News From the Hartt Dean's Office
February 13, 2008

Miami String Quartet with Internationally Celebrated Pianist Lydia Artymiw, Feb. 21

The Hartt School presents a concert by quartet-in-residence Miami String Quartet with renowned guest pianist Lydia Artymiw on Thursday, February 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  Quartet members violinist Cathy Meng Robinson, violist Yu Jin, and cellist Keith Robinson will continue their fifth anniversary season as quartet-in-residence at The Hartt School.  Due to reoccurring hand injuries, violinist Ivan Chan will be unable to finish the residency this season.  Ms. Artymiw will join the quartet for an entire program with a work by Mozart- the Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, K. 493 and a work by Schumann- the Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, op. 47.  Also featured on the program is a work by Spanish composer Joaquin Turina named Trio Circulo, Op. 91.  Audience members are invited to meet with the musicians at an informal reception following the concert.  Admission is $30-36 for the general public with discounts available for senior citizens, students and groups.  Contact the University of Hartford Box Office at (860) 768-4228 for tickets or purchase tickets online at www.hartford.edu/hartt.

Prior to the concert, there will be a dinner and interview with a member of the Miami String Quartet. The dinner will take place in the 1877 Club in the University of Hartford’s Harry Jack Grey Center at 6 p.m.  Dinner tickets are $39.  The University of Hartford campus is located at 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, Conn.

“Lydia Artymiw has such a satisfying musical soul; she is a pleasure to hear” wrote Bernard Holland in a recent New York Times review. The recipient of both an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Prize, Philadelphia-born Lydia Artymiw has emerged as one of the most compelling talents among pianists of her generation.  She has performed with over one hundred orchestras world-wide, with many of the leading conductors of our time.  American orchestral appearances include the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, and with such orchestras as Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Minnesota, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.  Solo recital tours have taken her to all major American cities, and she has also performed in Ireland, England, France, Scotland, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and New Zealand. Critics have acclaimed her seven solo recordings for the Chandos label, and she has also recorded for Centaur, Pantheon, Bridge, and Artegra.  Festival appearances include Aspen, Bay Chamber, Bravo! Vail Valley, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, Chautauqua, Grand Canyon, Hollywood Bowl, Marlboro, Montreal, Mostly Mozart, Seattle, and Tucson. Artymiw has collaborated with such celebrated artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Stoltzman, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, Kim Kashkashian, and John Aler, Benita Valente (with whom she has recorded for Centaur and Pantheon), the Guarneri, Tokyo, American, Borromeo, Miami, Orion, and Shanghai Quartets, and has toured nationally with Music from Marlboro groups.  Along with Arnold Steinhardt (first violinist of the Guarneri Quartet) and Jules Eskin (principal cellist of the Boston Symphony), she is a member of the Steinhardt-Artymiw-Eskin Trio.  A recipient of top prizes in the 1976 Leventritt and the 1978 Leeds International Competitions, she graduated from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and studied with Gary Graffman for twelve years.  Artymiw is the Distinguished McKnight Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota where she has taught since 1989. She was also awarded the Dean’s Medal for Outstanding Professor in 2000.

Praised by The New York Times as having “everything one wants in a quartet: a rich, precisely balanced sound, a broad coloristic palette, real unity of interpretive purpose and seemingly unflagging energy,” the Miami String Quartet is known throughout the nation for their diversity in programming and their poise in performance. The Miami String Quartet has appeared extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including performances in Boston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and San Francisco.   International highlights include appearances in Bern, Cologne, Istanbul, Montreal, Hong Kong, Taipei, Paris, and Amsterdam.  To learn more about the Miami String Quartet, visit www.miamistringquartet.com

Purchase tickets online

Hartt Symphony Orchestra Wind and String Concerts, Feb. 20 and 22

The Hartt School presents Hartt Symphony Orchestra Wind Concert on Wednesday, Feb. 20 and Hartt Symphony Orchestra String Concert on Friday, Feb. 22.  Both performances are at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  The Wind Concert will feature works by Halfrecht, Mozart, Strauss, Stravinsky and more.  The String Concert will feature works by Holst, Steen, Elgar, Strauss and Vaughan-Williams.  Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students and groups.  Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for more information.

