The Hartt School Announces Upcoming Concerts and Events

The Hartt School has announced a listing of upcoming concerts and events.

AMIRI BARAKA & BLUE ARK-FEBRUARY 3

The Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz at The Hartt School, in collaboration with the Artists Collective and the Jackie McLean International Arts Festival, celebrates Black History Month with a lecture and concert with poet/playwright/activist Amiri Baraka and word-music ensemble Blue Ark. Visit www.amiribaraka. com for more information.

Free Lecture: 3:00 PM, Room 342, Fuller Music Center, The Hartt School. Concert: 7:30 PM, Artists Collective, 1200 Albany Ave & Jackie McLean Way, Hartford, General Admission is $15 and students are $10 with ID.

THE TENDER LAND- FEBRUARY 4 THROUGH 7

Hartt's Vocal Studies Division presents its annual main stage opera, Aaron Copland's The Tender Land, composed in 1953 on a commission from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Concerning a girl transformed into a young woman by her first experience of love, The Tender Land is set in the American Midwest during the 1930s. With melodic, easygoing music in the folkish vein, and with spoken dialogue in the style of the musical stage, the score has come to be regarded as one of Copland's finest, as he himself believed it to be. This main stage opera performance will be accompanied by the Hartt Symphony Orchestra.

AN EVENING OF CONCERTO WINNERS- FEBRUARY 5

This wonderful event will feature some of the finest classical instrumental soloists in The Hartt School. This concert showcases four concerto competition winners from the 2009-2010 season, backed up by the Hartt Wind Ensemble led by Glen Adsit, and Hartt Symphony Orchestra, lead by special guest conductor Edward Cumming, Music Director of The Hartford Symphony Orchestra. This concert is not to be missed! Concerto winners featured include Joe D'aleo, saxophone; The West End Brass Quintet; Sam Martin, violin; and Stuart Breczinski, oboe.

David FinckEL AND WU HAN (pictured) FEBRUARY 11

David Finckel, internationally celebrated cellist of the Emerson String Quartet, and Wu Han, one of today's most admired collaborative pianists (and a former Hartt graduate student), will spend the afternoon and evening of February 11 at The Hartt School. Their artistic endeavors extend beyond performing: David Finckel and Wu Han also are co-artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. For more information about Finckel and Han, visit www.davidfinc kelandwuhan.com.

David Finckel will present a MASTER CLASS for advanced cellists from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Millard Auditorium at The Hartt School. All observers are welcome, and there is no charge.

Finckel and Han will offer an OPEN Q&A session concerning the current state of the music business, handling one's career, their own varied music entrepreneurial activities, and other topics of interest to the audience. This session will take place from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM in Millard Auditorium. All are welcome, and there is no charge. All Hartt music students with the hour free should plan to attend.

David Finckel and Wu Han also will perform in concert as part of the Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series beginning at 7:30 PM in Millard Auditorium. Their program will include music of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff. Tickets are $30, with discounts available.

Community Division

Practice-A-Thon for Haiti All proceeds will go to the Oxfam Haiti Earthquake Response Fund

As you are aware, a devastating earthquake struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti in the late afternoon of Tuesday, January 12th. The earthquake, measured at a magnitude of 7.0 has done irreparable damage to Haiti, specifically to its capital city Port-au- Prince. A large majority of country's infrastructure is completely destroyed, including homes, hospitals, schools, the Haitian United Nations headquarters and more. The death count is currently at 200,000 and is quickly rising. Aftershocks continue to plague the country, continuing the cycle of destruction and death.

From Monday, February 1 through Wednesday February 10, The Hartt School Collegiate and Community Divisions are holding a Practice-a-thon. Each student will find sponsors willing to pledge a small amount of money for each minute practiced. The Practice-a-thon works just like a walk-a-thon, except rather than keeping track of the miles you walk, you keep track of the minutes you practice. All you need to do is find people (such as family, friends, and neighbors) to pledge a small amount of money for each minute you practice between February 1 and February 10. Simple pledges of two cents or five cents a minute will go a long way. The University of Hartford and the Center for Community Service encourage you to participate.

All proceeds are going to the Oxfam Haiti Earthquake Response Fund.

For more information on the events mentioned above, visit http://harttweb.hartford.edu/events/default.aspx

The Hartt School is located at 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT.

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