News From the Hartt Dean's Office
October 17, 2007

Hartt Wind Ensemble and Hartt Symphony Band, Oct 19

On October 19, The Hartt School Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band will take the stage to perform an exciting spring concert.  Director Glen Adsit will be joined by guest conductors Matt Aubin, Eric Boccia and Anne Tortora, graduate students in Hartt’s Conducting degree program, to lead the ensembles in works by J. S. Bach, Leonard Bernstein, David Gillingham, Percy Grainger, Cindy McTee and Jonathan Newman.  The Wind Ensemble will also perform …and the mountains by Joseph Schwantner, Hartt’s 2006 composer-in-residence.  The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium.

The Hartt Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band, comprised of students from the school’s undergraduate and graduate Instrumental Studies degree program, perform a wide range of repertoire written for winds and percussion from small chamber ensembles to full symphonic band. Recent guest composers include Michael Daugherty, Joseph Schwantner, Joan Tower, Nebojsa Zivkovic, Joseph Turrin, Steve Gryc, David Macbride, Robert Carl, and Ken Steen. The ensembles have appeared at the National College Band Director’s National Association regional and national conventions and the Connecticut Music Educator’s National Conference state convention.

Glen Adsit is the director of bands at The Hartt School where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and Contemporary Players Ensemble; he teaches undergraduate conducting and guides all aspects of the graduate wind conducting degrees. Under his direction, the Hartt Wind Ensemble has performed twice at the College Band Director’s National Association regional conference and the Connecticut Music Educator’s All-State Conference. In addition,

they recently performed at the 2007 College Band Director’s National Association Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Guest soloists have included Joseph Alessi, Robert Black, Carrie Koffman and Marc Goldberg. Joan Tower, Michael Daugherty and Joseph Schwantner have been featured as composers in residence with the Wind Ensemble.

An advocate of new music, Adsit is the founder of the National Wind Ensemble Consortium Group, which has over 50 member schools with a mission to commission the world’s finest composers to write for wind ensemble. His professional conducting includes three productions of The Nutcracker, two pops concerts, many educational concerts with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and a series of educational concerts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in Rochester, New York. In addition to his professional orchestral experience, he also conducted the University of Michigan All-State Intermediate Orchestra for seven years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan.

Purchase tickets online

Sing for the City, Oct 21

The Hartt School presents Sing for the City on Sunday, October 21 at 4 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Avenue, in Hartford.  Hartt's five choral ensembles are joined by local high school choirs from Simsbury, Enfield and Glastonbury in this annual choral festival to raise money for a local charity. The concert will feature rousing spirituals and a variety of acappella music conducted by Edward Bolkovac, Carolina Flores, Ethan Nash, Emmie Weed and Stuart Younse. The proceeds of this event will benefit the Warburton Food Pantry.  There is a suggested donation of $10.

Hartt Dances, Nov 2-4

The Hartt School Dance Division will present HARTT DANCES, a Fall dance concert featuring students from the school’s undergraduate degree program, from Nov. 2 through 4 in Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford’s West Hartford campus.  Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.

A highlight of the program will be the presentation of Kijuanta Lucas’Hidden Realities, choreographed to music by Pink Floyd. Also on the program is Stephanie Powell’s Bolero, which features a cast of 21 dancers and the familiar music of the same name by Ravel. The content of the piece is conveyed through strong movements and vigorous dynamics using overlapping groupings of dancers to create a highly energetic experience for the audience.
The concerts feature several additional works choreographed or restaged by Hartt Dance faculty members. 

