Sunday, November 24, 2024 | 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST/GMT-5 | Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
Bard College Conservatory of Music presents
Bard Chinese Ensemble Winter Concert 2024
Sunday, November 24, 2024 | 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST/GMT-5 | Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
Shutong Li, conductor
The Bard Chinese Ensemble and Music Director Shutong Li return for their annual winter concert featuring vibrant contemporary works that celebrate cultural heritage and artistic innovation. The ensemble is very pleased to collaborate with Jingyi Mao and Gjon Rezaj from the Bard Dance Program for the final piece, The Charm of the Long Braid. Join us for an afternoon of passionate performances, storytelling, and musical exploration!
An hour-long program of short performances by Bard Conservatory students. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public. Livestream this event on the Conservatory YouTube channel here.
Featuring works by Drew Frankenberg, Olivia Marhevka, Sky Metting, and Emily Ta Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public. Livestream this event on the Conservatory YouTube channel here.
Featuring works by Antonio Vivaldi, Philipp Friedrich Böddecker, Charles Koechlin, and Avett. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public. Livestream this event on the Conservatory YouTube channel here.
Featuring works by Manuel Yanez, D. Temkov, and Reena Esmail Bard Hall7:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Angel Ruiz, trumpet Aleksander Vitanov, trumpet Felix Johnson, horn Ameya Natarajan, trombone Alberto Arias Flores, Wagner tuba
Free and open to the public. Livestream this event on the Conservatory YouTube channel here.
Emily Ta, Composition Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public. Livestream this event on the Conservatory YouTube channel here.
Olin Hall7:00 pm EST/GMT-5 An artist of singular vision, pianist Jenny Q Chai is widely renowned for her ability to illuminate musical connections throughout the centuries. With radical joie de vivre and razor-sharp intention, Chai creates layered multimedia programs which explore and unite elements of science, nature, fashion, and art. The New Yorker describes Chai as “a pianist whose dazzling facility is matched by her deep musicality.”
Chai is also a vital champion and early tester of the synchronous score following software program Antescofo. Developed at IRCAM by scientist Arshia Cont, the software offers a real time computer and animation response to live performance elements, enabling performers to create multimedia presentations of AI sophisticated and expressive fluency. In September 2019, Chai gave a TEDx Talk titled "When Classical Music Meets Technology." Her immersive approach to music is also channeled into her work with FaceArt Institute of Music, the Shanghai-based organization she founded and runs, offering music education and an international exchange of music and musicians in China and beyond. As of 2022, Chai is a piano faculty member of the University of California Berkeley, an alumni mentor at Curtis Institute of Music and an official career mentor at Manhattan School of Music. In 2022, Chai became Fazioli Global Piano Ambassador.
This masterclass is free and open to the public.
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Featuring students of the Undergraduate Music Program, Conservatory Double Degree Program, Advanced Performance Studies Program, Graduate Vocal Arts Program, Graduate Conducting Program, and Collaborative Piano Fellowship.
FINAL ROUND Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Bard Conservatory finalists compete for the opportunity to perform with the Conservatory Orchestra and The Orchestra Now (TŌN). Please note that this is a competition and at times pieces will not be performed in full.Pictured: Tianxiang Ni, one of the four winners of the 2023 Conservatory Concerto Competition
Friday, November 8, 2024
A special concert celebrating Benjamin Hochman's new album Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm EST/GMT-5
In all roles, from soloist to chamber musician to conductor, Benjamin Hochman regards music as vital and essential. Composers, fellow musicians, orchestras, and audiences recognize his deep commitment to insightful programming and performances of quality. A winner of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant, Hochman performs at venues and festivals across the globe. He is a Steinway Artist and a Lecturer at Bard College Berlin.
The event, which takes place on November 8, 2024 starting at 7:00pm in the Bitó Conservatory Building, will begin with a reception followed by a piano concert of Hochman’s new album Resonance in the Conservatory Performance Space.
Reception: 7:00pm Concert: 7:30pm
Hochman describes the program as "a journey from darkness to light, a study in contrasts that nevertheless finds resonance across the centuries, ultimately finding transcendence and even triumph'.
This concert is free and open to the public.
Program
Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770–1827 Piano Sonata No.30 in E Op.109
Josquin Desprez c.1450/55–1521 arr. Charles Wuorinen 1938–2020 Ave Christe
George Benjamin b.1960 Shadowlines
John Dowland 1563–1626 set by William Byrd 1543–1623 Pavana Lachrymae MB 54 (after John Dowland’s pavan for lute Lachrimae P.15)
Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No.31 in A flat Op.110
Monday, November 4, 2024
An hour-long program of short performances by Bard Conservatory students. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public. Livestreaming on the Conservatory YouTube channel.
