Ignite Master Artist Series

IGNITE MASTER ARTIST SERIES

Harding Fine Arts Academy is not only committed to educating students, but we also want to provide a place of education and entertainment for the benefit of the surrounding community. The Ignite Master Artist Series actively advances the arts by providing exceptional programming, cultivating rich and transformative educational opportunities for our students, and inspiring our audiences. This year we offered a new year-long series, Evolution of the Movie Musical, and by popular demand, An Evening with The Ezra Duo.

The Academy is excited to offer the Ignite Master Artist Series this comingyear with four exciting, brand-new programs! Watch your inbox forinformation. You can sign-up for emails at www.hfaafoundation.org.

EVOLUTION OF THE MOVIE MUSICAL

Elizabeth Anthony, President of Reel Classics, gives a presentation prior to a film screening

We worked with classic film historian and president of Reel Classics, ElizabethAnthony, to offer a series of six classic screenings free to the community.

Singing and dancing are enduring forms of human entertainment, so it should come as no surprise that as soon as technology allowed synchronized sound to be added to moving pictures, movie musicals became a staple of the American movie-going diet. As the art of filmmaking progressed, the movie musical evolved with it, reflecting changing tastes and styles of music and movement.

AN EVENING WITH THE EZRA DUO

Sasha Bult-Ito (left) leading a piano master class with a student

In April, we hosted The Ezra Duo, from Ontario Canada. Formed at The Glenn Gould School in 2016, The Ezra Duo, featuring violist Jacob Clewell and pianist Sasha Bult-Ito, quickly established itself as a performing ensemble of the highest caliber. Ezra has gone on to perform coast to coast in Canada, in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York, and Toronto’s Koerner Hall. In April 2018, Ezra appeared as guests at a G7 Summit event held at the Royal Ontario Museum. The duo are first prize winners of numerous international competitions, earning invitations to perform in New York, Vienna, and Sarajevo. Currently, Ezra is ensemble-inresidence at the Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival and Institute, where Sasha and Jacob are co-Artistic Directors.

While at Harding Fine Arts Academy they led several workshops and masterclasses for our students, and performed and spoke at a student assembly for the entire student body. Friday evening, we hosted a free community concert where Ezra performed relatable works by today’s contemporary composers.

“We were so pleased to have The Ezra Duo here again,” said Emma Potter, Fine Arts Department Chair. “Jacob and Sasha’s knowledge and mastery in their trade is invaluable, and we are so grateful for the opportunity they provided Harding’s students.”