News From the Hartt Dean's Office
April 9, 2008

She Loves Me, April 9-13

The acclaimed Hartt School presents the delightful musical comedy She Loves Me at the University of Hartford’s Berkman Auditorium Wednesday, April 9, through Saturday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 13 at 2 p.m.  Admission is $10 (cash or check only).  A limited number of tickets will be available to the public beginning on March 25 and may be purchased in person at the Theater Division Office at the Asylum Avenue Campus at 260 Girard Avenue, on the corner of Asylum and Girard, in room 30 on the second floor.  No phone reservations will be taken.  For information only, call 860.768.5691.  Tickets are available at the door on a limited basis based on availability. **TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT FOR THE SATURDAY NIGHT PERFORMANCE**  

Lead by director Alan Rust, music director Michael Morris, and choreographer Ralph Perkins, Hartt’s production stars Jill Kerley as Amalia Balash, Pat Dunn as Georg Nowack, Kyla Schoer as Ilona Ritter, and John Brink as Steven Kodaly.  The original 1963 Broadway production, directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Carol Haney, starred the incomparable Barbara Cook as Amalia, Daniel Massey as Georg, Barbara Baxley as Ilona, and Jack Cassidy as Kodaly.  Local performers Philip Smith of Granby and Nicholas Palazzo of Rocky Hill also appear in this production.

If you liked the movie You’ve Got Mail, don’t miss this musical precursor.  Created by the songwriting masterminds behind the beloved Fiddler on the Roof and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello!, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and Cabaret book writer Joe Masteroff, She Loves Me is a touching and funny look at innocence and romance in a bygone era, but the story is as relevant today as ever. 

Instead of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan doing battle over books and bookstores, She Loves Me presents the story of Georg Nowack and Amalia Balash, two feuding clerks in a Budapest parfumerie during the 1930’s.  The pair find secret solace in their anonymous romantic pen pals.  Little do they know, Georg and Amalia are corresponding with each other.

Hartt Wind Ensemble and Hartt Symphony Band, April 18

The Hartt School presents Hartt Wind Ensemble and Hartt Symphony Band on Friday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  The Hartt Ensembles will perform works by Turrin, Ticheli, Daugherty, Gryc, Hindemith, and feature guest euphonium soloist James Jackson. 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

Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, April 23-27

The Hartt School presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth in repertory from April 23 to 27 at Millard Auditorium on the University of Hartford campus in West Hartford.  A Midsummer Night’s Dream, presented Wednesday, April 23 and Friday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 26 at 2 p.m., is a romantic comedy that portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, and with fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest.  Macbeth, presented Thursday, April 24 and Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 27 at 3 p.m., is a gripping tale about love and ambition, betrayal, and murder; a parable for our times.  Admission for each performance is $20, with discounts available for seniors, students and groups.  For tickets, contact the University of Hartford box office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587, or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt to order tickets on line.

Purchase tickets online

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Preludio Saxophone Quartet Takes Second Place at MTNA

The Preludio Saxophone Quartet, one of the quartets in The Hartt School’s Saxophone Quartet program, placed 2nd in the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA) National Collegiate Chamber Music competition in Denver, CO, on March 29, 2008.  The quartet won state and regional rounds of competition to earn the right to compete at the national level.  Those talented musicians are:  Nick Statzer on soprano saxophone, an Acoustics and Music/Saxophone Performance double major senior from Zelienople, PA; Scott Edwards on alto saxophone, an Acoustics and Music sophomore from South Orleans, MA; Steve Fitzgerald on tenor saxophone, Master of Music ’08, from Asheville, NY; and Dan Luongo on baritone saxophone, Music Education/Instrumental ‘08 from Wakefield, MA.

Community Invited to Annual Arts Coffeehouse Extravaganza

Performance 20/20 at The Hartt School will hold its second annual 20/20 Arts Coffeehouse Extravaganza on Saturday, April 26, 2008, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Berkman Auditorium on the University of Hartford campus in West Hartford.  Free and open to the public, this community event will feature delicious coffee and decadent treats, as well as a warmly-lit art gallery of Harford Art School student work, all accompanied by instrumental music provided by Hartt’s Honors Chamber Music program, Performance 20/20.  Patrons are invited to visit the coffeehouse venue at any time and for as long or as short a time as they wish during the six hour coffeehouse.  All ages are welcome.  For more information, contact Margreet Francis, co-director of Performance 20/20 at 860.768.5341.

