The Hartt School to Honor Phillip Boykin with 2015 Alumni Award, 5/17

A native of Greenville, SC, Boykin studied with the late Fredrick Moses receiving his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Since his years at Hartt, Boykin has become an international professional performer, teacher, and recording artist.

In 2012, he was nominated for a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his work in Porgy and Bess on Broadway. That same year he went on to win a Theatre World Award as well as the International Reviewers of New England Award.

Boykin made his Carnegie Hall debut in the Broadway Classics in 2013; presently he is featured in Leonard Bernstein, Betty Camden, & Adolph Green's Broadway Revival of On The Town at the Lyric Theatre.

Boykin said, "At a young age my mother, the late Alice Ruth Boykin, taught me the power of faith. If I could dream and believe in those dreams, than one day they would come true. Many years later those things I dreamed of have come true and as they come into fruition every day, I'm very careful to be grateful, not let the troubles we all face stop me, and to continue to make even bigger dreams. Out of the 10 children in my family I am the only one who dreamed big enough to get a High School Diploma and the only one who went on to College. The Hartt School is a dream come true for me and to be not only a proud graduate but also to receive the Hartt Alumni of the Year Award, reconfirms my faith in my dreams. I don't know where I would be had it not been for Uncle Moshe, Fredrick Moses, Dr. Larry Alan Smith the faculty, staff, students and my friends at The Hartt School. I'm humbled and very honored."

In addition to performing, Boykin is also the Director and Manager of the NYGOSPEL BROTHERS. Please visit www.phillipboykin.com for more information about Phillip Boykin.

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.

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