Purchase tickets online

Hartt Wind Ensemble and Hartt Symphony Band, Feb. 29

The Hartt School presents Hartt Wind Ensemble and Hartt Symphony Band on Friday, Feb. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  This performance will feature works by Mennin, Whitaker, Sousa, Grantham and more.  Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students and groups.  Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for more information.

Purchase tickets online

Lions Gate Trio, March 1

The Hartt School presents Hartt’s trio-in-residence, Lions Gate Trio, on Saturday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  Violinist Katie Lansdale, cellist Scott Kluksdahl and pianist Florence Millet will perform works by Mozart, Brahms and Faure.  Admission is free.  Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for more information.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Malcolm Morrison to Step Down as Dean of The Hartt School
Malcolm Morrison is stepping down as dean after ten years, effective December 2008.  Morrison will take a one-year sabbatical and then return to the University of Hartford as a theater professor.  "Under Malcolm's leadership, The Hartt School is now larger and more successful across a wide spectrum of performing arts programs than at any time in its history," says university President Walter Harrison. "Not only The Hartt School but the entire University is deeply in his debt."
(Hartford Courant, Feb. 6)
(UNotes Daily, Feb. 6)
(Hartford Courant, Feb. 11)

Van Rooys Make $2 Million Gift for Complexity Center
Jean-Pierre van Rooy and his wife, Marie-Claire, have made a $2 million gift to the University to establish the van Rooy Center for Complexity and Conflict Analysis. This is one of the largest single gifts in the University’s history.  Jean-Pierre serves as a Regent for the university, while Marie-Claire serves on the Board of Trustees for The Hartt School. In 2000, they established the van Rooy Competition for Musical Excellence for Hartt students.
(Hartford Courant, Jan. 30)
(UNotes Daily, Jan. 30)

The Hartt School presents Audition Festival Collage Concert
The Hartt School presents Audition Festival Collage Concert on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  An exciting concert featuring the talented students and faculty from all of Hartt’s performing divisions, “Collage” is comprised of two continuous acts of music, dance and theatre.  Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students and groups.  Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for more information.

Jazz Legend Curtis Fuller to Headline Concert

The Hartt Student Council and the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz will present legendary jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller in concert on Monday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium.

Fuller also will be teaching master classes at The Hartt School. The evening concert, “A Tribute to Curtis Fuller,” will include the Artist's Collective Youth Jazz Orchestra, Hartt Big Band, Jackie McLean Institute Student Ensembles under the direction of Steve Davis, and the Curtis Fuller Sextet featuring Rene McLean, Nat Reeves, Eddie Henderson, Joe Farnsworth and Alan Palmer.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Hartt Student Council and Brothers of the Poor, a non-profit organization that supports children who were orphaned in Sri Lanka during the tsunami of December 2004. There will be a silent auction on the night of the event, which will begin 30 minutes before the performance.

Tickets for students are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets for the general public are $20. To purchase tickets, call the University of Hartford Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587, or order tickets online at www.hartford.edu/tickets.

The Hartt Student Council is raising money for the event with a raffle, with prizes including gift certificates to West Hartford Center stores and downtown Hartford restaurants, a spa facial, and free tickets to the Feb. 18 concert. Raffle tickets are being sold at The Hartt School, and they will be sold at an “Open Mike Night” at the Hawk’s Nest on Thursday, Feb. 7, beginning at 8 p.m., with the drawing to close the evening. You can also buy raffle tickets by contacting Kiely Griffin at kigriffin@hartford.edu.

If you would like to help sponsor the Feb. 18 event, the Hartt Student Council is accepting monetary, service or material item donations for the raffle and/or silent auction. Please contact Kiely Griffin at kigriffin@hartford.edu or by calling 802.922.8003.

