Attention Community Division Parents
New series of classes & seminars for Adults!

The Community Division has unveiled a new series of classes and seminars for adult learners!  Try a World Drumming class with Hartt professor Ben Toth, or join the new Adult SATB Chamber Choir led by Noah Glynn or the Joza Karas Adult String Ensemble.  Check out our seminars on Peak Performance Techniques and Dynamic Presentation Skills.  Later in the year, we will present an Improv and Sketch Comedy class (think Whose Line Is It Anyway). 

You can learn about all the new adult classes by clicking on this Adult Brochure link.  Classes start right away, so don’t hesitate in finding your inner artist!

Mark George, Director
Hartt Community Division

 

News For Dance Students!
Nutcracker Audition, Magical Dance Tea Party, Parent Info Sessions & More!

Magical Dance Tea Party- The HCD Dance Department will host a Magical Dance Tea Party on Saturday Sept 12 from 2-3:30pm at the Handel PAC.  Activities will include visits from the Sugarplum Fairy and Howie the Hawk, Arts and Crafts, free dance lessons, tea and cookies, giveaways and more.

Nutcracker Auditions will be held on Sunday Sept 13 from 2:00pm 4:30pm at the Handel PAC. Experienced dancers ages 8-13years old. $10 audition fee. Performances will be Dec 18-20, 2009.  (Dancers placed in a performance ensemble already do not need to attend).

Parent Information Meetings:
Monday September 14, 6:15-7:15pm for children and youth in Hartford.
Tuesday September 15, 6pm D and E/F students meet with the Director
                                                6:30pm all intensive students in Hartford
Wednesday September 16, 6:15 to 7:15 children and youth in Simsbury
Saturday September 19th 10-11am children and youth in Hartford
Saturday September 26th 9:30 -10:30am children and youth in Simsbury

Bring a Friend Week- September 21 to October 3rd.  Bring a friend to class for free for Discovery through Foundation 1 students.

Ensemble Auditions This Sunday!
If you wish to audition for an HCD Ensemble, please call the office between 8:30am and 2:30pm tomorrow to schedule an audition!

For More Information about Audition Day: http://hcd.hartford.edu/Information/AuditionDay.htm

Home of the Connecticut Children's Chorus (CCC), Connecticut Youth Symphony (CYS), Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble (GHYWE) and many others, Hartt boats our region's best youth performing ensembles around. Come join us for an audition and/or open house and see for yourself why Hartt has something for everyone!

The Audition Day Festival at The Hartt School Community Division, University of Hartford, is primarily held to audition students from around the state, including southern Massachusetts, to join our youth music ensembles for the upcoming academic school year, September 2009 through June 2010.  Students in grades 6 through 12 come to the campus at the University of Hartford to perform in front of a judge(s).

Auditions are held in June and the following September.  Those who audition in June will be notified of acceptance by the following Monday.  Shortly thereafter, those who were accepted will be sent literature excerpts to be polished over the summer.  Early in September 2009, on the first rehearsal for each respective ensemble, we will hold placement auditions where students will be placed into parts and seats within their ensemble as determined by their performance of the specified excerpt taken from the repertoire to be performed that year (Concert Winds will not require a seating audition).  Those who audition in June will have a seating advantage over students who take their full audition in September.

For students who audition only in September, they will take a complete audition including all requirements from both the June and September auditions.  Those requirements include a solo of their choice, scales, sight-reading, and the musical excerpt for their respective seating audition. 

For more information about our school, the audition festival or our open house, feel free to contact us at harttcomm@hartford.edu or 860.768.4451.

New Annual Kickoff Suzuki String Play Down,
Picnic, and Parent Meeting
Saturday, September 12

All Suzuki String Students Are Invited to the First Annual Suzuki String Play Down, Picnic & Parent Meeting on Satuday, Septemer 12th!

4:00 Play down
4:15 Parent Meeting (in Bliss)
5:30 Picnic (Bring food for you and your family, no grilling allowed on campus)

Where: The Courtyard outside Lincoln (Konover rain location)
Who: Violins, Violas, Cellos, Guitars
Dress: Casual
Repertoire: Selected Suzuki pieces

Start the year off right with music, philosophy, food, and friends!

Free Workshops for Teens & Adults!
We are offering free Early Music & Alexander Technique Workshops!