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 A concert by the Bard Conservatory Orchestra with maestro Leon Botstein.
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 A concert by the Bard Conservatory Orchestra with maestro Leon Botstein.
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
With performers Sam Bernhardt, Elizabeth Chernyak, Petra Elek, Tony Kirk, Oga L, and Jaelyn Quilizapa Bitó Conservatory Building8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Works by Timo Andres, Mauricio Kagel, Lila Meretzky, and Steven Snowden. Premieres by Clark Hubbard and Oga L.
An hour-long program of short performances by Bard Conservatory students. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public. Livestream the Noon Concert Conservatory YouTube channel here.
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 The seventh annual China Now Music Festival, Composing the Future, presents a concert opera by visionary composer Hao Weiya. Hao’s AI’s Variation, Opera of the Future is a science fiction–themed drama for three voices and chamber orchestra and is the second installment of his chamber opera trilogy. AI’s Variation tells the story of a troubled artist who allows his identity to be ‘enhanced’ by AI but then struggles with the consequences in his personal life.The first half of the program features a performance by the dynamic young musicians of the Bard East/West Ensemble presenting newly commissioned works for Chinese and Western instruments, with a special appearance by the guzheng and guitar combo Duo Chinoiserie.
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Shutong Li, conductor Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 The first concert of the Bard Chinese Ensemble's 24-25 season features concertos for pipa and guqin, with a program full of imaginative storytelling through the unique East/West sounds of this large mixed ensemble.
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 An interactive workshop for humans who sing and appreciate the land. Free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Rethinking Place: Bard-on-Mahicantuck.
Friday, September 27, 2024
Bard Hall7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 A music workshop to overcome stage fright and performance anxiety.
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Works by Kreisler, Spohr, Schumann, Messager, and Mozart. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Featuring works by Kreisler, Spohr, Schumann, Messager, and Mozart. Free and open to the public.
The Bard Conservatory Trumpet Studio presents works by Otto Ketting, Vincent Persichetti, Giacinto Scelsi, Ivan Fedele, Aleksandra Pakhmutova, and Luciano Berio. Olin Hall7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Click here to watch the live-stream online YouTube.
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Orientation for new Conservatory students.
Monday, August 12, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Erica Kiesewetter, director of orchestral studies and former concertmaster of the American Symphony Orchestra, will explain how to prepare for your placement auditions and what the panel is looking for. All Conservatory first-years who play orchestral instruments are strongly encouraged to attend!
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Johannes Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3 Op. 5 in F minor I. Allegro maestoso II. Andante (Andante espressivo) III. Scherzo (Allegro energico) IV. Intermezzo (Andante molto) V. Finale (Allegro moderato ma rubato)
An Hour-long Lunchtime Concert Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:30 pm – 1:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Program of two contemporary works influenced by isiXhosa, an official language of South Africa, and the Ugubhu gourd-bow as it is employed in indigenous isiZulu: Mamela Mamela Mamela (2023) by Lise Morrison (b. 1991) Ughubu for cello solo (1996) by Hans Huyssen (b. 1964) and “Woke up this morning.....” for cello solo by Matthijs van Dijk (b. 1983) Sonata per violoncello e pianoforte (2013) by Hendrik Hofmeyr (b. 1957)
Cellist Anmari van der Westhuizen has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in more than 17 countries across the globe. She is associate professor and head of the renowned Odeion String Quartet at the University of the Free State in South Africa. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Stellenbosch, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Hochschüle für Musik in Cologne. She holds a PhD in Music performance from the University of Pretoria. She has been recognized for her contributions toward arts and culture in South Africa and has performed many premieres of cello works by both Austrian and South African composers.
Free and open to the public. Watch the livestream here!
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Program: SEESAW by Ivan Trevino (b. 1983) Let it Flow by Rodney Clark '26 (b. 2002) and Dániel Matei '19 (b. 1994) Forbidden Love by Julia Wolfe (b. 1958) Double Happiness by Christopher Cerrone (b. 1984) Threads by Paul Lansky (b. 1944)
Libretto by Susan Bywaters Olin Hall7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Music composed by students in Missy Mazzoli’s class "Am I the Drama?" Conducted by members of the Graduate Conducting Program: Timothy Morrow, Emmanuel Rojas and Sam Ross With performances by Vocal Arts Program Musicians: Amelia – Jaclyn Hopping George – Megan Maloney Brad – Jacob Hunter Lizzie – Georgia Perdikoulias Mr. Freiberg – Joey Breslau Mrs. Freiberg – Nicole Rizzo Tim – Sam Warshauer
And Post-Graduate Piano Fellows: Ahra Oh, Pei-Hsuan Shen and Gabriele Zemaityte
Free and open to the public. Watch the livestream here!