Events with the Hartt Collegium Musicum

On April 10, renowned conductor, performer, and Bach scholar Joshua Rifkin will conduct a workshop with the Hartt Collegium Musicum on Bach's cantata Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78.  Vocalists featured are Judy Bowers, Alice Matteson, Michael Linert, Paul Rudoi and Tony Leathem.  The workshop will take place at 10:45 a.m. in room 163 of the Fuller Music Center.  Auditors are welcome.

The Hartt School Collegium Musicum will perform three concerts in the Hartford and East Hartford area April 18-20, 2008.   The conductor-less 18-member ensemble, specializing in 17th  and 18th century music, will be presenting works by C.P.E. Bach, Dietrich Becker, J.B. de Boismortier and G.F. Handel.  On Sunday, April 20 the performance will also include excerpts from J.S. Bach's stunning Cantata BWV 78, Jesu, der du meine Seele with Hartt School vocalists Alice Matteson, Judy Bowers, Michael Linert, Paul Rudoi and Tony Leathem.  Admission for all the performances is free-will donation.  Concert locations are:

Friday, April 18, at 8 p.m. (presented by River Crossings Concert Series)
Church of the Assumption
29 South Adams Street, Manchester, CT 06040
860.643.2195

Saturday, April 19, at 8 p.m. (presented by River Crossings Concert Series)
St. Isaac Jogues Church
1 Community Street, East Hartford, CT 06108
860.528.6749

Sunday, April 20, at 2 p.m.
Center Church, First Church of Christ in Hartford
Downtown Hartford, corner of Gold and Main Streets
860.249.5631
http://www.centerchurchhartford.org/visit/directions.html

Hartt Alumni Reunion Concert

An enthusiastic and dedicated group of Hartt Alumni, in collaboration with Alumni House and The Hartt School, is planning for the first Hartt Reunion Concert, May 2-3, 2008.   Information about the weekend of events and rehearsals, as well as registration, is available at The Hartt School Alumni Reunion and Concert link on the Alumni section of the University of Hartford Web site.   

The concert will consist of four alumni solo pianists followed by a 20-voice alumni choir segment, vocal soloists and orchestra. The concert performance is open to any who wish to participate and anyone wishing to perform need not be a Hartt alumnus. Currently, spots for solo Pianists and Choral performers are filled. However, additional seats in the orchestra remain open. The repertoire planned is somewhat simple based upon a short rehearsal schedule before the performance on Saturday May 3rd.

The weekend’s events are designed to musically entertain and socially engage decades of Hartt Alumni. Alumni are traveling from all over the country to return to The Hartt School, a place where, in the formative years, many lives were touched by the quality of music education and dedication of the Hartt Faculty. Why not join us and catch up with the happenings of years of Hartt graduates?  

Visit the web site and consider joining Hartt alumni for this fun filled weekend gathering of old and new friends. To discuss available seats in the orchestra, please contact Gary E. LaPlant (Class of 1975, Member – Hartt Board of Trustees, Chairman of the Hartt Alumni Concert Committee) at (860) 247-4500 at glaplant@sonitrol.net, or alumni orchestra conductor Richard Chiarappa, at (860) 236-0592 or chiarappa@comcast.net.

The Hartt Composition Department presents “Duo Orfeo”, with Jamie Balmer and Joseph Ricker, guitars, in recital, performing arrangements of favorites such as the Nocturnes of Chopin, Boccherini's famous Fandango and music by Erik Satie, underplayed gems from the Renaissance and Baroque periods and recent works for guitar duo by David Macbride and the Brazillian composer Radames Gnattali.  The performance will take place on Wednesday, April 16, at 8 p.m. in Berkman Auditorium at The Hartt School on the University of Hartford campus, 200 Bloomfield Avenue in West Hartford.

The Zeta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia invites the communities of the Greater Hartford area to attend a free master class and concert given by Scott Hartman, trombone professor at the Yale School of Music. Mr. Hartman, world-renowned musician and teacher, performs and records with such ensembles as Proteus7, the Millennium Brass, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the Hollywood Brass and the trombone quartet, Four of a Kind.  Phi Mu Alpha strives to provide quality musical experiences to foster growth in young musicians. This event will provide a worthwhile experience to both aspiring trombonists and the public audience. This event will provide an opportunity for the Greater Hartford communities to watch their own aspiring trombonists learn at the hands of an esteemed musician.  This master class and concert will be given at Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford campus, Friday, May 9, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively. Please contact the Box Office at 860.768.4228 to purchase tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert; $5 for students with ID and seniors, $10 general admission.

Students from The Hartt School will participate in the concert scenes in the production of The Music Man, starring Shirley Jones, which will be performed at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, April 22 through 27. The concerts, which will be staged by Philip William McKinley of The Boy from Oz, also will feature some area high school marching bands.

