The New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the University of New Haven have agreed to make beautiful music together. In a two-year collaboration to be announced Monday, UNH will provide the symphony with administrative office space in a university-owned building near its West Haven campus in exchange for educational opportunities with the symphony and its new music director, William Boughton.

written by: Donna Doherty, New Haven Register 

Boughton and the symphony will develop a campus concert series featuring young American composers, teach master classes to UNH students, provide internships to students and "find other opportunities for collaboration," according to a statement released by the university.

The agreement came together quickly over the summer after UNH President Steven Kaplan learned of the symphony's search for an "angel" to help find new headquarters, as its lease with the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven was ending June 30.

Kaplan and NHSO Executive Director Natalie Forbes exchanged e-mails and "pretty much after a couple of meetings, consolidated the agreement," said Forbes Friday.

The six-person NHSO staff will move to the UNH-owned building on Campbell Avenue on Sept. 29.

Kaplan has taken more than 100 UNH students to symphony concerts as one way to enhance the liberal arts program at the university.

"This partnership is a natural next step in providing the campus with access to world-class talent," he said in a statement.

"The major opportunity we recognized is our education department has primarily dealt with programming of K-12 students," Forbes said. "We have not done much with college students ... so this was a wonderful opportunity to expand our education program and work in an interdisciplinary manner through many of the departments."

Students in the Music Department earn degrees in music, music industry and music technology, each of which will be enhanced by symphony programming with, according to Forbes, lectures by Boughton or other symphony musicians, instrumental lessons by the musicians and "opportunities to showcase the orchestra on campus," said Forbes.

The concert series begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when pianist Spencer Myer, the guest soloist for Thursday's NHSO opening concert, performs an Arts@Night recital program in the Alumni Lounge of Bartels Hall at UNH.

Forbes was quick to point out that the move out of New Haven is only an administrative one for the orchestra.

It will "continue business as usual in its performance venues around town, Woolsey Hall, the Shubert Theater and in Shelton," she said.

West Haven may benefit from the move as Forbes expects to be speaking with Superintendent of Schools JoAnn Hurd Andrees about programming for West Haven schools.

This is not the first orchestra to have a home at the University of New Haven. Under former President Lawrence J. DeNardis, Orchestra New England was given administrative space at UNH from 1992 to 1998.

The agreement was expanded until 2004, with ONE given a permanent home, administrative help and practice space.

The orchestra retained its independent trustees with the executive director appointed by UNH and the university underwriting its losses, which ranged from $5,000 to $40,000 annually. In exchange, faculty and staff got reduced-price tickets to concerts.

"Everybody at the time thought it was really ground-breaking," DeNardis said.

But financial limitations at the time prevented ONE from seeking opportunities being offered to NHSO.

James Sinclair, the founder and conductor of ONE, said, "We searched through a lot of ideas that could have been done, but if they cost something to do or involved more people, the resistance built. ... They weren't in a position to expand music lessons to include classes that I might have taught," he said.

"Larry's desire to achieve synergy was thwarted by the times," said Sinclair, noting that "we separated amicably."