Hartt Professor Receives Top National Award for Achievement in Composition

The American Academy of Arts and Letters (AAAL) announced this month that Robert Carl, Chair of Composition at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, is one of four composers to be awarded the Arts and Letters Award in Music. The award honors outstanding artistic achievement by a composer who has arrived at his or her own voice, and is accompanied by a $10,000 prize, as well as an additional prize in the same amount allocated towards the recording of one work.

"I am of course excited to receive a Music Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters," said Carl. "It's something of a 'lifetime achievement award' though I hope I've still got some life after it! It means a lot to have peer approval at such a high level, for which I'm honored."

The Arts and Letters Award in Music is one of the most significant awards presented annually to American composers. The award is unique in that a candidate is considered by nomination only, and reviewed by a panel of some of the most accomplished artists within the specific discipline.

"Robert has for a long time been a prolific composer and a wonderful teacher at The Hartt School," said Hartt Interim Dean T. Clark Saunders. "Recognized widely, his compositions have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. Robert is truly deserving of this recognition and our school is quite fortunate to have him on its faculty."

"My years at The Hartt School have been absolutely essential to anything I may have accomplished professionally, said Carl. "My colleagues are of the highest caliber and a constant competitive challenge, in the best way. The students are smart, curious, and force you to know what you're talking about! I've been in its environment over 30 years now, and I'm still stimulated and warmed by its community."

Carl will be presented his award, along with sixteen other award recipients in various categories, at the AAAL Annual Ceremonial in May.

The music of Robert Carl is performed regularly in New York, throughout the U.S., and abroad. His compositions concentrate on solo piano, chamber, orchestral, choral, and electroacoustic music, and aims to create a sense of space that provides the listener with a sense of freedom and openness. He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1998 Charles Ives Fellowship). Residencies include MacDowell, Yaddo, UCross, Djerassi, Millay, Bogliasco, Carmargo, and Bellagio. He lived in Japan for three months as an Asian Cultural Council Fellow in 2007. He is the author of Terry Riley's In C (Oxford University Press). He is currently chair of composition at The Hartt School, University of Hartford.