ACADEMIC ACCOLADES

Hartt School faculty member Wayne Rivera and Community Division voice faculty member Louise Fauteux will be featured as soloists in an upcoming performance of Haydn's Creation. The performance will be conducted by Ellen Gilson Voth (DMA, 2006), a former member of the Community Division faculty and current conductor of the Farmington Valley Chorale.
The performance will be held Friday, April 25, at 8 p.m. at the Valley Community Baptist Church in Avon, CT.  Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door.

Violin faculty member Emlyn Ngai will be performing with “Tempesta di Mare” and teaching baroque violin and viola at the Madison Early Music Festival from July 12-19, 2008.  Contact emlyn.ngai@comcast.net or click  here for more information about performances and course offerings.   For information on Tempesta di Mare, visit www.tempestadimare.org.

STUDENT & ALUMNI NEWS

Hope Foye, who graduated from Hartt in 1944 and is an acclaimed singer and early civil rights activist, is being honored by Union Bank of California and the Central Area Association as part of Women’s History Month. She became internationally recognized as an opera star in countries such as Mexico, Switzerland, Israel, and Germany, but because she was blacklisted during the McCarthy era never gained national exposure in the United States.
(Press-Telegram, March 20)

Artists International presents The Distinguished Alumni-Winners Series with pianist Anastasia Seifetdinova on Sunday, April 27, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.  Ms. Seifetdinova, recipient of a 2008 Distinguished Alumni-Winners Award, currently is pursuing a doctoral degree at The Hartt School with Oxana Yablonskaya.  Tickets will be on sale at Weill Recital Hall Box Office, 154 West 5th Street in New York City, one hour prior to performance. 

Alumnus Dezron Douglas, who studied at the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, will perform as part of Firehouse 12’s 2008 Spring Jazz Series. Douglas has traveled the world as an in-demand bassist and sideman, performing and recording with such jazz luminaries as Andy Bey, Jon Faddis, Kenny Garret and Kevin Mahogany.

Composer Gwyneth Walker (MM, 1970) was featured in an article outlining her recent composition for Bella Voce, the Burlington, VT, women’s choir. Bella Voce commissioned Walker to write music for the choir with the idea of presenting new works by a female composer with lyrics by a Vermont poet. 

Brian Nemi (AT, 2002) will be playing the lead role of Satanley Kowalski in the Tennesse Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire at Worcester Foothills Theatre (MA).  The production will open on April 13.

Jeffrey Krieger (BM, 1985), principal cellist of the Hartford Symphony, is currently traveling in Mumbai, India, on invitation from the US Embassy from Hartford, Connecticut.  He is performing his program for e-cello and video titled, Videocello.  Performances took place at the US Embassy's American Center Auditorium, the Academy for K-12 grades in Rajnandagoan, Raipur, the capital of India's newest State Chattisghar and at Tagore Hall in Bhilaspur.  Videocello is comprised of works for e-cello, video and sound created by Connecticut composers and media artists.  Reliquary of Labor by media artist Gene Gort and composer Ken Steen was commissioned by the Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut, with funds from the Roberts Foundation to celebrate the opening of the museum’s new building. Video and sound harvested from the work site during the building process inspired this multimedia performance. Garland by media artist Victor Velt and composer Robert Carl is a kind of duet between the video and the performer. The video is the artist’s visual interpretation of the music.  Heal the Wounds of War by media artist Lyn Harper and composer Ken Steen is composed of "found images" from broadcast TV programming on Veterans' Day, 1987, accompanied by haunting ethereal e-cello and electronic sound.

Read the Community Division's Newsletter

Discussion: Equity of Access to Arts Education, April 16

The Hartt School Community Division at the University of Hartford will host a discussion on April 16 entitled “Equity of Access to Arts Education”.  Panelists include Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Steven J. Adamowski; University of Hartford President Walter Harrison; Haig Shahverdian, supervisor of Fine and Performing Arts, West Hartford Public Schools; Linda J. Kelly, president of The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; James Boucher, Assistant Majority Leader of the Hartford City Council; and Mark George, director of The Hartt School Community Division.

This colloquium, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, April 16, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in Mali Lecture Hall, Charles A. Dana Hall, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. Stephen Carver, publisher of The Hartford Courant, will moderate the panel.

Those interested in attending the colloquium, which is sponsored by The Hartford Courant and the University of Hartford, should RSVP to The Hartt School Community Division at 860.768.4451 or harttcomm@hartford.edu. For more information about the colloquium, contact Mark George, director of The Hartt School Community Division, at 860.768.4117 or george@hartford.edu.