Early Music Workshops
Designed as an introduction to Early Music & Dance, the Hartt Community Division will be offering a series of free workshops throughout the year.  Workshops will take the form of a music reading session or ‘sing/play along’ and will be offered periodically on Saturday afternoons throughout the year.  Topics include the following:

1. Henry Purcell and English Country Dance, Thursday, September 24, 2009; 6:00-7:30 PM
2. Sacred Voices of the Renaissance, Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 7-8:30 PM (Instructor, Noah Glynn)
3. Renaissance Christmas for strings and choir, Saturday, December 12, 2009; 12:45 – 2:15 PM
4. Recorder Consort (ensemble for recorders), Thursday, January 7, 2010; 5:30-7:00 PM
5. Viol Consort, Saturday, January 9, 2010, 3:00-4:30 PM (Instructor, Laura Mazza-Dixon)
6. The Renaissance Guitar, Saturday, March 27, 2010, 12:45 – 2:15 PM
7. Bach and More! For Strings, Sunday, March 28, 2010; 4:30-6:00 PM (Instructor, Emlyn Ngai)

Best Practices for Body Alignment
Do you wish that you had better posture and balance? Come join us for a free introductory workshop and discover the benefits of Aston Kinetics and Alexander Technique.  You’ll be amazed with the benefits of these programs, how they’ll help improve the natural balance of your body and prevent injury, improve lung capacity and overall function as you use your body.
Alexander Technique
Learn how the Alexander Technique can help you! This course will be especially helpful for musicians, performing artists or anyone who would like to eliminate physical discomfort and learn to move their body with greater ease and control. Through group activity and one-on-one instruction you will begin to improve your body awareness and reduce unnecessary muscle tension, allowing you to perform and play at your best while keeping your body safe.
Improving Body Usage and Performance, Decreasing Injury, and Increasing Enjoyment on Your Instrument
An introduction to The Aston System for Musicians, this introductory workshop will teach you how to find your optimal playing position (each person's is different!).  Please bring two bath towels, your instrument, and a desire to improve your playing.

1. Aston Patterning, Saturday, October 24, 2009 1:00 – 2:30pm
2. Aston Patterning, Sunday, October 25, 2009 4:15-5:15pm
3. Alexander Technique, Saturday, November 7, 2009 1:00 – 2:30pm
4. Aston Patterning, Saturday, January 23, 2010 1:00 – 2:30pm
5. Alexander Technique, Sunday, February 7, 2010, 4:15 – 5:15pm
6. Alexander Technique, Saturday, May 1, 2010, 1:00 – 2:30pm

For more information, visit our website at: http://hcd.hartford.edu/Programs/AdultWorkshops.htm   

The Shoreline Community Chorale Seeks Director

 The Shoreline Community Chorale is searching for a choral director for our skilled 30 member community chorale, now in our 27th year. We seek a director with love of teaching people, enthusiasm, humor, knowledge of broad repertoire, and good organizational skills.  We favor an eclectic mixed music repertoire (early, classical, romantic, contemporary, sacred, secular, spirituals, etc.) as well as a mixture of level-of-difficulty from moderate to challenging, with emphasis on quality.

Click Here For More Information!

Hartford Symphony Orchestra opens its 66th Season!
On September 25 and 26, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in Mortensen Hall

To commemorate the opening of its 66th Season, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will bring Classical Music’s two hottest new stars – the gold and silver medalists of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition – to Hartford. On September 25 and 26, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in Mortensen Hall, Music Director Edward Cumming will lead the HSO and special guest pianists Haochen Zhang and Yeol Eum Son in a rare performance of both Rachmaninoff’s Second and Third Piano Concerti. 

If the Cliburn Competition is the Olympics of the Classical music world, then Haochen Zhang and Yeol Eum Son are Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin.  A medal at the Cliburn Competition is the culmination of a lifetime of grueling practice and preparation; out of hundreds of applicants worldwide, only 29 were selected to compete in the semi-final round this past spring.  After weeks of exhausting juries and passionate recitals at the competition, Mr. Zhang tied for first place and Ms. Son won second. 

At the young age of 19, 2009 Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist Haochen Zhang has already begun to forge a reputation as a strong, energetic pianist with a sophisticated approach and musical depth far beyond his years.  Mr. Zhang has performed with the China National Symphony Orchestra, Polish Krakow State Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Philharmonic, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, among others.  Mr. Zhang recently completed his second year at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. 

23 year-old Korean pianist and 2009 Cliburn Competition Silver Medalist Yeol Eum Son has performed with almost every notable orchestra in Korea, as well as with the Israel, New York, Seoul, and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestras, and the NHK and Baden–Baden Symphony Orchestras.  Past performances of note include a 2004 tour of Asia with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, a 2005 performance with the Tokyo Philharmonic, and an invitation to play at the Welcoming Concert for the new Secretary General of the United Nations in 2007. 

