Performances
Performances are central to Hartt's curriculum. Each year, Hartt showcases dozens of performing organizations and produces more than 400 instrumental and vocal performances, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions.
Hartt's students often collaborate across disciplines to present fully-staged opera and musical productions, dance concerts, recitals, and other original works. Faculty and students also perform together frequently.
The 2023-2024 season highlights are below!
2023-24 Season Highlights
Here at The Hartt School, your passion becomes a profession. A pivotal componant of this is in the art of the performance. With hundreds of performances every year across many disciplines, one's craft is perfected by doing. Current season highlights include fully produced operas, musical theatre productions, music ensembles featuring renowned faculty, and dance performances.
The Halloween Concert with the Hartt Orchestra and Hartt Wind Ensemble
October 28, 7:30 p.m.
Millard Auditorium
Free and open to the public, as Hartt's Halloween treat for families and all in the Greater Hartford community.
Hartt Opera Theater Presents: The Marriage of Figaro
February 8–11, 2023
Millard Audortium
Mozart's comic opera in four parts. A classic!
Collage Concert
Lincoln Theater
Hartt's annual Collage Concert features continuous music, dance, and theatre. As Hartt's gift to the community, this concert is free, but reservations are required. You can watch a recording of last season's performance here.
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series: Javier Colon
November 16, 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln Theater
The internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter – and Hartt School alum – who first came to national attention by winning First Prize on NBC’s “The Voice.”
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series: The Juilliard String Quartet
March 21, 7:30 p.m.
Millard Auditorium
One of chamber music’s most iconic and beloved ensembles, now celebrating its 73rd season.
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series: Rhythm & Brass
April 11, 7:30 p.m.
Millard Auditorium
America’s brass super-group, a sextet featuring some of the country’s foremost players and educators.
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series: Melissa White
May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Millard Auditorium
Praised for her versatility as well as her virtuosity, the New York-based violinist performs around the world as a recitalist, concerto soloist and founding member of the Harlem String Quartet. This recital is supported in collaboration with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.
Hartt Dances: Fall Dance Concerts
November 14–17, 7:30 p.m.
Millard Auditorium
Hartt Dances features choreographic masterworks of classical ballet and modern choreographers alongside the innovative works of contemporary dancemakers, all performed by the dancers of the Hartt School's Dance Division.
Hartt Dances: Spring Dance Concerts
April 11–13, 7:30 p.m.
April 14, 2 p.m.
Lincoln Theater
Hartt Dances features choreographic masterworks of classical ballet and modern choreographers alongside the innovative works of contemporary dancemakers, all performed by the dancers of the Hartt School's Dance Division.
Trojan Women
Millard Auditorium
Director: Jonathon Dewberry
A play by the great Athenian dramatist Euripides, depicting the aftermath of the Trojan War. The play (a tragedy) depicts women struggling with powerful and irrational patriarchal forces. This performance is adapted by Jonathon Dewberry and Kevin Ramsey.
Footloose
Lincoln Theater
Director/Choreographer: Ralph Perkins
A musical based on the movie of the same name, which centers around a city teenager who moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned. As he struggles to fit in, his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Mr. Burns a Post-Electric Play
Kent McCray Theater
Director: Brian Jennings
Written by Anne Washburn, this imaginative dark comedy is an animated exploration of how the pop culture of one era might evolve into the mythology of another.
Violet
Kent McCray Theater
Director: Rob Ruggiero; Music Director: Robert Tomasulo
Violet is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and libretto by Brian Crawley based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts. Violet tells the story of a young woman's quest for beauty amidst the image-obsessed landscape of the 1960s.
Sister Act
Feburary 29–March 3
Millard Auditorium
Director: Janelle Robinson; Music Director: David Kidwell; Choreographer: Jane Krantz
Sister Act is a musical based on the hit 1992 film of the same name with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, and additional material by Douglas Carter Beane.
Dance Nation
April 4–7
Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater
Director: Jill Giles; Movement Director: Katie Stevenson
A play by Clare Barron. A refreshingly unorthodox play that conveys the joy and abandon of dancing, while addressing the changes to body and mind of its preteen characters as they peer over the precipice toward adulthood.
My Fair Lady
April 25–28
Kent McCray Theater
Director: Michael Fling; Music Director: Phil Rittner; Choreographer: Ralph Perkins
My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewebased. It is based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
May 2–5
Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater
Director: Robert H. Davis
Shakespeare's comedy play, staging the workings of love. The play consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers..."the course of true love never did run smooth."
Past Season Highlights
Below you can get a snapshot of our previous season highlights.
Hartt Opera Theater Presents: Street Scene
Millard Auditorium
Written by Kurt Weill, and set in sweltering 1940s New York, the plot centers around the various residents of a single tenement building, and takes place over just 24 hours.
Collage Concert
Lincoln Theater
Hartt's annual Collage Concert features continuous music, dance, and theatre. As Hartt's gift to the community, this concert is free, but reservations are required. You can watch a recording of the performance here.
Hartt Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band
Lincoln Theater
End of Year Concerts
Hartt Orchestra
Lincoln Theater
Greater Hartt Youth Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band
Lincoln Theater
Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz: Ensembles Concert
Millard Auditorium
Jazz Ensemble concerts feature student ensembles committed to the styles and teachings of the Jackie McLean Institute Jazz offering selections of bebop, swing, hard bop, and much more. Come out and support these amazing students!
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series: Bang on a Can All-Stars
Lincoln Theater
A celebration of the life and work of bassist Robert Black, a founding member of the All-Stars, who is retiring from his Hartt faculty position after 29 years. Also featured will be legendary Bang founders David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon.
The Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series: Aizuri Quartet
Millard Auditorium
All-female New York-based string quartet which has established itself as one of the most enterprising and versatile chamber ensembles of our time
Hartt Dances: Spring Dance Concerts
Lincoln Theater
Hartt Dances features choreographic masterworks of classical ballet and modern choreographers alongside the innovative works of contemporary dancemakers, all performed by the dancers of the Hartt School's Dance Division.
Pippin
Millard Theater
Director: Michael O'Flaherty; Music Director: David Kidwell; Choreographer: Taylor Zappone
Pippin becomes a soldier for his father's army, but is upset by the killing and murders his father to stop the war. Now King, he is even more lost and unsure about what he wants in life and turns away from everything, including love, before discovering that what he has been searching for has been there all along.
The Wolves
Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater
Director: Jill Giles
The Wolves is a play by Sarah DeLappe. It premiered Off-Broadway in in September 2016 and received the American Playwriting Foundation's inaugural Relentless Award, a New York Times Critic's Pick, and was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The Wolves centers on the experiences of high school girls through their weekly Saturday morning pre-game soccer warmups. The young women sometimes continue their gossip from the previous week, bringing up new developments or related topics and conversations that are often inappropriate and cause conflict amongst the teammates.
Godspell
Kent McCray Theater
Director: Joni Weisfeld; Music Director: TBD; Choreographer: Savana Jones
Based primarily on the Book of Matthew, Godspell focuses on strangers, all from different walks of life, coming together to tell the lessons and parables of Jesus Christ through, by the end of the show, the strangers learn to carry Jesus’ message of kindness, tolerance, and love.
Much Ado About Nothing
Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater
Director: Robert Davis
One of Shakespeare’s most frequently performed comedies, Much Ado About Nothing includes two quite different stories of romantic love.
Hartt Collage 2023
The annual Hattt Collage Concert is a performance that celebrates the magnificent talent of students of The Hartt School, past and present, in one continuous stream of music, dance, and theatre. A free event, the Hartt Collage provides the community a unique opportunity to experience the full range of performing arts disciplines.