Yardley Penthouse, 600 Palisade Ave., Union City, NJ 070877:00 pm – 8:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 A program of classical masterpieces that reflect the depth and richness of Hungary’s musical tradition.
The program features works by Béla Kovács, Aram Khachaturian, Gergely Vajda, Béla Bartók, and Vittorio Monti, performed by: Eszter Pókai, clarinet, Christopher Nelson, violin Neilson Chen, piano
Please note that RSVP is required as this is a limited seating performance and we want to ensure a comfortable and intimate setting for all our guests. To secure your spot, please fill out this Google form: RSVP May 19
Student Transportation to Yardley Penthouse, Union City, NJ: For Bard students, transportation via shuttle is possible to the concert venue. If you wish to take advantage of this service, please indicate in your RSVP form that you commit to attending and require a seat on the shuttle.
Sunday, May 19, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Grand celebration with students in the undergraduate and graduate voice programs, instrumental arts program, collaborative piano fellows, and graduate conductors program. Olin Hall1:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Arias and ensembles from operas of Handel and Mozart Olin Hall3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Join the members of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program and Collaborative Piano Fellowship as they present a program of arias and ensembles from operas of Handel and Mozart. Treating the members of the audience as intimates, each vocalist will include an original monologue revealing a new world of insight into each character.
Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Bard Chamber Singers Bard Symphonic Chorus Olin Hall8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 James Bagwell and Lilly Cadow lead two of Bard's vocal ensembles in an evening of choral favorites. The program includes works by Thomas Tallis, Hildegard von Bingen, J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, W.A. Mozart.
Monday, May 13, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Tan Dun conductorwith guestsZhang Meng sheng Han Yan pipa Wenwen Liu suona Bowen Yang chiba Yunqi Zhu erhuStravinsky FireworksTan Dun Concerto for FiveStravinsky Song of the NightingaleTan Dun Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds “I have two goals in my heart: I don’t just want to establish a musical idea…I want to develop a cross-cultural idea that brings nature and classical music, ancient and modern, together.”—Tan DunDean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador, Tan Dun, has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. On May 11, Tan Dun conducts the Conservatory Orchestra.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Works by Brahms, Prokofiev, Ravel, and Wieniawski. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Five visiting Chinese musicians in the Dunhuang Academy Ancient Music Consort perform works from the Tang Dynasty and new music for the traditional Chinese instruments and a Bard Conservatory String Quartet. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music Tan Dun presents the Dunhuang Academy Ancient Music Consort with five visiting Chinese musicians in a special workshop performance of music from Tang Dynasty 618-907 A.D. (Translated from the original “Library Cave” manuscripts of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang currently found in the collections of the French National Library). The instruments are replicas based on images found in the Dunhuang Mogao Cave murals with support by the Dunhuang Foundation and Tan Dun. The second part of the program features a Bard Conservatory string quartet performing new works alongside the traditional Chinese instruments.
World-renowned artist and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. A winner of many of today’s most prestigious honors and awards, Tan Dun’s music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television.
Dunhuang Academy Ancient Music Consort Zhang Meng, sheng Han Yan, pipa Wenwen Liu, bili and suona Bowen Yang, chiba Yunqi Zhu, xiqin
Featuring First-Year Graduate Students and Collaborative Piano Fellows and more! Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space6:30 pm – 7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Three student groups will join faculty cellist Raman Ramakrishnon in works by Arensky, Rabl, and Schubert. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space11:00 am – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Three chamber groups will perform beginning at 11 am, 11:15 am, and 11:40 am. Audiences are welcome to join us for some or all of the performances.
Music of Alawi, Bach, Brediceanu, King, Price, Ragland, and More Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Shutong Li, conductor Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 The Bard Chinese Ensemble presents its fourth concert of the academic year, and this is going to be the best one yet! Conductor Shutong Li once again offers new arrangements of major Chinese orchestral music, plus three exciting concertos for erhu, konghou (Chinese harp), and percussion.
FREE and open to the public.
