America to Australia
Music and Art Series
Center Church
Hartford
October 19, 2026
When I think of classical music, I don’t usually think about the Land Down Under. That changed last Sunday, when the Hartt School of Music’s Guitar and Harp Department presented America to Australia, a concert featuring music composed by some of America and Australia’s most talented musicians.
The featured instrument of the concert was the guitar, although several pieces also included accompaniment from instruments like the flute and the piano.
Department Chair Christopher Ladd introduced the program by recounting his own experiences working with Australian composers in the past. He said he hoped to introduce more people to the music they’ve created. The day was also a showcase for the talented students at the University of Hartford and for the guitar itself, which managed to produce quite surprising sounds and styles despite the instrument’s ubiquity. Sunday’s concert was a showcase for the versatility of the instrument.
Brian Johanson is an American composer who brings out the whimsical sound of the guitar with his piece Fish Magic from his six-part series of flute/guitar duets called Painted Music. Inspired by the German artist Paul Klee’s artwork, Johanson wrote songs based on his paintings, including the namesake for the song flutist Jillian Powles and guitarist Cristina Agostino performed.
The two performers were in sync with each other,with Agostino’s light touch providing delicate accompaniment for Powles’ lively flute. Guitar is so often used in the lead but Agostino showed that it’s distinct sound, which allows for fine gradations in terms of pitch and volume. It was as if the guitar was coming through the sound of the flute instead of around or under it.
One of the most interesting pieces of the day was selections from A Masque for Lady Nothing by Australian composer Phillip Houghton. Ladd mentioned that he had worked with Houghton 20 years prior; that experience ultimately germinated into the concert. Students Peter Fiegel, Michael LeBlanc and Ben Melchor performed three of the seven movements from Houghton’s suite.
If I’d never thought of the guitar as an accompaniment instrument before, I certainly never considered it as an ensemble instrument. Of course guitars exist in ensembles, but often as the lead, not in the way a baritone or xylophone figures into group structures.
Again, the Hartt School’s finest showed the guitar is capable of far more than the screaming lead. The multitude of sounds the three produced, by plucking, strumming, and even striking the guitar, created a layered song that was surprisingly intimate.
The 2026-2027 Music and Art Series at Center Church introduced audiences to talented musicians both near and far, thanks to the vision of the leaders at the Hartt school and the skills of the students. I’m looking forward to the next concert.
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Jamil returns to the Old State House for the start of the winter session of Audio Feed.
