University of Hartford Approves Accelerated College Opportunity

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.— The University of Hartford’s Hartt Preparatory Academy (HPA) is an innovative new program launched by The Hartt School Community Division (HCD) that allows high school students to start collegiate-level music study in their junior year of high school. Applications for enrollment in fall 2018 are now being accepted. To learn more, visit hartford.edu/harttprep.

Students fulfill rigorous academic and musical requirements that prepare them for an accelerated college music experience. The program, directed by Jessica Rudman, PhD, allows students to complete the first-year curriculum at the University of Hartford’s The Hartt School during their junior and senior years of high school. The HPA program includes music theory, ear training, keyboard skills, advanced ensemble, private instruction, performances, and lower division general education courses.

In their senior year, HPA students may audition and apply for entrance to University of Hartford and The Hartt School. Students accepted in the HPA can complete select undergraduate music degrees in three years or a significantly reduced period of study. These degree programs include:

• Bachelor of Music, Performance—Orchestral Instruments, Voice, Piano, Guitar
• Bachelor of Music, Composition
• Bachelor of Music, Theory
• Bachelor of Music, Music Education—Instrumental
• Bachelor of Music, Music Education—Vocal
• Bachelor of Music, History—Performance Practice Emphasis
• Bachelor of Music, History—Scholarship and Research Emphasis
• Bachelor of Arts in Music

For participants who are admitted to The Hartt School as college students, HPA’s annual tuition of $5,000 offers a significant savings compared to the typical cost of a student’s first year at the University.
“The Hartt Preparatory Academy is a unique opportunity for students interested in pursuing collegiate music study,” says Rudman, who is also creative studies chair at HCD and a composer. “It provides them with a strong head start on their coursework and lays the foundation for success in college and beyond. Moreover, HPA is a tight-knit, supportive community where students and faculty are brought together by their love of music.”

About The Hartt School Community Division (HCD)
At locations in West Hartford, Hartford, and Simsbury, Conn., The Hartt School Community Division serves over 2,800 students of all ages and backgrounds. As the community arm of the University of Hartford’s Hartt School, the mission of HCD is to enrich lives through innovative and unparalleled performing arts education. For more information on The Hartt School Community Division, visit hartford.edu/hcd.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford. Hartt offers innovative and immersive degree programs in music, dance, and theatre, as well as the opportunity to pursue a minor or a secondary major. Our renowned faculty perform, create, and teach around the world, returning to campus to inspire and mentor our students in their pursuit of excellence. With more than 400 performances, recitals, and master classes in instrumental, jazz and vocal performance, theatre, dance, and music theatre each year, we are the largest and most diverse producer of performing arts events in the state of Connecticut. For more information on The Hartt School, visit hartford.edu/hartt.

Pictured: Students from the inaugural class of HPA work with piano faculty member Greg Babal. Photo: Peter Jones-Torregrosa