Perhaps Marilyn Monroe put it best in Some Like It Hot: “Rachmaninoff... Every time I hear it, I go to pieces... It shakes me, it quakes me. It makes me feel goose-pimply all over…” Since their premieres in the early 1900’s, the luscious harmonies and nearly impossible technical demands of Rachmaninoff’s Second and Third Piano Concerti have stirred the souls of people the whole world over. With the Second Concerto performed by Mr. Zhang and the Third performed by Ms. Son, HSO Opening Nights will offer the rare opportunity to hear both works on the same program.

After the preview concert on September 25th, the HSO will celebrate the opening of its 66th Season on Saturday, September 26th with a festive event that kicks off with a cocktail reception before the concert.  After the show, the HSO will host an elegant dinner with Maestro Cumming, Mr. Zhang, and Ms. Son, as well as a private dessert salon performance by the two pianists.  As the primary fundraising event of the 2009-10 season, the evening’s proceeds will benefit the HSO’s artistic and educational programs.  For tickets and more information about this exclusive event at The Bushnell, please contact Development Associate Tracy Wu at (860) 246-8742 x.336 or at twu@hartfordsymphony.org.  

Haochen Zhang                                                            Yeol Eum Son

Avery Ensemble's 09-10 series: Ice & Fire

The Avery Ensemble is pleased to announce its 2009-2010 concert series. Ice & Fire will trace the persistent rivalry between reason and passion through nearly three hundred years of musical history.

The inspirations for Ice & Fire are the diverging ideals embodied by two 18th century philosophical and artistic movements that each changed the course of musical history and whose influence is still felt even today. Its two programs, Enlightenment and Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), will feature some of the most celebrated chamber works by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms as well as some rarely heard gems by C.P.E. Bach, Stravinsky and Schnittke. As an added bonus, virtuoso violinist Lisa Brooke will be joining the ensemble for the grand finale of the Sturm und Drang program. For complete program details and other information, please visit www.averyensemble.org/series.htm.

Both programs will be presented at each of three beautiful Connecticut venues:

HARTFORD:         Trinity Episcopal Church, 120 Sigourney Street, Hartford, CT

Enlightenment:           Friday, October 16, 7:30 p.m.
Sturm und Drang:       Friday, January 15, 7:30 p.m.

NEW LONDON:  St-James Episcopal Church, 76 Federal Street, New London, CT

Enlightenment:           Wednesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m.
Sturm und Drang:       Wednesday, January 13, 7:30 p.m.

STORRS:               Von der Mehden Recital Hall, 875 Coventry Road, Storrs, CT

Enlightenment:           Saturday, October 17, 7:30 p.m.
Sturm und Drang:       Saturday, January 16, 7:30 p.m.

Subscriptions can be purchased by calling 1-860-379-3190 or by sending an email to info@averyensemble.org.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES (2 CONCERTS):

Regular Subscription: $35
Patron Subscription: $85 (Admits two with unlimited guest tickets for $5 each). (Includes $15 tax deductible donation).
*Student & **Child Subscription: $17
(* With valid student ID, ** Children 18 and under)

We look forward to meeting you at the concerts!

Free HSO Concert Explores the French Horn’s Journey
From Hunting Call to Concert Hall

Hartford Symphony Orchestra French Horn Quartet.
(Left to Right: Andrew Spearman, Hilary Ledebuhr, Emery Tapley, and Barbara Hill)

Hartford Symphony French Horn Quartet Opens 2009-2010 Musical Dialogues Series

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s innovative Musical Dialogues series will open its new season Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. at the Charter Oak Cultural Center with a program that follows the journey of the French Horn from the “Outside In.”

The HSO horn quartet, comprised of hornists Barbara Hill, Emery Tapley, Hilary Lebeduhr, and Andrew Spearman, will lead the audience through the unique story of the French horn: an instrument that began as an outdoor hunting call and gradually worked its way inside the concert hall to become one of the orchestra’s most distinguished instruments.  HSO hornist and Education Director Emery Tapley will narrate the story of the French Horn, inviting questions and discussion from the audience as the quartet plays works by composers including Tcherepnin, Bozza, Weber, and Liszt. 

“Musical Dialogues” is a free concert series designed to bring Classical Music to new segments of the Greater Hartford community and beyond. Staged in intimate, public settings, the performances feature an array of diverse musicians and conversations with the artists. 

This is Barbara Hill’s second season as Principal Horn with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.  She joined the HSO in October 2006 as Fifth Horn, and held the position of Acting Second Horn for the 2007-08 season.  Ms. Hill also has been a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra where she was Acting Principal and Second Horn, and has performed with numerous Canadian orchestras including the Calgary Philharmonic and Orchestra London Canada. 

A Connecticut native through and through, Emery Tapley has played French horn with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra since 1969.  Born and raised in the Hartford area, Mr. Tapley received his bachelor’s degree from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, and his master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University. In addition, Mr. Tapley is the Symphony’s Director of Education and Community Programs.

