Catalogue

Cultural Programs

Concert and Lecture Series

Bard Music Festival: Since 1990 the Bard Music Festival (BMF) has been presented on the Bard campus each summer over two consecutive weekends in August. The festival offers an array of concerts and programs whose themes are taken from the life, work, and world of a single composer. To learn more about BMF, see Additional Study Opportunities and Affiliated Programs in this catalogue or visit fishercenter.bard.edu/bmf.

Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle: Founded in 1950, the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) has attracted a loyal regional following that has enjoyed annual June performances by some of the finest classical ensembles and soloists in the world. The 2023 June concerts kicked off with the new quartet Espressívo! (featuring HVCMC artistic directors Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson), performing works by Rebecca Clarke, Gabriel Fauré, and Johannes Brahms. The series also included performances by the Isidore String Quartet, winners of the 2022 Banff String Quartet Competition; and Trio Seoul.  For more information, visit hvcmc.org.

John Ashbery Poetry Series: The John Ashbery Poetry Series, named for the late Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor Emeritus of Languages and Literature, brings leading poets to campus for readings and discussion in an intimate setting. 

Conjunctions

conjunctions.com

Bard’s influential literary journal Conjunctions publishes innovative fiction, poetry, translations, essays, and interviews by contemporary masters and exciting new voices from the United States and around the world. As its slogan, “Read Dangerously,” suggests, the journal brings fearless writing to risk-taking readers. Founded and edited by Bard professor and novelist Bradford Morrow, winner of PEN America’s prestigious Nora Magid Award for excellence in editing a literary journal, Conjunctions appears in print biannually. The spring 2023 issue, Conjunctions: 80, Ways of Water, explores the nature of water in our lives and those of our fellow beings, bringing together a community of writers to plumb this matter so essential to our survival. The issue includes works by, among others, Colin Channer, Joyce Carol Oates, Can Xue, Yxta Maya Murray, Julia Elliott, Leila Philip, Anna Badkhen, and Frederic Tuten. The fall 2023 issue, Conjunctions: 81, Numina: The Enchantment Issue, investigates the idea that the material world is inhabited by consciousness beyond the human realm, collecting fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that casts both objects and natural entities as enchanted, inspirited, and numinous beyond our analytic understanding. This issue’s contributors include Elizabeth Hand, Shane McCrae, Melissa Pritchard, and Benjamin Percy, among many others. 

Conjunctions publishes an award-winning weekly online magazine of new writing at conjunctions.com. Recent featured authors include Tracie Morris, Yuri Herrera, Andrew Mossin, Clare Beams, Fred D’Aguiar, and Wayne Koestenbaum, as well as a previously unpublished story by Tennessee Williams. The website also houses an online multimedia vault of exclusive recordings of readings. The journal has a robust online following, with social communities at Twitter and Facebook. E-books of selected past issues are available from online retailers.