The Score | Citizen Kuan

Carolyn Kuan, a native of Taiwan who came to the United States at age 14, has lived here for decades, but this fall she took the major step of becoming a U.S. citizen. On October 7, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra hosted a citizenship ceremony for Kuan, its music director, and ten other Connecticut residents, just before one of its season-opening concerts of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony at The Bushnell in Hartford. Free concert tickets were offered to the new citizens’ family members. “We are honored to be a part of this important moment in the lives of our newest citizens, including our beloved Music Director, Carolyn Kuan,” said Hartford Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Steve Collins. Kuan noted that taking her oath onstage was “especially meaningful because the symphony has been such an important part of my life and this community,” and credited Ruth Sovronsky, the HSO’s development director, for coming up with the idea as a “natural extension of what we believe: music, as the universal language, truly does build a better community, welcoming all regardless of background, borders, skin shade, religion or economics.”