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Olin Hall12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Featuring students of Luosha Fang, Marka Gustavsson, Brian Hong, and Melissa Reardon, and Collaborative Pianists Bat Erdene Batbileg, William Chang, Neilson Chen, and Ahra Oh
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Students perform selections from a wide range of solo and chamber works. Free and open to the public. Livestreaming on the Conservatory YouTube channel.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Works by Abbott, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Strauss, Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Works by Chopin, Bowen, Finzi, and Howells. Projections by Rhyane Batista. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Alfred Schnittke, and Dmitri Shostakovich Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Raised in Southern California, Christopher Nelson is a violinist who has performed music ranging from Monteverdi to Kurtág. He has participated in music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Round Top Festival Institute, Taconic Chamber Intensive, and Madeline Island Chamber Music. Influential teachers include William Fitzpatrick, Moni Simeonov, Daniel Phillips, Paul Kantor, and Gail Mellert. Christopher is currently a student of Carmit Zori in the Graduate Instrumental Arts Program at Bard College (MM ‘24).
With Lung Chan, zhongruan; Hiu-Man Chan, guanzi; Njya Lubang, double bass; and Neilson Chen, piano Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Featuring recent compositions by the Bard Conservatory's US-China Music Institute faculty member Xinyan Li and Beijing Central Conservatory of Music faculty member Fuhong Shi.
Free and open to the public. Livestream at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2HOKkWShDQ
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm – 6:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public. Zeke Morgan is a composer, violinist, and violist from Jackson, Mississippi; and a student at the Bard Conservatory of Music. He has performed and written music in ensembles/music groups of varying type and genre— from rock bands to free improv groups. His inspirations often materialize from improvisation, folk music, electronica, philosophy, the natural world, and very occasionally; his personal life. In his music, he is most interested in the reconciliation of different stylistic genres and art- forms. He will be graduating Bard with double degrees in composition and the written arts, and through his studies in poetry and poetic forms, has developed a special interest in composing vocal music, resulting in the composition of multiple art songs and two operas. This fall, he will begin his masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music. Zeke is passionate about the performance and curation of new music. At Bard, he runs the Sinfonietta Project, a student-run new music initiative designed to provide ample opportunity for living composers and performers to engage together in music-making. His music has been performed at an incredibly high level— including by members of ICE and the Da Capo Chamber Players. In May, his piece for solo baritone and orchestra, PAX, will be premiered by soloist Garrick Neuner and The Orchestra Now under the baton of Maestro Leon Botstein. His teachers and mentors include Joan Tower, Missy Mazzoli, George Tsontakis, and Jorge Variego.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Wenrui Shi CMC ’24 is one of the first graduate degree candidates in the Master of Arts in Chinese Music and Culture program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Nine Bard Conservatory Students and Alumni/ae Present Works by Beethoven, Bernstein, Bizet, Borne, Giacoma, Loveglio, and Verdi Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Note: This program will also be presented on Saturday, April 20, at Beattie-Powers Place in Catskill, New York, at 5 pm.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Works by Francis Poulenc and César Franck Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
A Graduate Conducting Degree Recital with the Orchestra Now Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 The Degree Recital is the culminating project of the Graduate Conducting Program. Given during the second year of study, students have the opportunity to conduct the repertoire of their choice in this concert.Joined by members of the Bard Conservatory Orchestra and Vocal Arts Program, the current graduating class of the Graduate Conducting Program leads The Orchestra Now in a culminating degree recital.German Romanticism makes up the extent of the program, including Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Johannes Brahms’s Second Symphony, and two highlights from Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. Two American interludes are also featured in the program—John Adams’s Chairman Dances and Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Works by Koussevitsky, Bottesini, Tabakov, and Roche. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Olin Hall7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto in G minor “per l’Orchestra di Dresda,” RV 577 J. S. Bach – Brandenburg Concert No. 4, BWV 1049 J. S. Bach – Sinfonia in F, BWV 1046a J. S. Bach – Hunting Cantata, BWV 208: Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd
Renée Anne Louprette, director Christopher Nelson & Joas Erasmus, violins David Keringer & Kelsey Burnham, recorders David Zoschnick & Shawn Hutchison, oboes Adelaide Braunhill & HanYi Huang, bassoons Jaclyn Hopping & Megan Maloney, sopranos Sam Warshauer, tenor Joey Breslau, baritone Tyler Duncan, guest reader
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:30 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Piano Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65 (1883) Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) and Piano Trio in F-sharp Minor (1952) Arno Babajanian (1921-1983)
The Power of a Feeling: Black Music, Literature, and the Creation of an Aesthetic.