NEA Jazz Master Curtis Fuller is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent living jazz trombonist. He is best known for his tenure with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers as well as his long associations with tenor saxophonist Benny Golson (with whom he was a charter member of the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet) and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean.

Fuller is credited as the only trombone player to record with John Coltrane. A member of the Timeless All-Stars, he has made over 400 recordings with artists including Bobby Hutchenson, Harold Land, Cedar Walton, Buster Williams, Billy Higgins, Quincy Jones and Bud Powell.

ACADEMIC ACCOLADES

Robert Edward Smith's Polish Renaissance Suite for string orchestra was given its premiere performance on January 19 by the Chamber Orchestra of Boston, conducted by David Feltner.  Mr. Smith teaches harpsichord and continuo realization at The Hartt School, and is Composer in Residence at Trinity College Chapel in Hartford.

Assistant Professor of Music Education Geoffrey Reynolds conducted a very successful concert of the Middle School Honor Choir Festival at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  He was also invited by Pearson Publishing to serve on a select Leadership Conference, held in New York City, to discuss current trends and new directions in music education.

Carrie Koffman, Hartt’s adjunct Professor of Saxophone, will be featured with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra with her performances on Thursday, February 21 and Friday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Koffman will be playing Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings as part of a “Classical Connections” concert hosted by the Teaching Company's Robert Greenberg.  This concert, led by Music Director Edward Cumming, also features Russian music by the late Romantic period composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and Sergei Prokofiev.

Violinist and former Hartt School professor Bernard Lurie will perform the Bach Concerto in E Major with the Nutmeg Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Avon Old Farms School.  Lurie was Concertmaster of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Connecticut Opera for many years, and is current concertmaster for the New Britain Symphony Orchestra.
Lurie’s retirement has been very active as he keeps a busy schedule filled with solo appearances and orchestra concerts.  The orchestra will be led by alumnus Marshall Brown (AD, 1986) who is a faculty member at The Hartt School Community Division and Hartford Conservatory. He is also a trombonist with the Waterbury and Wallingford Symphony Orchestras, and is the founding conductor of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra.

STUDENT & ALUMNI NEWS

Emily Jane Taubl, a freshman at The Hartt School, was mentioned in a music review of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. A cellist, Taubl was the winner of The Hartt School’s 8th annual van Rooy Competition for Musical Excellence this past November. The review said, “She is an outstanding cellist with a bright future.”
(Hartford Courant, Jan. 27)

Hartt School alumnus Jim McNeish (BM, 1983) who is currently a faculty member and head of the recording studio at Connecticut College, was profiled by The Day of New London newspaper. The article described his life as a guitarist, as well as his teaching and studying the playing of the guitar. For McNeish, studying the guitar is a lifelong pursuit that gives infinite rewards. “I’ll probably spend the rest of my life trying to figure out how to play the guitar,” he said.

Amy Lynn Barber (DMA, 1988) was named the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Boston University School of Music.  Barber, Professor of Music and former dean of the School of Music at DePauw University in Indiana, was cited for the diversity of her work as a performer, teacher, and advocate for contemporary music, as well as her impact on the musical landscape in central Europe.  Barber lived in central Europe for over 12 years, and was active as a soloist, chamber and orchestral performer, teacher, and advocate for contemporary music. She is the founder and artistic director of The Percussion Plus Project.
(DePauw University News, Oct. 21)

Read the Community Division's Newsletter

Hartt Dance announces the 4th Annual Ballet Workshop on April 6 for teachers and students ages 11 and older.  The workshop will feature faculty from the American Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet.  Summer scholarship opportunities are available.  Discounts are available for teachers bringing ten students or more and also for Hartt Dance Students.  Space is limited so please sign up soon.  For more information or to register, contact The Hartt School Community Dance Department at 860-525-9396 ext 10 or dancedesk@hartford.edu  Please print a copy of their brochure at www.hcd.hartford.edu