Hartt School Welcomes Jennifer Higdon As Unclaimed Property Composer-in-Residence

The Hartt School of the University of Hartford is pleased to welcome Pulitzer and Grammy winning composer Jennifer Higdon as its 2010 "Unclaimed Property" Composer-in-Residence this December. Higdon, one of the most performed American composers living today, will work with both composition and instrumental students during her residency. Higdon's work has been commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Chicago Symphony, to name a few. She received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Violin Concerto, recorded by Hilary Hahn and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and in January 2010 she received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto, performed by Colin Currie and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Higdon also has received awards from The Guggenheim Foundation, The American Academy of Arts, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and ASCAP.

Higdon's work will be featured during the 2010 "Unclaimed Property" Composer-In-Residence Concert Series on Friday, December 10, and Saturday, December 11, and she will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Hartford during a special ceremony as part of the Hartt Wind Ensemble concert on Friday, December 10.

Hartt Wind Ensemble
Friday, December 10 at 7:30 PM
Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford
Admission: $20 with discounts for seniors, students, and groups
In her honor, the Wind Ensemble premiers Higdon's latest work, Road Stories. This concert also features Hartt violin professor Anton Miller performing Kurt Weill's Violin Concerto and Hartt cello professor Mihai Tetel playing the Concertino for Cello and Wind Orchestra by Jaques Ibert. Jennifer Higdon will be honored by the University of Hartford with an honorary doctoral degree during a special ceremony as part of this event.

Hartt Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, December 11 at 2:30 PM
Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford
Admission: As Hartt's gift to the community this concert is FREE!
Maestro Edward Cumming leads the orchestra in an array of orchestral masterpieces, including Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral. The program also includes Rossini's Barber of Seville Overture (Joseph Hodge, conductor), Wagner's Rienzi Overture, and Beethoven's Symphony no. 5. With such notable works on the program, according to Cumming, "What's not to like?"

Hartt Symphony Band
Saturday, December 11, 7:30 PM
Millard Auditorium, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford
Admission: $20 with discounts for seniors, students, and groups
Under the direction of Matthew Aubin, the Hartt Symphony Band features works by two 20th Century masters. In Celebration of the composer's 100th Anniversary, Commando March by Samuel Barber opens the program. Other pieces include a 2007 transcription of Aaron Copland's Promise of Living from The Tender Land and works by Jennifer Higdon.

Glen Adsit, Associate Director of Instrumental Studies and Director of Bands at Hartt, is "thrilled to bring Higdon to campus to share her extraordinary talent and musicianship with our students, faculty and community. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity."

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 90 years ago, 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 marks 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.

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