Free Community Community Concert in Bushnell Park, Hartford

Mark the date on your calendar, plan the menu for the picnic basket! The Hartford Symphony Orchestra has invited the public to a free community picnic in the park concert in Bushnell Park in Hartford on Sunday, Sept. 25.  The 2 p.m. concert, which will showcase the many musical styles of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra under the guidance of its new music director, Carolyn Kuan, is supported in part by a $25,000 grant from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.  “I’m inviting the entire community to come and enjoy my first concert as music director,” said Ms. Kuan. “Hartford Symphony is a fantastic orchestra and this will be a blockbuster concert.” The concert will include classical, jazz, opera, rock ’n roll, the University of Connecticut Marching Band and choirs from the Greater Hartford Arts Academy and Simsbury High School. 

Free city street parking will be available around Bushnell Park. In the event of severe weather, the concert will be held in Mortensen Hall in the nearby Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. Seating there will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.  

Ms. Kuan is the 10th music director of the Hartford Symphony and is the first woman to hold that position. Past positions have included associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, artist-in-residence at the New York City Ballet, and assistant conductor for the Baltimore Opera Company. 

The Richard P. Garmany Fund was established at the Hartford Foundation in 2008 through the will of Mr. Garmany, a former executive at Aetna. Since then, 47 grants totaling almost $1 million have been awarded to support more than three dozen Greater Hartford cultural, environmental and healthcare nonprofits, including the Hartford Symphony’s Talcott Mountain Music Festival for the past two seasons.  

The Hartford Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1934, is the second largest orchestra in New England and is widely recognized as one of America’s leading regional orchestras. For information its programs and more details on the Picnic in the Park, visit www.hartfordsymphony.org.  

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents. The Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families, and in 2010, awarded grants of more than $29 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations, the largest amount granted in the Foundation’s 85-year history. For more information about the Hartford Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.