News From the Hartt Dean's Office
January 24, 2007

Gov. Rell Announces $4 Million for PAC

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Friday that the State Bond Commission is expected to approve $4 million this week for the first phase of the University of Hartford Performing Arts Center.

If the $4 million is authorized at the commission's Jan. 26 meeting, the University will be able to break ground on Phase I of the project this spring, said University President Walter Harrison. "I am ecstatic," Harrison said. "I am very thankful to Gov. Rell for her strong support for this project. The governor's announcement demonstrates our shared belief that the Performing Arts Center will be an extremely valuable resource for the University and the North Hartford community."

The $30 million Performing Arts Center (PAC) will alleviate significant space shortages for The Hartt School and the Hartt Community Division, and will provide state-of-the art performance spaces, rehearsal halls, teaching rooms, and studios. The center will be located at the corner of Albany Avenue and Westbourne Parkway in North Hartford.

"This will be a major community resource," Gov. Rell said in a press release. "It will draw people to the neighborhood and will serve as an important catalyst for economic development. Hartford's Upper Albany Avenue will become a richer cultural corridor, flanked on one end by the Performing Arts Center and on the other by The Artists Collective and its acclaimed community arts programs."

The project will convert the former Thomas Cadillac distributorship into a vibrant center for performing arts education, preserving the unique exterior character of the three buildings designed in 1929 by pioneering industrial architect Albert Kahn.

Phase I of the project will convert the main building into much-needed space for The Hartt School's dance, theatre, and music theatre programs. The building will house two black box theaters, a scene shop and costume shop, dance studios, classrooms, and faculty offices - as well as a coffee shop, a bank, and space for community functions.

"The University is grateful for Governor Rell's commitment to the Performing Arts Center and for her leadership in increasing support for the arts in Connecticut," Harrison said.

"Our success in raising the funds necessary for this vital project is due to the faith and commitment of many individual donors, corporations, and foundations combined with very important investments from the State of Connecticut and the federal government," Harrison added. "It underscores our mission as a private university with a public purpose."

Read the Hartford Courant story...

Hartt Presents The Merry Widow , Feb. 8-11

The Hartt School will host a Parisian aristocratic party from February 8 through 11 featuring an inheritance, adultery and true love in Franz Lehar's charming operetta The Merry Widow. This production is a significant landmark for the Hartt Vocal Division; it is the first time the performing arts conservatory has staged an undergraduate mainstage operetta. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. in Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford campus. Admission to The Merry Widow is $20 for the general public, with discounts for senior citizens, students and groups.

This project is the result of several years of development in Hartt's Vocal Division. Following the outstanding success of last year's production of a double bill of Menotti's Old Maid and the Thief and Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial By Jury the decision was made to proceed to a full-length opera complete with orchestra, scenery, and costumes.

Set at the dawn of the 20th century, The Merry Widow is the story of the fictitious Balkan state of Pontevedro and a beautiful and rich widow, Hanna Glawari. With the threat of losing Hanna and her fortune to a foreigner, the nation's dashing Count Danilo reluctantly prepares to woo and win her - and her fortune - thus securing the country's economic status. At the Embassy Ball in Paris, however, the plan is thwarted as Hanna and Danilo realize they were once young lovers. Fueled by the possibility of rekindled love, the operetta deftly intertwines the plot's political and economic intrigue with the characters' devious and comical undertakings. The composer, Franz Lehar (1870-1948), one of the most celebrated Austro-Hungarian composers of operetta of the 20th century, is considered to be one of the leading composers of the Viennese operetta tradition in the years following World War I. He is best known for his operettas The Merry Widow and The Land of Smiles.

Many of the nationally renowned creative team are returning for this project, including music director Doris Lang Kosloff (Connecticut Opera, Connecticut Concert Opera), stage director and choreographer William Koch (American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NY Village Light Opera Group), and costume designer Elaine Bergeron, who also worked on the NY City Opera Production of Merry Widow.