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space1:30 pm – 2:50 pm EDT/GMT-4 • A performance by Marcus Roberts (piano) with Marty Jaffe (bass), Dave Potter (drums), Boyce Griffith (alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet). • A class by Professors Donna Ford Grover and Marcus Roberts
This performance by Bard Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music Marcus Roberts showcases the blues in its many shades and colors and will demonstrate how the blues in jazz connects with other great art forms including literature. This performance grows from the spring 2024 class entitled “The Power of a Feeling: Black Music, Literature, and the Creation of an Aesthetic”. Some of the seminal literary works from the class include Sonny's Blues (James Baldwin), The Blacker the Berry (Wallace Thurman), and Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston).
The themes in these stories involve black life and identity in America and each author expresses their unique personality through their prose. Jazz musicians do the same. From Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington, and on to the present day, each jazz musician has an individual sound and identity. The blues also appears throughout American music and has as much variety as there are people who play it. This performance showcases the enduring influence of the blues in music and American life. Please join Professors Donna Grover and Marcus Roberts who, with his fellow musicians, will explore the connection between the blues and these great American literary works.
This class/performance is free and open to the public.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Curated by Joan Tower. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:30 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
With a special US-China Music Institute guest musician, Jing Xia, performing two contemporary works for guzheng. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public. Live-streamed on the Conservatory YouTube channel-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzwwbWfeRIY
Presented by the US-China Music Institute, the Master of Arts in Chinese Music and Culture Program, and the Asian Studies Program at Bard College Bard Hall10:30 am – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 The US-China Music Institute’s annual scholarly conference will be a day-long exploration of music and the creative arts, in collaboration with the Asian Studies program. Free and open to the public. Registration kindly requested. Refreshments will be served. REGISTER HERE
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
SESSION 1 10:30 am – 12:00 pm GRADUATE FORUM – Thesis Exhibitions from the First Graduating Class of the MA in Chinese Music and Culture Beitong Liu Wenrui Shi Lu Xi Bryan (Zhe) Wang
SESSION 2 1:00–2:00 pm SCHOLARS FORUM Xia Jing, guzheng scholar and musician Introducing a System of Teaching Chinese Music in the West Yazhi Guo, Chinese winds virtuoso and inventor Instrument Invention Demonstration: Guzheng and Hulusi
OPEN DISCUSSION 2:00–2:30 pm Chinese tea and snacks will be served.
SESSION III 2:30–4:00 pm YAJI (ELEGANT GATHERING) Classical Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Music
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 NEW WORKS BY STUDENT COMPOSERS: Emily Ta Elena Hause Faisal Jones Pamela Zhang Lili Namazi Manar Hashmi Niall Ransford Patrick Toohey Artemy Muhkin Santiago Mieres
Free and open to the public.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:30 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Mr. Liu is on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Free and open to the public.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Working for percussion and piano by contemporary composers, including world premieres by Rea Ábel '23 and Esteban Ganem. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Program C (2011) Han Lash (b. 1981) I Have to Remind Myself (2024). Andrea Ábel (b. 1998) World premiere Tête-à-Tête (2017) Nina C. Young (b. 1984) Parallel Lines (1999) Joe Duddell (b. 1972) [one] (2008) Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b. 1977) Holding, Flowing (2024) Esteban Ganem
Free and open to the public.
Monday, April 1, 2024
Program includes Brahms, Ginastera, Strauss, and Dante Yenque Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Free and open to the public.
Lives streamed on the Conservatory YouTube channel.
Five student cellists and faculty member Peter Wiley perform an informal, hour-long program of short works by Friedrich August Kummer (1797-1879), Dvořák, Haydn, Fauré, Mascagni, Saint-Saëns, and Bruch. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Free and open to the public.
Bitó Conservatory Building12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Students perform selections from a wide range of solo and chamber works. Free and open to the public.
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater2:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld) welcomes the audience to a world of humans, gods and goddesses that seems all too familiar. This is Olympus High, a place where the tipping scales of popularity and power provide the perfect backdrop for a tale of love, jealousy, and intrigue. This is prom and circumstance for the ages, a lively, witty operetta springing from the genius of a young, aspiring Jacques Offenbach in 1858, playing out here in the year 1986, where relationships and hierarchy haven’t changed a bit.Sung in French with English supertitles, dialog in English.
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Seven pianists perform works by Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) and Fryderyk Chopin (1810-49). Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public.
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater8:00 pm – 10:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld) welcomes the audience to a world of humans, gods and goddesses that seems all too familiar. This is Olympus High, a place where the tipping scales of popularity and power provide the perfect backdrop for a tale of love, jealousy, and intrigue. This is prom and circumstance for the ages, a lively, witty operetta springing from the genius of a young, aspiring Jacques Offenbach in 1858, playing out here in the year 1986, where relationships and hierarchy haven’t changed a bit.Sung in French with English supertitles, dialog in English.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Recent works for trumpet and brass quintet. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space8:00 pm – 9:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public.
