talked into auditioning by my family and friends, I made it on the show and eventually won the 1st season. It was an amazing experience and opportunity that changed the course of my career and life. 

What are you involved with right now?

I continue to tour the US and the world with my music and will be releasing a new album with the new label I recently signed with, Concord Music Group. 

What is one of your most memorable things about your time at Hartt?  What is a career highlight?

5 Questions with Bernadette Baker

Bernadette Baker (Bachelor of Music 1994) studied Violin Performance at Hartt from 1990 to 1994.  She is currently living in Melbourne VIC Australia.

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

Well, I’ve moved around a lot! I lived in Boston for a year and a half, then Dallas for 8 years, then back to Racine WI for a year and a half, and then I moved to Melbourne, Australia 10 years ago, which is where I now happily reside. In that time I’ve done a lot of freelance playing and private teaching, as well as working “normal jobs.”

What are you involved with right now?

I’m currently playing in the Melbourne Opera Orchestra, which I started playing in shortly after moving to Melbourne. They have become like my second family, this group of musicians. I thoroughly enjoy making music with them and I am in love with the operatic repertoire. This became a springboard for my other music project, my violin duo, Operatic Strings. In 2008 started making arrangements of my favourite opera arias for two violins as a way of being able to play this amazing music whenever I wanted. My concept then grew to include musical theatre songs, standard classical tunes and some popular music. I asked my friend and colleague Emma to play through the arrangements with me to see if they worked, et voila! We play for weddings, special occasions, and we put on regular concerts for fun and entertainment.

What is one of your most memorable things about your time at Hartt?

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.

Live Performance Stream

Check out the live stream of select Hartt performances here.

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!