French Hornist Hilary Ledebuhr appears regularly in many orchestra, opera, theater, and chamber groups throughout New England, and has performed with the Albany, New Hampshire, Portland and Vermont Symphony Orchestras, Connecticut Opera, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and at Mohegan Sun.  She and her trumpeter husband founded a brass quintet, Brass Venture, with which she recently recorded new works by Berklee composer Thomas Hojnacki. 

Connecticut native Andrew Spearman joined the Hartford Symphony Orchestra as an extra/substitute hornist in 1963 while still a student at the Hartt College.  He became a member of the basic orchestra in September 1971. As one of the most sought-after teachers in the area, Mr. Spearman has horn students at Wesleyan University, Hartt School, Hartford Conservatory, and Eastern Connecticut State University

Berklee's 42nd annual High School Jazz Festival
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 ~ Application Deadline October 30th!

Berklee College of Music hosts its High School Jazz Festival at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Berklee's annual event is the largest of its kind in the United States.

Berklee’s Forty Second Annual High School Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at the Hynes Convention Center! Our new *online application* will be available on our website http://www.berklee.edu/events/hsjazzfest on Thursday, October 1, 2009. Directions, hotel information and scholarship applications will also be available at that time. I will also send out another reminder the day before the application goes live.

Completed online registrations must be received no later than Friday, October 30th, 2009.

Big bands, combos, and vocal jazz ensembles will perform and compete throughout the day. All ensembles are adjudicated by a panel of Berklee's top faculty and will receive a written critique of their performance. Top-ranked ensembles will be awarded partial scholarships to Berklee's Five Week Summer Performance Program, and individual students are invited to audition for tuition scholarships towards the full-time program or our Five Week Summer Performance Program.

The day's events will also include performances by Berklee faculty, tours of Berklee's campus, open jam sessions, and much more.

Ensembles can perform in competing categories determined by school size, or choose to participate in a non-competing category. All participating ensembles are adjudicated by a panel of Berklee's top faculty and receive a written critique of their performance.

HCD Ensemble Schedules
Please check your ensemble’s web calendar to any last minute changes or cancellations:  http://hcd.hartford.edu/music/instrumental_ensembles.htm

FYI and About our Newsletter

This Hartt Community Division Newsletter is distributed via e-mail to all faculty, staff, and families of the Community Division, who request the newsletter, every Thursday afternoon from September through June.  It is also posted in the lobby of the Community Division Office and on our website: www.hcd.hartford.edu   

Mark George, Director (george@hartford.edu ) – new program ideas, fundraising, general issues and concerns.

Alana Seddon, Associate Director (aseddon@hartford.edu ) – new program ideas, school-wide issues and concerns, current programming ideas or issues, and operational concerns.

Dawn Zumbroski, Registrar (zumbroski@hartford.edu ) -- registration issues, billing concerns and payments.

Jill Burnham, Administrative Secretary (jburnham@hartford.edu ) -- new student referrals and registration.
Judy Chestnut, Budget Administrator (chestnut@hartford.edu ) -- budget and payroll issues.

Jill Vasbinder, Assistant Director of Dance and Off-Campus Programs (jvasbinde@hartford.edu ) -- responsible for managing administrative details for the Simsbury Branch and the Dance Department.

Amanda Kilpatrick, Dance Administrator (kilpatric@hartford.edu ) -- dance department

Emmett Drake, Scheduling Coordinator (hcdevents@hartford.edu ) -- recital programs and room scheduling
Noah Glynn, Office Coordinator (glynn@hartford.edu ) – managing ensembles and coordinating special events

Cindy Mickens, Jessica Rudman, (harttcomm@hartford.edu ) - part-time receptionists at the main campus

Michele Ouellette, Kelley Dineen, Cindy Mickens, and Gretchen Schrader (simsmore@hartford.edu ) – part-time receptionists at the Simsbury location

Krista Rescsanski, Jennifer Fuller and Rosemary Metcalf (dancedesk@hartford.edu ) – part-time receptionists at the Hartford Dance Center

To submit an article, email jburnham@hartford.edu no later than the Wednesday of the week you would like it to appear.  We encourage our faculty, students and staff to submit articles.  Articles will appear once.  The staff of the Hartt Community Division reserves the right to edit articles for content, grammar and length.
Please visit our website at http://www.hartford.edu/hartt/community
To pay your bills online: http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/bursar/payment.html
To find out about Hartt news, activities, and events, please read the News from the Dean, which is published every other week: http://www.hartford.edu/hartth/Hartt_News/NewsfromtheDean.htm
TO UNSUBSCRIBE:  If you do not want to receive the Hartt Community Division’s Email Newsletter, please email jburnham@hartford.edu with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body or subject of the email.