Shutong Li, conductor Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Celebrate the coming of Spring with the Bard Chinese Ensemble!
The program features concerto soloists Yixin Wang '24 on guzheng and Yijie Yin '25 on zhongruan, as well as several new arrangements prepared by conductor Shutong Li especially for the ensemble. FREE and open to the public.
Debussy in Paris: Poets, Politics, and the Piano Intertwined Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Pianist Catherine Kautsky presents a lecture-recital placing Debussy's piano music in the context of fin-de siècle Paris. We’ll look at fairies and clowns, writers and painters, arabesques and castanets, and along the way we’ll encounter the many issues of race, gender, colonialism, and nationalism that affected (and afflicted) Paris c. 1900.
Catherine Kautsky, Chair of Keyboard at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, has been lauded by the New York Times as “a pianist who can play Mozart and Schubert as though their sentiments and habits of speech coincided exactly with hers … The music spoke directly to the listener, with neither obfuscation nor pretense.” Her recording of the Debussy Preludes, released by Centaur in September, 2014, was said to “bring out all the power, majesty, and mystery of Debussy’s conception.“ Ms Kautsky has just released a 24 video set, “Great Works for the Piano” for Great Courses/Wondrium, and is also presenting courses on piano literature for the Juilliard Extension Division and the 92nd Street Y of New York City.
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space4:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Kurtág and the Chamber Music Tradition
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) Selections from Kleine geistliche Konzerte Erhöre mich, wenn ich rufe, SWV 289 O lieber, Herre Gott, SWV 287 Habe deine Lust an dem Herren, SWV 311 Jaclyn Hopping and Megan Maloney, sopranos Sarah Martin, cello Renée Anne Louprette, organ
György Kurtág (b. 1926) Six Moments Musicaux for String Quartet, Op. 44 Chris Nelson, Isabel Chin Garita, violins Jessica Ward, viola Ethan Young, cello
György Ligeti Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet Tori Conner, oboe Mohammad AbdNikfarjam, clarinet Monika Dziubelski, flute Sabrina Schettler, horn Adelaide Braunhill, bassoon
Intermission
Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023) From the Grammar of Dreams for two sopranos Sarah Nalty, soprano Abbegael Greene, mezzo-soprano
Robert Schumann (1810–56) Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47 Sostenuto assai – Allegro ma non troppo Scherzo – Molto vivace Andante cantabile Finale – Vivace
Carmit Zori, violin Melissa Reardon, viola Peter Wiley, cello Benjamin Hochman, piano
Live Streamed on Bard Conservatory's YouTube Channel Here
Eszter Kökény - violin Péter Tornyai - viola Tamás Zétényi – cello
J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in C major György Kurtág: Perpetuum mobile J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in E minor J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in B minor J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in D major György Kurtág: A Very Slow Waltz for Walter Levin J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in F Major J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in A minor György Kurtág: Signs VI J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in C minor György Kurtág: A Flower for Dénes Zsigmondy - In Memoriam Annelise Nissen-Zsigmondy J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in E-flat Major J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in B-flat Major György Kurtág: Hommage a J. S. B. J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in F Minor György Kurtág: A Flower We Are - for Miako J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in G minor J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in G major György Kurtág: Hommage a György Ránki J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in D minor György Kurtág: Ligatura Y J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in E major J.S. Bach: Sinfonia in A major
- intermission-
Mozart Divertimento in E-flst
Please note that this program takes place in the Bard Chapel of the Holy Innocents.
Short works for piano by Kurtág, paired with works by Bach, Shostakovich, Schubert, Bartók, and more. Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space3:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Performances by Bard student pianists of all ages.