• Choreographer Kathryn Stevinson-Nollet will premiere a contemporary modern work that features ten female dancers.  Stevinson-Nollet is the director of Full Force Dance Theatre, Hartt’s resident dance company.
• Great Divide, choreographed by Adam Miller, director of the Adam Miller Dance Project, is a personal, nostalgic tribute to American Western films, legends and literature. This contemporary ballet was originally created for the Adam Miller Dance Project with support from The Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation.
• Swan Lake – Pas de Trois, restaged by Division Director Dennis Price, features three dancers performing the highly acclaimed classical “dance for three” from the First Act of Swan Lake.
• Plangent, also choreographed by Dennis Price, showcases twelve dancers performing a contemporary ballet set to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Allegretto, Symphony No. 7, Op. 92

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

The Julius Hartt Musical Foundation, Inc., Hartt Board of Trustees, elected Dr. Philip A. Streifer as the new Chairman of the Board.  Dr. Streifer recently assumed the position of Superintendent of Schools in Bristol.  Joseph F. Mulready steps down as Chairman but will continue as a director on the Board.  Mr. Mulready has held the Chairman position several times and has been actively involved on the Board for many years.

Faculty Teaching Award Reception

Award winning faculty members will highlight their teaching innovations on posters and computer screens, and discuss them individually with interested colleagues at a Wine & Cheese Reception on Thursday, Oct. 18, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Harry Jack Gray Center.  Hartt faculty members among the winners are Carrie Koffman, who will present “Making Music in New Zealand”, and Katie Stevinson-Nollet, who will present “Technology and Dance.”  All members of the University community are invited to attend.

Fall Weekend

Fall Weekend, Oct. 19-21, combines Homecoming and Parents Weekend, with three activity-packed days on campus.  Hartt has several activities included in the schedule.

• The Hartt Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band will present a concert on Friday, at 7:30 p.m. in Millard Auditorium.  The evening’s program includes works by Gillingham, Grainger/Rogers, Lauridsen/Reynolds, Schwantner, and others.  For tickets, call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587.
• Among the performers at the Alumni Musicians Spotlight on Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. on the Harry Jack Gray Center Lawn are Hartt alumni Daniel Hartington (MMus 2007 and Jared Elder (BMus 2008).
• Performance 20/20 will perform on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Wilde Auditorium.   Admission for this concert, featuring Stravinsky and Mendelssohn octets, is free.
• Hartt alumnus and Board of Trustees director Joseph Mulready is among the distinguished University alumni being honored at the Third Annual Anchor Awards on Saturday from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the 1877 Club.  Admission is $40.  Register online in advance.
• A 50th anniversary concert by Hartt School alumna Dionne Warwick on Saturday at 9 p.m. in Lincoln Theater. The concert is sold out at the $30 and $50 levels, but more expensive ticket packages are still available. Call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587.
• Opening for the Dionne Warwick concert on Saturday will be the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz Faculty/Student Alumni Band.  Faculty member and bassist Nat Reeves has put together an ensemble that includes fellow faculty members trombonist Steve Davis (BMus 1988) and drummer Eric McPherson (BMus 1991), and alumnus Alan Palmer (BMus 1986) on piano.  They will be joined by students Joshua Brunea (sophomore) on trumpet, vocalist Tess Collins (junior) and Jovan Alexandre (freshman) on tenor sax.

Vocal Health Workshop, Nov. 3

Does your voice tire when you start school each fall?  Do you lose your voice after a long rehearsal with your ensemble?  Do you want to know more about your voice and how to take care of it?  Do we have the workshop for you!

The Hartt School Music Education Division, the Connecticut Music Educators Association and the Connecticut American Choral Directors Association are sponsoring a one-day workshop on Saturday, Nov. 3, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University of Hartford Magnet School on the University’s West Hartford campus.  “Save My Voice!” will be lead by Dr. Cathy Hunt, Dr. Lee Reussner and Jennifer Cannady.  The $55 workshop fee includes a light breakfast and lunch.  Space is limited.  Contact Hartt’s Music Education Division at 860.768.4479 to register.

