Hartt School Opens Applications for 2013-14 Young Composers Project; Deadline 10/25

The Hartt School Community Division (HCD) announces that applications are now available for the 2013-2014 Young Composer's Project (YCP). Musicians in grades 7 through 12 who compose or are interested in composition are invited to apply. This after-school program meets once a week from November to May. Applications are due on Friday, October 25, 2013. To download an application, visit hcd.hartford.edu or contact HCD at harttcomm@hartford.edu or (860)768-4451.

The Young Composers Project inspires middle and high school students to express their musical ideas through composition and provides each student with the skills to develop his or her own voice as a composer. Students work in small groups with Hartt faculty composers. They learn to use notation or MIDI sequencing and digital audio software to communicate their musical ideas and study compositional techniques. Classes meet at The Hartt School where students are able to use the most cutting-edge technology and software available to composers today. They also have opportunities to experiment with new techniques for notating their ideas under the guidance of Ken Steen, Professor of Composition and Theory at The Hartt School and an active composer who creates music in a variety genres and styles. Hartt School graduate and Hartford-based composer Daniel Morel also is a YCP instructor.

YCP classes are offered in beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels and class sizes are kept to small numbers,
allowing students to spend a considerable amount of time on individual projects. The program culminates in a live
concert featuring new compositions by YCP students performed by HCD faculty and Hartt college students. Having one's music performed at a professional level is an incredibly important part of the creative process. Young composers enjoy the satisfaction of hearing their ideas come to life on the stage and ultimately sharing their music with an audience. It also provides insight into how performers actually interpret their ideas and they can get valuable feedback to help them communicate more effectively in future works. The final YCP concert this year is generously supported by the Kaiser Fund, which has granted funds for performance personnel.

While the YCP program is designed for middle and high school students, its young participants also benefit from
collaborations with the Hartt collegiate division and visiting guest composers from around the country. In 2013-2014, YCP participants have a unique opportunity to attend a composition masterclass with Frank Ticheli, Professor of Composition at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. The masterclass takes
place in May of 2014, at The Hartt School, and is held in conjunction with the college division's Composer-in-Residence program. YCP students will have the opportunity to present some of their recent music for critique and discussion as well as be introduced to Professor Ticheli and learn about his music as well.

About Ken Steen, Director of the Young Composers Project, Professor of Composition at The Hartt School, University of Hartford: Ken Steen's music and sound art is recognized internationally for its authentic vitality, remarkable range, and distinctive personal vision. Whether acoustic, electronic, or some multimedia combination, his work often is characterized as being seductively gorgeous, featuring sumptuous textures of gradual yet unpredictable evolution. In the last 3 years alone, Steen's work in various forms has enjoyed more than 80 performances on 5 continents, from Mumbai to Tripoli, Paris, Buenos Aires, and New York City.

Professor Steen was the 2012 recipient of the Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching, the most prestigious teaching award bestowed upon faculty of the University of Hartford. A selection of recent invitations to give masterclasses or lectures have come from the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Young Composer Forum (2013, 2011), University of Maribor, Slovenia, and the International School of Luxembourg (2012), Humanities Center Lecture Series (U of H - 2012), Trinity College (Hartford) and the Connecticut Film Festival (2010), Wesleyan University, Middletown (2009), and the AXIOM Center for New and Experimental Media, Boston (2009).

He has received residencies, fellowships, and/or commissions from the following internationally recognized organizations: Gullkistan: residency for creative people, Laugarvatn, Iceland (May-June 2013), Centre d-Art Marney Art Center (CAMAC), Marney-sur-Seine, France (2012), American Composers Forum Encore Grant (2010), The Artist's Enclave at I-Park (2009), MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH (2006), the American Composers Forum Continental Harmony Encore Project, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism (2005).

Ken Steen's music is published by American Composers Edition, Arizona University Publications, and is available on the Vienna Modern Masters, Capstone, Mnemes/Auralit and CRI CD labels. Upcoming release of Re: Moon in the Afternoon, for piano trio, will be released by Parma Recordings in the spring of 2014. Please visit his website www.kensteen.com to listen to selections and view score excerpts of his music.

About Daniel Morel, Hartt Community Division Composition Faculty: Daniel Morel is a Hartford-based composer who energizes his music with spectral lyricism and microtonal expression to create works of poetic beauty. Garnering commissions and performances across the United States, his music reflects myriad literary and natural interests. His works are permeated with the Western sensibilities of his Colorado upbringing, drawing on influences ranging from prairie thunderstorms to classic American poetry, interests he exploits with wry, sometimes cheeky, enthusiasm.

Mr. Morel has received commissions from the Colorado State Music Teachers Association, The Hartt School Community Division, Cherry Creek Chorale, Denver Municipal Band, and Duo Agosto, among many others. Other featured performances include the Westfield New Music Festival, New Music Hartford, CMEA Conference, and Wintergreen Summer Music Festival.

Among his awards are an Award of Distinction from the Longfellow Chorus, a Women's Education and Leadership Fund Grant, The Hartt School Community Division Composition Fellowship, a Business Development Grant for Artists from the City of Hartford, and selection on the Philharmonia Orchestra's inaugural GrooveSearch.

As an advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Morel has served with a number of arts organizations, including head of productions for the Cherry Creek Chorale and director of Bucknell University's coffeehouse music series. He currently serves as Executive Director for the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra (HICO) and Festival Director for the much acclaimed Women Composers Festival of Hartford, CT, a nationally recognized champion of women's music.

Mr. Morel holds degrees from Bucknell University (BA) and The Hartt School, University of Hartford (MM, AD), where he currently is an instructor with the Community Division's Young Composer Program.

About Frank Ticheli, Professor of Composition at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California: Frank Ticheli's music has been described as being "optimistic and thoughtful" (Los Angeles Times), "lean and muscular" (The New York Times), "brilliantly effective" (Miami Herald), and "powerful, deeply felt crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel). Ticheli (b. 1958)
joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. From 1991 to 1998, Ticheli was Composer in Residence of the Pacific Symphony. Ticheli is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. In addition to composing, he has appeared as guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals, and in cities throughout the world, including Schladming (Austria), Beijing and Shanghai, London and Manchester, Singapore, Rome, Sydney, and numerous cities in Japan. Ticheli received his doctoral and masters degrees in composition from The University of Michigan. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw, and Encore Music, and are recorded on the labels of Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Klavier, Koch International, Mark, and Naxos.

The Hartt School Community Division (HCD) of the University of Hartford is a comprehensive community arts school that annually provides performing arts instruction to more than 2,000 students. HCD offers a variety of lessons, classes, and performance opportunities in music and dance for students of all ages, experience levels, and abilities. For more information on The Hartt School Community Division, visit www.hcd.hartford.edu.

The Hartt School is the performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957. 2010 markEd Hartt's 90th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world. With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions each year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum. For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

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