Live Streamed on Bard Conservatory's YouTube Channel Here
The Hungarian Lineage: A Piano Recital by Gábor Csalog Kurtág: Games, Selections from Book 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 Liszt: Bagatelle without Tonality S.216a Ligeti: Etude No. 10 Der Zauberlehrling
Intermission
Ligeti: Dansuri (1943) US Premiere Nocturne (1943) US Premiere Kromatische Fantasia (1956) US Premiere Kurtág: Kolozs Robi emlékezete US Premiere Kakukk-keringő World Premiere Szeretettel Wallner Györgynek World Premiere Maros Gyuri emlékezete World Premiere A felejthetetlen Peskó Tünde World Premiere ...le chien.../ Gyuri 66-nak az ő édesapja US Premiere Kolozs Robi emlékezete US Premiere Bartók: Dance Suite
Live Streamed on Bard Conservatory's YouTube channel Here
Prelude - The Art of the Cimbalom Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space6:30 pm EST/GMT-5
András Szalai, cimbalom Péter Tornyai, violin and viola Tamás Zétényi, cello
F. Couperin: Les Rozeaux J. S. Bach: Duet in F major BWV 803 F. Couperin: Le Bavolet Flotant J. S. Bach: Duet in E minor BWV 802 Kurtág György: Eight Duos for Violin and Cimbalom Op. 4 F. Couperin: Le Réveil-Matin J. S. Bach: Duet in G major BWV 804 Tornyai Péter: H.G. Sonaten (2022), Eight Duos for Viola and Cimbalom F. Couperin: Le Tic-Toc-Choc; ou Les Maillotins J. S. Bach: Duet in A minor BWV 805 F. Couperin: Le Dodo, ou L'Amour au Berceau Kurtág György: Márta ligaturája
Live streamed on Bard Conservatory's YouTube Channel Here
Wind quintet performs recent works by contemporary women composers. Olin Hall4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST/GMT-5 The one-hour program includes: Alyssa Morris, Dumbarton Oaks Amanda Harberg, Suite for Winds Jennifer Higdon, Autumn Music Valerie Coleman, Afro Cuban Concerto Grace Ann Lee (Heritage Winds Commission), The Woman Air Force Service Pilots
Free and open to the public.
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Olin Hall7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public.
The West Point Brass Quintet is the primary chamber ensemble of the Army’s oldest musical organization, the West Point Band. Stationed at the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Quintet provides support for West Point ceremonies as well as other outreach events throughout the Northeast.
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Solo piano works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Janáček, and Schumann Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Nita Vemuri is a fifth-year student at Bard College Conservatory, pursuing degrees in piano performance and economics. She currently studies with Gilles Vonsattel and previously studied with Benjamin Hochman and Dr. Clive Swansbourne. Nita was a finalist in the Mika Hasler Competition at Rice University (2024) and the 2022 Conservatory Concerto Competition.
Nita has been on the Bard College honors list and was awarded the Gilman Scholarship to study abroad in France in 2023. An avid chamber musician, Nita attended the International Music Festival of the Adriatic in the summer of 2023, performing chamber music throughout Northern Italy and Slovenia. Nita has taken part in masterclasses led by Anna Polonsky, Michael Brown, Victor Rosenbaum, Logan Skelton, and Wayman Chin.
Live streamed on Bard Conservatory's YouTube Channel Here
Works by Beethoven, Iman Habibi, Jocelyn Morlock, and Jeffrey Ryan. Olin Hall3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST/GMT-5 This is not your typical St. Valentine’s concert. Our partnership began with Lieder, drawing us away from our home of British Columbia, Canada, to pursue studies in Germany. Through the veil of an unfamiliar language and culture, we felt the pull of home, and a wish to express our feelings of connection to each other and our shared geography through music. These song cycles reflect the quarter century we have spent together on and off the stage. They tell a story of a complicated, messy, lasting, and wonderful collaboration, through the incredible music of Beethoven, Habibi, Morlock, and Ryan and the inspiring poetry of Zwicky, Ashton, Khayyãm, and Jeitteles.
“Home, the ache of the invisible” – Jan Zwicky.
Free and open to the public.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
A Chinese New Year Concert with The Orchestra Now, Presented by the US-China Music Institute Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall, The Shops at Columbus Circle, NYC3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST/GMT-5 The Sound of Spring returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City to celebrate the year ot the Dragon.
Now in its fifth year, The Sound of Spring is an authentic Chinese New Year concert featuring dramatic orchestral works and world-class Chinese instrument soloists. This year’s program presents a new selection of festive Chinese music to welcome in the lunar new year, with exciting solo performances by erhu virtuoso Zhang Haiyue and dizi virtuoso Feng Tianshi from the Central Conservatory of Music in China. Famed winds master Guo Yazhi will perform a world-premiere suona concerto by composer Xinyan Li.
A Chinese New Year Concert with The Orchestra Now Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST/GMT-5 2 pm • Pre-concert Chinese instrument demonstration and Lunar New Year activities 3 pm • PerformanceCelebrate the Year of the Dragon with The Orchestra Now, conducted by Jindong Cai. Now in its fifth year, The Sound of Spring is an authentic Chinese New Year concert featuring dramatic orchestral works and world-class Chinese instrument soloists. This year’s program presents festive Chinese music specially selected to welcome the lunar new year, including solo performances by virtuosos Zhang Haiyue (erhu) and Feng Tianshi (dizi) from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Also on the program is famed winds master Guo Yazhi, performing a world-premiere suona concerto composed by Bard faculty member Xinyan Li. For more program information, visit www.barduschinamusic.org.