"We are very proud of our undergraduates," remarked Joanna Levy, chair of Hartt's Voice Department, "The Hartt School has a real opportunity to be one of the premier undergraduate vocal programs in the country."

Wayne Rivera, Chair of Opera Performance at Hartt, noted that, "Merry Widow is a perfect choice for undergraduate voices. A full evening of Verdi or Puccini would not be advisable for singers of this age. Students sing excerpts from the more demanding repertoire in their opera scenes classes. Lehar's popular operetta gives our undergraduates an opportunity to experience performing a full length piece that is also in the mainstream opera repertoire." Future operas are already under consideration for next season.

order tickets online...

Charter Oak Cultural Center Presents Full Force Dance Theatre in "Out of Reach"

Full Force Dance Theatre returns to Charter Oak Cultural Center for its seventh year, continuing to bring original and innovative modern dance to Hartford. Out of Reach" is a dynamic evening of dance that brings an adventurous and exciting program of repertory favorites and premiers. Performances are Friday and Saturday, February 9 and 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Charter Oak Cultural Arts Center in Hartford. Tickets are $20 with discounts for seniors and students. For information and reservations please call 860.249.1207.

Opening the show will be the classic and mysterious work "Murder in the Red Barn" with music by Tom Waits, a humorous and quirky work with an edgy dark side. The hard driving duet from "Time on our Hands" will challenge your sense of time with its playful twists and turns. Excerpts from "We are not A muse", a collaborative project between Full Force and The Adam Miller Dance Project, originally performed as a site specific event at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and funded by the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, is adapted to the Charter Oak venue. This viewing will give audiences another perspective of some of the work, a surreal look at the dark side of human lust and sexuality, with music from Lori Anderson, the High Llamas, and the Velvet Underground. "Out of Reach" is a vision through a mother's eyes using space as a metaphor for boundaries and safety of her child, with music by SO Percussion. The piece was commissioned by the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and premiered in their December 2006 Choreographers Workshop. The world premiere of "Other Fires" is a contemporary look at the plight of three women and their struggle to achieve it all. FFDT's second thrilling premier will be an all-male trio entitled "Hero", which features three young men in an athletic, full-contact, mesmerizing work inspired by the photographs of fallen soldiers seen over the years on the "News Hour" on PBS.

Performers include Lorelei Li Chang, Chloe Carlson, Justin Andrews, Jill Vasbinder, Heather Lombardo, Samantha Silvers, Amanda Moone, and Katie Stevinson-Nollet. Guest dancers from the University of Hartford are Nicholas Franco and Henoch Spinola. Full Force Dance Theatre is the resident dance company of The Hartt School of the University of Hartford.

For more information visit the Full Force Dance Theatre web site.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

A recent article about the University of Hartford's upcoming 50th Anniversary includes a photo of the Broad Street building which originally housed The Julius Hartt Musical Foundation.
UNotes Daily, Jan. 8

Seniors from the Theatre Division's Music Theatre program played a key role in Goodspeed Musicals' Festival of New Artists, where they participated in staged readings of new works. The program offers new and emerging artists the opportunity to work on their projects with the help of Goodspeed's renowned resources and artistic environment, while affording the Hartt students real-world experience in new musical development and performing new musicals. During the first week of the program, three teams of writers and composers dedicated their time to further writing and composing their musicals in development. In the second week, the Hartt students joined them for rehearsals and continued development of the material. The New Artists program culminated with staged reading of the new works at the Goodspeed Opera House on January 17 to 19. Hartt students participating in the Festival are Sara Benjamin, Nathan Bovos, Thomas Bruett, Hilary Chadwick, Kathryn DeLapp, Robert Devlin, Anna Dundon, Christine Dwyer, Blythe Evans, Falon Faigle, Lisa Farrell, Stephanie Feigen, Anthony Fett, Allyson Fichtman, Kendia Gill, Christopher Kauffmann, Sarah Mak, Caitlin Mills, Renee Monico, Monica Moran, James Moreira, Katy O'Donnell, Jacob Ottosen, Kelly Porter, Sarah Raeke, Jill Rensing, Stephanie Spano and Joshua Whitwell.
UNotes Daily, Jan. 8

