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UNH Partnering With New Haven Symphony Orchestra
Master Classes and Contemporary American Composers Series
Among Many Facets of New Collaboration
Agreement signing Mon. Sept. 17, 4:30 p.m. at UNH
Celebration concert featuring award-winning pianist Spencer Myer,
Tues., Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m. at UNH
West Haven, Conn., September 14, 2007—The University of New Haven (UNH) and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) will sign an agreement of collaboration at 4:30 p.m. on Mon. Sept., 17 during the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s first Board of Directors meeting on the UNH campus.
Foremost in the collaboration is an agreement to house the administrative offices of the NHSO on the UNH campus for two academic years beginning in late September. In addition, NHSO Music Director William Boughton and Symphony members will work with the UNH Music Department to develop a campus concert series featuring contemporary American composers; teach "master" classes on selected topics; provide student internships; and find other opportunities for collaboration.
The agreement developed over the summer after the New Haven Symphony Orchestra executive director Natalie Forbes approached UNH President Steven Kaplan about relocating their administrative offices to the UNH campus. “My wife and I have taken over one hundred students to NHSO concerts. This partnership is a natural ‘next step’ in providing the campus with access to world-class talent through performances and classroom instruction.” Kaplan says. Most recently, undergraduate student Marquis Bell completed a Presidential Service Fellowship with the NHSO and Jim Wright, the NHSO director of development, serves on the University of New Haven College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board.
UNH Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Ron Nowaczyk noted that after only two meetings of UNH and NHSO staff and faculty, it was clear that a partnership would benefit both organizations. “There are opportunities for our music program and students to benefit from the expertise and experience of the NHSO and its Music Director, William Boughton,” he says, “and, the NHSO will be located on a vibrant and stimulating campus where staff and musicians from the NHSO can interact with UNH students and faculty. He adds that the College of Arts and Sciences and NHSO plan to work collaboratively to create programs that will benefit the campus and the local community including the local schools.
In celebration of the UNH/NHSO collaboration, the University will host an Arts@Night recital featuring award-winning pianist Spencer Myer, at 6:30 p.m. on Tues., Sept. 18, in the Alumni Lounge of Bartels Hall, University of New Haven. The recital will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Wild.
Myer has performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra.. As a recitalist, he has appeared in New York at Weill Recital Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and Steinway Hall, among others, and his performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago).
A leader in experiential learning, the University of New Haven provides its students with a unique combination of solid liberal arts and real-world, hands-on professional training. A private University founded in 1920, UNH has a full-time undergraduate enrollment of more than 2,400 students—with 70 percent residing on its 80-acre main campus—and a graduate school enrollment that exceeds 1,700. The University offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and more than 25 graduate degrees through its four colleges, in fields such as sports management, nutrition, forensic science, music and sound recording, engineering, computer science, fire science and criminal justice. University of New Haven students study abroad through a variety of distinctive programs.
Founded in 1894, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra is the fourth-oldest symphony orchestra in America, after the New York Philharmonic (1842), the Boston Symphony (1881) and the Chicago Symphony (1891). Since its inception, the NHSO has performed regularly in New Haven, most of that time in Yale’s historic Woolsey Hall. It has also toured throughout Connecticut and beyond (including performances at Carnegie Hall), has given numerous radio broadcasts, and world-premiere performances. In addition to presenting classical repertoire, the orchestra has a long tradition of performing pops concerts throughout the state.
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