“Duo Alterity is rapidly emerging as one of the premier Flute and Guitar Duos on today’s concert stage” (Richard Provost, Professor Emeritus and Founder of The Hartt School Guitar Department). The multi-award-winning ensemble has performed extensively across the United States, and was most recently invited to be artists-in-residence for the 2018 Connecticut Summerfest Contemporary Music Festival where they had the opportunity to work closely with emerging composers and give three world premieres.
Duo Alterity is extremely dedicated to the performance of new music. “Their zest for contemporary music shines through in every performance, and their zeal for diving into new compositions is abundant in their work with emerging composers” (Aaron N. Price, Artistic Director & Co-Founder, Connecticut Summerfest, Inc.). In 2016, they gave the world premiere of “La Perla del Pico” by Frank Wallace, and the 2019 season will see them back to Connecticut Summerfest.
In 2017, Duo Alterity became finalists in the Classics Alive Young Artist Auditions, adding to their quickly growing list of awards. The ensemble also won 1st prize in the 2017 Music of Americas Great Composers Competition, the 2016 Vivo International Music Competition, and the 2016 Inaugural Hartt Chamber Music Competition.
Duo Alterity has performed at numerous prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, and the Governor’s Mansion in Hartford, CT.
Duo Alterity’s “innovative programming” and “musically charged performances” make them “one of the most captivating emerging ensembles today” (Dave McLellan, Curator, Hartt@Home).
Allison Makenzie Hughes
Allison Makenzie Hughes is a flutist and piccoloist currently in her first year of graduate study at The Hartt School, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in flute performance under Janet Arms. She is a member of Hartt’s prestigious 20/20 Honors Chamber Music Program with her duo partner, classical guitarist Joseph Van Doran.
Passionate about the flute as a solo instrument, Allison recently performed the Liebermann Flute Concerto with the Hartt Orchestra. An equally avid chamber musician, Allison has performed in numerous chamber music settings, but appears most frequently with Duo Alterity, her flute and classical guitar duo with Joseph Van Doran. Together, they have been given the honor of performing at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Governor’s Mansion in Hartford, CT, and most recently, Carnegie Hall. Duo Alterity won first place in both the 2016 Vivo International Music Competition and the 2016 Hartt Chamber Music Competition.
Ms. Hughes has performed in masterclasses for notable flutists Amy Porter, Judith Mendenhall, and Jonathan Keeble; award-winning ensembles Lions Gate Trio, the Imani Winds, and the Chiara String Quartet; and for classical guitarists Oscar Ghiglia, Antigoni Goni, and Richard Provost. She has been coached by renowned classical guitarist Christopher Ladd, double bass virtuoso Robert Black, and has collaborated with conductors Glen Adsit, Edward Cumming, Arthur Arnold, Daniel D’Addio, and Adam Glaser, and composers Frank Wallace, Robert Carl, David Macbride, Stephen Montague, and Frank Ticheli.
During her third year of undergraduate study Allison began teaching a technique class for flute performance majors, and she looks forward to sharing her passion for music and life with students, collaborators, and audiences alike
Joseph Van Doran
Rising classical guitarist, Joseph Van Doran, is currently pursuing his Master of Music at the Hartt School as a member of the prestigious Performance 20/20 Honors Chamber Music Program, under Christopher Ladd. He received his Bachelors at the Hartt School, and is also a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, where he studied under acclaimed guitarist, Mark Delpriora.
Through collaborations with the New England Guitar Ensembles Festival, Mr. Van Doran has presented the world premieres of “Hemingway,” by Andrew York in 2013, “4 Moods and Coda,” by Roland Dyens in 2014, and “Never Forget Atahualpa,” by Carlo Domeniconi in 2015. He also premiered “A Growing Absence,” a monumental guitar quartet by Lisa Coons, as a major part of the 2016 Women Composers Festival of Hartford.
He was awarded the opportunity to perform at the GFA New York Regional Symposium at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Other notable performances include Carnegie Hall, The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, and the Governor’s Mansion in Hartford, CT.
Mr. Van Doran has performed in masterclasses for world-renowned guitarists including Jason Vieaux, Oscar Ghiglia, Antigoni Goni, Benjamin Verdery, Richard Provost, and Christopher Ladd.
While a strong soloist, he is deeply dedicated to the collaborative nature of chamber music. He has performed in large ensembles, guitar quartets, mixed ensembles, and, most notably, in Duo Alterity with flutist, Allison Makenzie Hughes.