Hartt sophomore pianist Corbin Beisner performed with the Las Vegas Philharmonic playing the third movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. Beisner also recently won the Forum Internacional de Musica competition in Barcelona, Spain, in 2006.
Las Vegas Review Journal, Jan. 12

The Hartt Chapter of the American String Teachers Association will host "The History of Early Violin Making" with renowned New York violin maker Charles Rufino on Friday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. in Fuller Room 120. He will lecture on the early instruments and their transition to modern day. Rufino will also have several of his instruments readily available for demonstration, including his famous "half" violin. This is a great opportunity to learn about how the early instruments were made and how they transformed into the modern instruments that we use today. Please email questions to Hartt ASTA President Catherine Colquhoun.

A major scholarship sponsor for The Hartt School, Josephine Carabillo, has passed away at 96. The Hartford Courant

The Hartt School welcomes new employee Lief Ellis. Lief joins us as our new Performing Arts Technology Specialist. He received a Bachelor of Music from Radford University with an instrumental emphasis on classical guitar. In 2006, he received a Master's in Music Composition from Hartt. Lief has served as ensemble manager for the Community Division and as a teacher of music theory, composition, music history, and aesthetics at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. His new office is in Room 210; his email address is rellis@hartford.edu.

ALUMNI NEWS

Robert Losinno (BMus Bassoon '87) performed with singing sensation Andrea Bocelli at Fort Lauderdale's Hard Rock Casino.

Virtuoso musicians and improvisers Tim Price and "Sweet" Sue Terry ('82) celebrated the release of "The Blue.Seum Project" in NYC. Veterans of the international recording and performing scene, Tim and Sue are "masters of the resonant school of playing on all their instruments" (composer Derwyn Holder), which include saxophones, clarinets, bassoon, ethnic flutes and exotic percussion. Berklee College professor and fellow musician Neil Leonard says, "They are scholars that have traversed the arc of American improvised music . . . this duo makes music to savor." One of their completely-improvised concerts prompted an audience member to exclaim, "It's like their brains are wired together!" "The Blue.Seum Project" CD is now available on Qi Note Records.

Richard Vaughan (MMusEd '90) has been successfully certified as a National Board Teacher in Music Education, Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood (orchestra emphasis). Richard is currently the Music Director at Hillview Middle School in Menlo Park, CA where he teaches orchestra, band, and jazz band. In the district's two elementary schools, he teaches 150 string players. He is also on the board of the Peninsula Symphony and continues to freelance throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as a cellist. If anyone would like more information on the National Board program, planning a trip/tour to San Francisco, or just wants to say 'Hi", you can email Richard or visit the Hillview Music web site.

Park Spanish Immersion School music specialist Nyssa Brown (BMusEd '98) has been selected as Minnesota's nominee for the NEA Member Benefits-NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, a national award presented annually by The NEA Foundation, created by the National Education Association in 1969. The award recognizes teachers from across the nation for their instructional expertise, creativity and innovation in the classroom, and leadership skills.

Alumnus Kenneth W. Megan recently was promoted from lieutenant to commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Band. The appointment, effective Oct. 31, was made by an act of the U.S. Congress, signed by President Bush.
Norwich Bulletin, Dec. 13

Alumna and pianist Joan Tracy performed in a concert of Christmas in the Western World with the Oratorio Society of Sussex County, MA. In addition to the Oratorio Society, Tracy is an accomplished accompanist serving Harmonium, the Sussex County Youth & Prep Orchestras, and Suzuki Strings.
Straus Newspapers, Jan. 4

