Craig Hart Joins Vocal Studies Department Faculty

The Hartt School Community Division is pleased to announce that Craig Hart has joined the Vocal Studies Department faculty. Craig Hart embodies that rare combination of a performer and a teacher with a dedication to mentoring young singers. Even with a busy and successful career as an operatic bass that has spanned the globe from Palm Springs, California, to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, he has always made time to coach other operatic hopefuls.

Craig Hart made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2002 in the role of the Second Madman in Prokofiev's War and Peace. After auditioning for Stephen Schwartz he was chosen to create the role of Inspector Watts in the Santa Barbara Opera 2010 World premier of Séance on a Wet Afternoon, Schwartz's first opera. Currently, he is preparing one of the most challenging and important roles in the bass repertory, the title role of Boris Godunov, which he will sing with the Utah Festival Opera in the summer of 2011.

Mr. Hart's career is clear evidence of his range and versatility. He has mastered more than 40 roles in both comic and dramatic opera, including Mephistopheles, Don Giovanni, Sparafucile, Gianni Schicchi, and Sarastro. In addition to the Metropolitan Opera of New York City, he has performed with such companies as L'Opera de Montreal, Palm Beach Opera, Portland Opera, Connecticut Opera, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Sarasota Opera. A personal highlight of his career was playing the part of Jesus Christ in I Am the Way composed by Jerome Hines. He was chosen specifically as Mr. Hines's successor in this role.

Engendering a love of music in children and enhancing the singing abilities of young performers are at the center of Craig Hart's professional life. A native of Connecticut, where he lives with his family, Mr. Hart has consistently managed to devote time to mentoring young singers. From 2003 to 2010, he served as Adjunct Voice Instructor at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, and at Central Connecticut State University. He also was a Voice Instructor at the Masterworks Music Festival in Winona Lake, Indiana, in 2003-2004, and a Guest Voice Instructor at the Intermezzo Young Artist Program at the University of Hartford in 2003-2004. In addition, from 2008 to 2009, he juggled his career and the position of Director of Fine Arts at The Master's School in West Simsbury, Connecticut.

Mr. Hartt currently has openings for new students on Wednesdays at Hartt's Fuller Music Center on the University of Hartford's main campus at 200 Bloomfield Avenue in West Hartford, and on and Fridays at Hartt's Simsbury location. Interested students should contact Jill Burnham, Hartt Community Division Administrative Secretary, at jburnham@hartford.edu or 860.768.5772 to discuss placement.

The Hartt School Community Division of the University of Hartford is a comprehensive community arts school providing instruction in music and dance for individuals of all ages and experience levels. It is a division of The Hartt School, one of the seven colleges of the University of Hartford. The Community Division is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Community and Pre-College Art Schools, is an active member of National Guild of Community Arts Education, and is viewed as a national model for community schools based on university campuses. It is one of the largest and most evolved programs of its kind in the country. For more information on The Hartt School Community Division, visit www.hcd.hartford.edu.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive 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 a year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum. For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.