Donna Menhart, associate dean for academic innovation and professor of ear training at The Hartt School, is the recipient of the 2024 Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Award. This award honors a full-time University of Hartford faculty member for sustained service to the University.Menhart has been using her expertise to the benefit of countless music students, both at the University and far beyond campus. She is a leading educator nationally, teaching the Kodály method, an approach to music education rooted in the idea that music should be a social and cultural experience.
At Hartt, in addition to teaching, Menhart contributes to many essential initiatives in music education and appreciation. She has an exemplary record of University service, participating on the University Curriculum Review Committee and the New Program Review Committee, the Council of Deans Subcommittee for Academic Affairs, and the University’s Assessment Team.
Beyond campus, Menhart has been president of both the Organization of American Kodály Educators and the Kodály Educators of Southern New England. She presents regularly at conferences for groups such as the Connecticut Music Educators Association, the Rhode Island Music Educators Association, and the International Kodály Society. Menhart has coached young singers for acceptance and participation in national children’s, women’s, concert, and chamber choirs, and has directed many choirs herself.
She is a 2007 recipient of the University of Hartford Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award, and is also praised for her commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging.
“Donna does not just go through the motions. Her work is thorough, deliberate, committed, informed, collaborative, and energetic,” observes Dale Merrill, dean and professor of dance at The Hartt School. “Her dedication, skill, and leadership more than qualify her for this prestigious honor.”