The West End String Quartet, based in Hartford, has been selected as alternate to travel to Toronto, Ontario, in March to compete as a National Finalist in the MTNA Chamber Music competition. Quartet members Carlynn Savot (MMus Cello '05), Sarah Washburn (MMus Violin 05), Russell Wilson (MM Viola '05), and Jessica Meyer (MM Violin '05) earned this opportunity after winning the Connecticut division of the MTNA Chamber Music competition. The Quartet was coached by Teri Einfeldt in preparation for the competition. They have performed concerts throughout the northeast, giving world premieres in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Marin Ireland (BFA Actor Training '00) performed with Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Strauss in a reading of The Last Journey, a new play by Tricia Walsh-Smith, at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. Ireland received an Obie Award in 2006 for her role in the Off-Broadway production of Cyclone.
Westport Country Playhouse

Hartt alumna Dionne Warwick celebrates her 45th anniversary in show business with a new duets album titled "My Friends and Me".
Khaleej Times, Jan. 1

Harvey R. Cohen (BMusEd '73), two-time Emmy-winning composer, arranger and big-band leader, died Jan. 14 at his home in Agoura Hills, CA. Cohen's two Emmys were for music for animated series: Disney's Aladdin in 1995 and The Adventures of Batman and Robin in 1996. He received four other Emmy nominations, including three for the animated shows Casper and Batman: The Animated Series and one for music direction on a Patti LaBelle PBS special.
Variety, Jan. 15

April Cech (BMus MPT '02) is mixing and recording ADR (Automated Dialog Replacement; a process of recording or replacing voices in a television show or motion picture) for a Japanese cartoon called Bobobo-bobobobo that will air on the Cartoon Network in early 2007. She is also recording foley (recording everyday sound effects in a studio setting that accompany images in a television show or motion picture; for example, the closing of a door, walking up stairs, dropping a book on a desk, etc.) for Squirrel Boy, currently running on the Cartoon Network. April works for Pacific Soundwaves in Burbank, CA.

Brian Heller (BMus MPT '98) wrote "Front and Center - A Practical Guide to Mid-Side Recording and Processing", the cover story in the March 2006 Electronic Musician magazine. In June 2006, he authored another article for Electronic Musician about composer Matthew Smith called "Sonic Brushstrokes". Heller is a composer, engineer, and tech based in Minneapolis. He teaches in the Sound Arts Program at Minneapolis College and is currently staff engineer at the Banff Centre.

The Alta Renaissance Wind Trio will present a concert on Sunday, Jan. 28, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Hartford at 4 p.m. The Trio is comprised of several Hartt alumni: Peter Braunfield on recorder & dulcian; Daniel Green on recorder, flute, trombone; and Gwendolyn Winkel on recorder. Joining the Trio will be guest artists Sue Spaulding (a Community Division faculty member) on natural horn and Martin Smith on keyboards. The Trio and thier guest artists will perform Baroque wind music on period instruments. Admission is $15. For more information visit the trio's web site or call 860.231.1827.

ACADEMIC ACCOLADES

Rob Ruggiero, associate artistic director of Hartford's TheaterWorks and Hartt theatre faculty member, will make his directing bow at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam this fall when he stages the musical 1776. The musical runs from Sept. 28 to Dec. 2, 2007.
The Hartford Courant, Jan. 11

Steve Davis, faculty member in the Jackie McLean Institute for Jazz, played with his New Jazz Composers Octet at a tribute concert in NYC for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Jan. 15 The Octet premiered a jazz piece in honor of Dr. King.
Jazz News

Violinist Leonid Sigal will solo with the Hartford Symphony on Thursday, Jan. 25 and Friday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts' Belding Theater in Hartford. He will be performing Brahms' Violin Concerto. Sigal is a faculty member in the Hartt String Department.
Huli

COMMUNITY DIVISION CORNER

Read the Community Division's Newsletter

Hartt Community Division Sponsors Movie & Dessert Night, Jan. 27

The Hartt School Community Division will present a private showing of the critically acclaimed documentary Ballets Russes on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in Wilde Auditorium. Admission is $5, and includes dessert.

