Violin Study at The Hartt School
The positive and encouraging atmosphere at the Hartt School is an ideal learning environment for aspiring young musicians. Located less than two hours from both Boston and New York, West Hartford is an ideal place to work in a robust and stimulating environment, with access to both great concerts and events. The violin studios abound with industrious, high-level talents noted for achieving tremendous accomplishments while in this exciting string program.
Violin Faculty, Lessons and Masterclasses
The violin professors at Hartt have distinguished careers in teaching and performing, and each has a distinct, personalized approach to violin study. Students receive a lesson with their private teacher once a week, and in some cases have the opportunity to "share" two teachers. Piano accompanists are assigned to each student at the beginning of the year. Every studio has a two-hour weekly studio class, or performance class. Here, students play their current repertoire for each other, gaining invaluable and abundant performance experience in the process. They also explore both technical and musical concepts with their teacher and with each other, honing their ability to coach and teach one another. This is a vital part of the way the students prepare for the Hartt concerto competition and off-campus competitions, for auditions for jobs and summer festivals, and for recitals (both studio recitals and the required individual student recitals). Often the violin studios combine for special events or projects, historically focusing on topics such as: viola for violinists, Alexander Technique, Managing a Home Teaching Studio, scale juries, and performance projects devoted to the Paganini Caprices, and, later, the violin works of Bartok.
Hartt also regularly brings in guest artists to give master classes, giving students exposure to some of the world's best-known violin pedagogues and performers. In the recent past we have hosted Midori, Donald Weilerstein, David Kim (concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra), Elmar Oliveira, Cho-Liang Lin, and Almita and Roland Vamos, as well as professors from SUNY-Purchase, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, and The Longy School, and members of the Manhattan, Pacifica and Muir Quartets.
The Hartt string department believes that every music student should be trained for a variety of professional musical roles. In addition to their solo and technical work in lessons, students train intensively on orchestral excerpts via the Orchestra Repertoire Class. They also polish and perform orchestra repertoire year-round in the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, and also have opportunities to perform in the Collegium Musicum and the Contemporary Players Ensemble. Chamber music is a particular passion at Hartt: students participate in a dizzying array of varied chamber groups all semester, competing for the award of Best of Chamber Music and performing in master classes for Hartt's resident professional ensemble, the Lions Gate Trio.