Music Composition
Music Composition offers degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as a minor. The program provides students the guidance they need to express their individuality through their music.
About the Major
You will join a tight-knit community of artists who are perfecting their craft. Through personal attention and mentorship from Hartt’s accomplished faculty members, you will develop innovative ideas and career ready skills. Learn about the cello program at Hartt, including undergraduate and graduate admission and audition requirements and faculty information.
Admission and Audition Requirements
Please see specific instrument audition requirements by degree below. Learn more about the undergraduate or graduate application process, in-person audition dates, and deadlines.
Bachelor of Music
- One movement of a cello suite by J.S. Bach
- One movement of a concerto
- One étude
It is strongly recommended that at least one selection be performed from memory.
Please note: We have students who come to Hartt from across the United States and around the world. That is one of the things that makes a Hartt education so special. Some students are accepted and arrive having had extensive private study on their instruments. Others have had less experience (and perhaps less conventional training), but their natural abilities and great love of music allow them to make remarkable strides in a short period of time because of the expertise of our faculty.
Our requirements are sometimes quite specific to give applicants a sense of where they should be to enter a high-level conservatory environment. However, we encourage applicants to reach out to our faculty members to discuss audition repertoire. It may be that what you have prepared will suffice. Our primary goal is to identify potential, and if we feel that the potential is there, it is then our responsibility to provide each and every student with the tools to be successful.
If you would like to be in touch with a member of the faculty to discuss your audition repertoire, please write to harttadm@hartford.edu.
Master of Music & Graduate Professional Diploma
Note: All MM or GPD string applicants must audition with piano accompaniment for at least one work. If you require an accompanist for your audition, you may bring your own or request a Hartt accompanist. There is a $50 fee for a Hartt accompanist, which includes the audition and one 30-minute rehearsal (on the day of the audition). If you require an accompanist, you must notify Hartt Admissions at harttadm@hartford.edu at least three (3) weeks prior to your audition. Be sure to include your name, contact information, degree program, instrument, warm-up and audition times, and repertoire that requires accompaniment.
- Two movements from a Bach Suite (memorized)
- Two movements from a standard concerto from the Classical, Romantic, or 20th-century repertoire (memorized)
- One work, or movement of a larger work, composed after 1945
Doctor of Musical Arts & Artist Diploma
All DMA and AD performance applicants must submit with their completed application a preliminary recording electronically, (via YouTube, Dropbox etc.), on or before the application deadline. All recordings must contain music of contrasting styles and periods within a time frame of 20 to 30 minutes maximum. Confirmation of your audition date will follow a positive review of the preliminary audition recording.
Audition Requirements
All DMA and AD candidates must audition with piano accompaniment where appropriate. If you require an accompanist for your audition, you may bring your own or request a Hartt accompanist. There is a $50 fee for a Hartt accompanist, which includes the audition and one 30-minute rehearsal (on the day of the audition). If you require an accompanist, you must notify Hartt Admissions at least three (3) weeks prior to your audition. Be sure to include your name, contact information, degree program, instrument, warm-up and audition times, and repertoire that requires accompaniment.
- Three movements of a Bach Suite (memorized)
- Two movements of a standard concerto (memorized)
- Two movements of a sonata
- One work, or movement of a larger work, composed after 1945
5-year BM/MM degree in Instrumental Performance with a Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis
The Hartt School is excited to be the first institution in the US/Canada to offer a 5-year combined Suzuki degree program. The 5-year BM/MM degree in Instrumental Performance with a Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis offers a comprehensive pedagogical curriculum with one of the premiere Suzuki programs in the nation. With three Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) registered teacher trainers on The Hartt School faculty, degree candidates have the opportunity to observe this long-standing program in action and experience various practicum opportunities between the Community Division and college. The current degree program is open to violinists, violists and cellists, providing violin and cello Suzuki training with violists having the option of pursuing violin training. Violists will meet Performance requirements on viola and Suzuki Pedagogy requirements on violin.
Graduates will be more marketable, and will further Suzuki education across the country, meeting the growing demand of parents desiring Suzuki instruction for their children.
MM performance degree with a Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis
The MM degree in Instrumental Performance with a Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis offers a comprehensive pedagogical curriculum with one of the premiere Suzuki programs in the nation. With three Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) registered teacher trainers on The Hartt School faculty, degree candidates have the opportunity to observe this long-standing program in action and experience various practicum opportunities between the Community Division and college. The current degree program is open to violinists, violists and cellists, providing violin and cello Suzuki training with violists having the option of pursuing violin training. Violists will meet Performance requirements on viola and Suzuki Pedagogy requirements on violin.
Graduates will be more marketable, and will further Suzuki education across the country, meeting the growing demand of parents desiring Suzuki instruction for their children.
Our Faculty
Traditional Cello; Associate Professor of Cello
Mihai Tetel has appeared as soloist with the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony, Muncie Symphony, Hartt Philharmonia, Sao Paulo Symphony (Brazil), Thessaloniki Symphony (Greece), and the Odeion Wind Ensemble (Holland), collaborating with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Andrew Davis, Christopher Zimmerman, Edward Cumming, and Boris Brott. As a recitalist, he has performed in Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Japan, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States.
Suzuki Violin Faculty; Music Skills Specialist in Suzuki Pedagogy
Teri Einfeldt is the Chair of the Suzuki Department at The Hartt School Community Division, where she maintains a studio of students from ages 4 to 18. In her role as adjunct professor at The Hartt School, she instructs Master of Music candidates in Suzuki pedagogy. For more than twenty years, Einfeldt has been shaping these components into a program which is now considered a national model for teaching the Suzuki method within a university setting. In an effort to provide year-round opportunities in the greater Hartford area, in 1988 Einfeldt founded the Hartt Suzuki Institute, a weeklong summer workshop for children as well as teachers.
Suzuki Violin Faculty; HCD Director of Teaching and Learning; Music Skills Specialist in Suzuki Pedagogy
Christie Felsing is Director of Teaching and Learning at the University of Hartford’s Hartt Community Division where she teaches violin in the Hartt Suzuki Program and leads the Suzuki graduate pedagogy courses. She has been active in the Suzuki Association of the Americas as a registered teacher trainer for many years, served on the SAA Board of Directors from 2004 to 2009, coordinated the 2010 SAA conference, worked as a staff member from 2014 to 2016, and served as a consultant for teacher development.
Suzuki Cello Faculty; Coordinator: Suzuki Cello
A respected teacher, Blake Brasch received a Certificate of Achievement from the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) in 2009 and became registered teacher trainer in 2010. He is a frequent clinician at Suzuki institutes and workshops throughout the US and Canada and has presented at several SAA conferences. His students have been selected to participate in master classes and orchestras at the SAA conference in Minn.; to be principal players in area high schools, the Midwest Young Artists Orchestra, and the Illinois Music Educators State High School Orchestra; and are prize-winners in Society of American Musicians competition. His students that have chosen to pursue a career in music have been admitted to Northwestern University, the Eastman School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Stanford University, University of Illinois, Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, Yale University, and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Take the Next Step
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