Unearthing a treasure trove of archival footage, filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have fashioned a dazzlingly entrancing ode to the revolutionary twentieth-century dance troupe known as the Ballets Russes. What began as a group of Russian refugees who never danced in Russia became not one but two rival dance troupes who fought the infamous "ballet battles" that consumed London society before World War II.

Directed with consummate invention and infused with juicy anecdotal interviews from many of the company's glamorous stars, Ballets Russes treats modern audiences to a rare glimpse of the singularly remarkable merger of Russian, American, European, and Latin American dancers, choreographers, composers, and designers that transformed the face of ballet for generations to come.

To purchase tickets, contact (860) 525-9396, ext. 10, or visit any Hartt Community Division receptionist. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

CYS Concerto Competition Results

This year's winner of the Connecticut Youth Symphony Concerto Competition is Michelle Lee, piano student of Sima Brodsky. The 2nd place winner is Michael Kan, viola student of Melinda Daetsch and the 3rd place winner is Kendra Nealon, violin student of Linda Fiore. Michael and Kendra will play a duet of the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante this March at Lincoln Theater and Michelle will perform a Mozart Concerto this April in the Belding Theater.

Musical Club of Hartford Competition Results

Several Hartt Community Division students received awards at the Musical Club of Hartford Competition. In the piano division, Michelle Lee won first place and Sarah Pan won third place. Honorable mentions went to Jierui Song and Kendra Nealon. In the string division, violinist Sarah Cicchetti won third place, and violinist Sura Cho and violist Kathryn Greenwood won honorable mentions. Tenor Richard Saunders took first place in the voice division, with honorable mentions going to sopranos Carly Henderson and Michelle Kayser. In the winds division, flutist Hannah Horwitz won first place, and second place was awarded to Jenny Sanson on horn. Jane Sylvester received an honorable mention.

The Competition winners will perform in a concert on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007 at 2 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Hartford. Admission is free. Monetary awards will be given to students at this event.

MTNA Eastern Division Competition Results

Andrew Tang, who studies violin with Jaroslaw Lis, received an honorable mention at the MTNA Eastern Division Junior Performance Competition in Pittsburgh, PA.

Early Music Ensemble Auditions

The Early Music Ensemble will be auditioning new members for the Spring 2007 semester. The group meets from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays in Fuller Room 422. Their repertoire is music of the Renaissance and early Baroque in historically accurate style. The ensemble includes both early and modern instrumentalists. Good reading skills and moderate facility on your instrument are required. Students will need to purchase some materials; others will be provided.

Instruction on performance practice aspects of ornamentation and improvisation is incorporated into work on both solo and ensemble pieces, with an emphasis on developing musical and technical skills both individually and as a group. Individuals who are interested will also be invited to learn sets of solo divisions (variations on a tune or ground bass) drawn from collections published between 1520 and 1670. Instruction will be included on writing your own sets of divisions in Renaissance style.

The ensemble director is Laura Mazza-Dixon, a classical guitarist and viola da gamba player. Visit the Classical Guitar Society of Connecticut web site at for her complete biography. For more information or to schedule an audition, email Laura or call 860.653.6146 .

Adult Dance & Fitness Classes

Fulfill your New Year's Resolution by dancing! If you have made a resolution to become more active in 2007, check out the Hartt Community Division for a wide variety of adult dance and fitness classes.

Come try an adult dance or fitness class for free, and then purchase a dance card of 10 classes, 20 classes or a program pass of 36 classes. We offer a wide variety of classes, including yoga, pilates, tap, ballroom, salsa, jazz, and ballet. Classes are run so that new students can join at any time regardless of their experience or fitness level. Classes are held at the Hartt Dance and Opera Center on 224 Farmington Avenue in Hartford and at Simsmore Square on Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury.

Whatever your experience or ability, come and enjoy the invigorating effects of dance and a fun way to fulfill that New Year's resolution. For more information or to enroll, call 860.525.9396 ext. 10, email , or visit our web site.