December Happenings at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra

Join the HSO for our two December performances as we continue our Masterworks season with Breaking Beethoven, December 2-4, and celebrate the holidays with Holiday Cirque! on December 10! Breaking Beethoven will feature HSO Music Director Carolyn Kuan and guest dance group BRKFAST Dance Company, while Holiday Cirque! includes the renowned Cirque de la Symphonie. Visit hartfordsymphony.org for tickets and information.   

The Minnesota based breakdance group BRKFST takes the Belding stage.  Founded in 2014, BRKFST is a collaborative ensemble that combines breaking movement with contemporary dance. You will be captivated by the group’s new choreography set to Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, and DBR’s eclectic Dancers, Dreamers, and Presidents - a piece that won the 2010 Sphinx commissioning prize. In addition, the orchestra performs Immerse, a piece composed by the Joyce C. Willis Artist in Residence, Quinn Mason.  

The 2022-2023 Masterworks Series is sponsored by the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation and the Elizabeth M. and Harriette M. Landon Foundation. Our 2022-2023 POPS! The 2022-2023 POPS! Season is sponsored by Raytheon Technologies and The Katharine K. McLane and Henry R. McLane Charitable Trust.  

Calendar Listing     
Masterworks Series     
Breaking Beethoven & Ravel   
Friday – Sunday December 2-4, 2022   
Belding Theater at The Bushnell     
Friday & Saturday 8pm│Sunday 3pm     
Tickets starting at $35; $10.00 for students with ID     
860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org     

Featuring      
Carolyn Kuan conductor     

BRKFAST Dance Company 

Beethoven Grosse Fuge, Op. 133   
DBR Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents  
Mason Immerse   
Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36 

Calendar Listing     
POPS! Series     
Holiday Ciruqe! & Ravel   
Saturday, December 10 | 2 & 7 PM   
Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell     
Tickets starting at $27; $10.00 for students with ID     
860-987-5900 or www.hartfordsymphony.org     

Featuring      
Carolyn Kuan conductor     

Cirque de la Symphonie 

There is no better way to celebrate the season than with the magical music of the holidays performed by the HSO, set to astonishing acrobatic feats by members of Cirque de la Symphonie. These amazing aerialists, contortionists, and gymnasts will tumble, soar, and dance on and above the stage, all while the HSO performs your festive favorites! 

The HSO endorses the optional wearing of face masks at all indoor performances and strongly encourages up to date vaccination whenever possible. To offer our guests an additional option, face masks are required to enter the Belding Theater for our Sunday matinee Masterworks concerts.   

While the Hartford Symphony Orchestra maintains its commitment to the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and encourages patrons to be up to date with their vaccinations based on their individual health requirements, patrons will not be required to present either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend events at The Bushnell.   

HSO programs are funded part by the Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and with support from the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.  

About BRKFAST Dance Company 

BRKFST Dance Company is a collaborative breaking choreographers based in St. Paul, Minnesota and founded in 2014. BRKFST performs regionally, premiering work at Walker Arts Center, The Southern Theater, The Cowles Center and Orchestra Hall with The Minnesota Orchestra. They completed their first international tour in 2022, performing in Dublin, Ireland for Dance2Connect (D2C) Hip Hop Festival. Their film “Dreamers” (2019) was deemed an official selection in 11 international film festivals receiving “Grand Jury Award” (In/Motion Festival 2021) and “Best Experimental Film” (Tirana International Film Festival 2020). BRKFST has set repertoire and original work on dancers at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Carleton College, D2C Festival (Ireland) and Bates Dance Festival (Maine). BRKFST Dance Company is a 2022 recipient of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) National Dance Project (NDP) Production Grant. 

Performers/Choreographers: Lisa ‘MonaLisa’ Berman, Joseph ‘MN Joe’ Tran, Renée Copeland, Travis ‘Seqal’ Johnson, Marie Thayer, Danielle Banovetz, Azaria ‘AZ’ Evans-Parham, Michael ‘Myke the Titan’ Romero 

Dramaturge: Emma Marlar & Gabriel Anderson 

Costume Design: Rhiannon Fiskradatz 

The creation and premiere of this new work by BRKFST Dance Company set to “Dancers, Dreamers and Presidents” by Daniel Bernard Roumain was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. 

About Cirque de la Symphonie 

Cirque de la Symphonie is a new production formed to bring the magic of cirque to the music hall. It is an exciting adaptation of artistic performances widely seen in theaters and arenas everywhere. Artists include the most amazing veterans of exceptional cirque programs throughout the world – aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen. Each artist’s performance is professionally choreographed to classical masterpieces and popular contemporary music in collaboration with the maestro.