Hamden Hall Is Home To Choral Director Of The Year

Music teacher Matt Harrison was named the 2018 Choral Director of the Year by the American Choral Directors Association for his “significant contributions” to the Connecticut choral scene.

The American Choral Directors Association has been the preeminent association for choral conductors throughout the United States for more than 50 years. Mr. Harrison’s recognition stems from the Connecticut chapter of the association.

At Hamden Hall, the designation comes as no surprise as Mr. Harrison, who teaches Middle and Upper School music, has continually brought state and national attention to the school’s choral program. For the past two school years, Hamden Hall has had 29 students earn a spot in the Connecticut Music Educators Association's Southern Regional Honor Choir. The 2017-2018 was also the third consecutive year that the school earned the most choral seats out of 40 schools in the southern region.

“I am honored to be recognized as 2018 has been a significant year for the Hamden Hall vocal program,” said Mr. Harrison. Major highlights of the year were the performance of the Mozart Requiem and having two contemporary a cappella recordings mastered by Pentatonix engineer, Bill Hare.”

In addition, Mr. Harrison conducted the Northern Region Middle School Treble Choir in spring 2017 and he was asked to conduct Ledyard's All-City choir in 2019. During the summer of 2018, he was the Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park – the first-ever vocal music artist in the 100-plus years the program has been in existence.