Colin Britt, originally from Maine, graduated from the Hartt School in 2007 with studies in Music Composition and Conducting. An accomplished pianist, he has worked as a staff accompanist at the Hartt School, the Connecticut Children's Chorus, and for several public school choirs in the Hartford area. He sings and is the assistant music director at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, has sung with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and frequently performs with Concora (Connecticut Choral Artists).
At Hartt, he studied composition with David Macbride, Ken Steen, and Larry Alan Smith, and orchestration with Steven Gryc. He studied piano with Margreet Francis, took voice lessons with Wayne Rivera, and was a private conducting student with Edward Bolkovac. Prior to entering college, he studied piano for many years with Brian Franck in Auburn, Maine.
His compositions have been performed by several ensembles at Hartt, including the Hartt Chamber Singers, members of 20/20 (Hartt's select chamber music ensemble), the Contemporary Players, the Hartt Chorale, and the Hartt Tour Choir, which performed his choral composition "Afternoon on a Hill" in four European countries in 2006. "Afternoon on a Hill" was also the winner of the Pequannock Township High School Select Choir Composition Contest in May, 2007. In April, 2008, the Greater Middletown Chorale premiered his arrangement of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in Europe. In the upcoming 2008-2009 season, Colin will be the composer-in-residence for the New Haven Chorale, under the direction of Edward Bolkovac.
As a conductor, Colin has the opportunity to conduct many premieres of his works at Hartt. From 2005-2007, he was the assistant conductor and accompanist for the Choral Club of Hartford, and the musical director for the University of Hartford's a cappella group L'shir. In 2007, he conducted the Maine District II Honors Festival Middle School Orchestra.
Colin has also been active in musical theatre for most of his life. He has performed in several high school and community theatre productions, and directed the music for productions of "Sweeney Todd," "Peter Pan," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Joseph and the Amazing..." "The Scarlet Pimpernel," and a full concert performance of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." He was the vocal director for the West Hartford Summer Arts Festival's production of "Kiss Me Kate" in the summer of 2007. Most recently, he was the assistant conductor for the Hartt Undergraduate Opera, "Orpheus in the Underworld."
Beginning in Fall 2008, Colin will be pursuing a Master's degree in Choral Conducting at Yale University.