Cathy Hunt, a choral director from Washburn University, had a paralyzed vocal fold and was unable to sing or talk.  With the help of Dr. Reussner and Jennifer Cannady of the Kansas Voice Center, she has regained 85-90% of her voice.  The Kansas Voice Center, one of the nation’s leading research and treatment centers for the voice, is known for its outstanding record of rehabilitation for singers.  Dr. Hunt will share her story with the help of Dr. Reussner and Ms. Cannady.  In addition, learn about general vocal health, maintaining vocal stamina, how to treat the voice when sick, how medicines affect the voice, as well as the anatomy and physiology of the voice.  This workshop is geared for all music teachers who have to talk above singers and instrumentalists.  You will not want to miss this outstanding workshop presented by leading experts in the vocal health field.

ACADEMIC ACCOLADES

Humbert Lucarelli, a professor of oboe at Hartt, is scheduled to perform at OctOBOEfest, a biennial celebration at the University of Iowa.  The story on the event noted that Lucarelli has been hailed as "America's leading oboe recitalist" by the New York Times.
(Des Moines Register, Sept. 26)

Dance faculty member Adam Miller’s professional dance company, The Adam Miller Dance Project, will perform on Oct. 20 at the 3rd Annual Provincetown Dance Festival in Provincetown, Mass. Hartt students Justin Andrews, Jenna Dannenberger, Reona Yonezawa and Jessi Ehrich will join several dancers from New York City for this performance.  On Oct. 27 the Project will perform at the 5X5 Dance Festival hosted by St. Joseph College in West Hartford. The Adam Miller Dance Project regularly tours throughout the Northeast and performs yearly at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

Watson Morrison, professor emeritus of piano at The Hartt School, will perform a piano recital dedicated to the memory of Gordon Clark Ramsey on Friday, Oct. 19, at 10:30 a.m. in Wilde Auditorium.
(UNotes Daily, Oct. 16)

STUDENT & ALUMNI NEWS

Annie Kerins (BFA, 2006) of Worcester, Mass, was profiled in advance of her performance in a new musical revue in Boston titled American Twistory.
(Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Oct. 5)

Saxophonist Wayne Escoffery (BM, 1997) was the subject of a major question-and answer story in All About Jazz, a Philadelphia-based publication. Escoffery talks about his time at The Hartt School, playing in an ensemble with Jimmy Greene and learning from professors Jackie McLean, Steve Davis and Nat Reeves.  He also has released a new album entitled Veneration.  As an improviser, composer and bandleader at Hartt and the Thelonious Monk Institute, this collection is a compilation of his many experiences.  
(All About Jazz, Oct 1)

David Cullen (BM, 1981) was profiled in advance of a performance in Elizabethtown, Penn.  Cullen, who teaches jazz and classical guitar at Kutztown University, is a Grammy Award-winning performer.
(Etownian online, Sept. 27)

Sean Burton (BM, 2000) recently joined the faculty at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities.  He is currently completing requirements for the DMA degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

Nyssa Brown (BMus Ed, 1998) now serves as Music Education Coordinator for the Perpich Center for Arts Education, an agency of the State of Minnesota.  In addition to housing an Arts High School, the Perpich Center also includes Professional Development and Research, where Brown serves as a professional development consultant and curriculum support person for music educators in the state of Minnesota.  Perpich's mission is to improve K–12 education for all Minnesota students and educators through innovative programs and partnerships centered in the arts.

Read the Community Division's Newsletter

The Hartt Community Division Voice Department will present a Concert of Operatic Arias featuring coloratura soprano Zoe Vandermeer, tenor Steven Nanni, and pianist Max Midroit on Friday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. in Berkman Auditorium . The concert is open to students and the general public at no charge. Free-will donations toward the Vocal Activities Fund are welcome. 

Violinist Brian Lewis will present a concert on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at the Universalist Unitarian Church in West Hartford.  This concert is to benefit The Hartt School Community Division's Fund for Access.  Admission is $20 for adults and $10 for students.  Purchase tickets at the Hartt Community Division office or by calling 860.768.4451.