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Disco and Deception at the Opera Fisher Center, LUMA Theater2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST/GMT-5 The popular Bard Opera Workshop returns again this year with student singers performing a selection of scenes from the operatic canon. The performance is directed by Bard alum Emily Cuk ’11 and accompanied by an orchestra of Bard students.
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Recent works for cello and piano by Harold Meltzer, Tania Leon, John Tavener, Lera Auerbach, Eric Moe, and Jonathan Chenette Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space2:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Free and open to the public.
Bard Conservatory faculty member Raman Ramakrishnan performed across North America, Europe, India, Japan, and in Hong Kong while a member of the Horszowski Trio. In addition to solo recitals in New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., he has performed chamber music at Caramoor, at Bargemusic, with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, and at the Aspen, Bard, Charlottesville, Four Seasons, Kingston, Lincolnshire (UK), Marlboro, Mehli Mehta (India), Oklahoma Mozart, and Vail Music Festivals. He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed, as guest principal cellist, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a guest member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, he has performed in New Delhi and Agra, India and in Cairo, Egypt. He has served on the faculties of the Taconic and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals, as well as at Columbia University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in music from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers have been Fred Sherry, Andrés Díaz, and André Emelianoff.
American pianist Thomas Sauer performs regularly as soloist, chamber musician, and recital partner. His large and varied repertoire encompasses Bach to the present day and includes both staples and neglected masterworks. Audiences and critics alike praise his playing for its clarity, expressivity, and assured stylistic sense. Mr. Sauer regularly performs the music of today both as soloist and chamber musician and in recent seasons has premiered works by Philippe Bodin, Robert Cuckson, Sebastian Currier, Keith Fitch, David Loeb, Donald Martino, David Tcimpidis, and Richard Wilson. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Mannes College of Music, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, his major teachers included Jorge Bolet, Edward Aldwell, and Carl Schachter.
Disco and Deception at the Opera Fisher Center, LUMA Theater7:30 pm – 8:30 pm EST/GMT-5 The popular Bard Opera Workshop returns again this year with student singers performing a selection of scenes from the operatic canon. The performance is directed by Bard alum Emily Cuk ’11 and accompanied by an orchestra of Bard students.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Disco and Deception at the Opera Fisher Center, LUMA Theater7:30 pm – 8:30 pm EST/GMT-5 The popular Bard Opera Workshop returns again this year with student singers performing a selection of scenes from the operatic canon. The performance is directed by Bard alum Emily Cuk ’11 and accompanied by an orchestra of Bard students.
Friday, February 2, 2024
Three Violin Sonatas by Mozart, Strauss, and Weinberg Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space7:30 pm – 9:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Laurie Smukler began her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her first public performance with a major symphony orchestra was as a violin soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra at 14. She earned her BM from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Ivan Galamian. Other teachers who have had a powerful influence on Ms. Smukler's development are Donald Weilerstein, Robert Mann, Rudolf Serkin, and Menahem Pressler. She is a professor at The Juilliard School. She has been on the faculties of Purchase College Conservatory of Music, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival and School, the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and the Bard College Conservatory. Ms. Smukler is a founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet and has been co-director of the Collection in Concert series at the Pierpont Morgan Library. She has performed and toured with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society and Music From Marlboro along with other celebrated groups. Laurie Smukler plays a Petrus Guarnerius violin made in Venice in 1738.
Pianist Robert McDonald has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the Far East both as solo recitalist and, for many years, as recital partner to Isaac Stern and other distinguished instrumentalists. He has appeared with major orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. As a chamber musician, he has performed with the Juilliard, American, Takacs, Muir, Brentano, St. Lawrence, Vermeer, Borromeo, and Shanghai string quartets, as well as with Musicians from Marlboro. He is a member of the piano faculty at the Juilliard School. In addition to being the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico, he has participated in the Bergen, Besancon, Lucerne, Montreux, Salzburg, Aldeburgh, and Schleswig-Holstein festivals in Europe, the Marlboro, Brevard, and Caramoor festivals in the United States, as well as the Banff Center in Canada. Robert McDonald studied at the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers include Theodore Rehl, Rudolf Serkin, Seymour Lipkin, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Beveridge Webster, and Gary Graffman.
