The Fisher Center Presents The Bard College Conservatory Orchestra

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts presents the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra in concert at the Sosnoff Theater on Sunday, December 6 at 3 p.m. Guest conductor JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Virginia Symphony Orchestra, will lead the orchestra in a performance of Ernest Bloch’s Suite for Viola and Orchestra, with 2015 Conservatory Concerto Competition winner Ye Zi ’16, viola soloist; Vítězslav Novák’s V Tratách (In the Tatras); and the Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D Major.  
 
The concert is part of the Conservatory Sundays series, and all proceeds will benefit the Scholarship Fund of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. Suggested donations for all Conservatory Sundays programs are $20 (orchestra seating) and $15 (parterre/first balcony). The minimum donation for orchestra seating is $5. Seating location for tickets reserved without a donation will be assigned by the box office. For ticket information contact the Fisher Center box office at fishercenter.bard.edu or call 845-758-7900.


Conservatory Sundays continues on Sunday, December 13 at 3 p.m. with
Winter Songfest, a festive holiday celebration with acclaimed soprano Dawn Upshaw, singers of the Bard Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts Program, and special guests including actress Mary Stuart Masterson. This annual afternoon concert is an audience favorite.
 
For additional information about The Bard College Conservatory of Music please go to the website at bard.edu/conservatory/.
 
About the Artists
 
JoAnn Falletta is internationally celebrated as a vibrant ambassador for music, an inspiring artistic leader, and a champion of American symphonic music. Praised by the Washington Post as having “Toscanini’s tight control over ensemble, Walter’s affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski’s gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein,” she serves as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and is principal guest conductor of the Brevard Music Center.
 
Falletta has guest conducted more than 100 orchestras in North America, and many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. International highlights for 2015–16 include her premieres with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Peru, the Orquesta Colombia, Sinfonica Nacional de Colombia and the Iceland Symphony.  This season, Falletta will be one of the first conductors to work with The Orchestra Now, the newly formed innovative, international educational orchestra created by Leon Botstein and Bard College. Recent guest conducting highlights include debuts in Belgrade, Gothenburg, Lima, Bogotá, Helsingborg, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a European tour with the Stuttgart Orchestra, return engagements with the Warsaw, Detroit, Phoenix, and Krakow Symphony Orchestras, and a 13-city U.S. tour with the Irish Chamber Orchestra with James Galway.
 
Falletta is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards and a champion of music of our time, introducing over 500 works by American composers, including more than 110 world premieres.
 
A leading conductor for the Naxos label, her discography includes over 90 titles. Her discs have won two Grammy Awards and ten Grammy nominations. Recent and upcoming discs on the Naxos label include the works of Florent Schmitt, Novak, Scriabin, and Wagner with the Buffalo Philharmonic, works of Victor Herbert with the Ulster Orchestra; and works of Stravinsky and Mahler with the Virginia Symphony. 
 
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2015–16 Season, celebrates the 75th anniversary of Kleinhans Music Hall with works showcasing the hall’s exquisite acoustics. Recording highlights for the Buffalo Philharmonic’s 2015-16 season include the release by Naxos of the music of Florent Schmitt, and Beau Fleuve releases of The Essential Sibelius in honor of his birthday and the BPO’s Finland Celebration, and the orchestra’s first-ever children’s CD, featuring Carnival of the Animals, Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Mother Goose Suite.
 
In addition to her current posts with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, Brevard Music Center, and Hawaii Symphony, Falletta has held the positions of principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, music director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Denver Chamber Orchestra.
 
Falletta received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes School of Music, and her master’s and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School.


For more information, visit www.joannfalletta.com.
 
Ye Zi was born and grew up in China and started her musical training in violin at the age of four. She switched to viola and graduated from the music middle school affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2010, where she studied with Li Sheng. While there, she visited the Ehingen Music School (Donau) in Germany as a representative of her school’s youth orchestra, and toured with the Asian Youth Orchestra in Korea, Japan, and China, under Richard Pontzious and James Judd. 
 
She enrolled in the Bard College Conservatory of Music in 2010, where she studies viola with Steven Tenenbom. In May 2016 she will complete two degrees: a bachelor of music in viola performance and bachelor of arts in French studies. She studied abroad at the Institut de Touraine in France. In 2014, she spent a semester studying music and French language at the Faculté de Musique of Montreal University, where she studied viola with Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot. During that time, she served as principal viola of the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal.
 
Zi participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar in 2011, and performed two concerts conducted by Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall. In the summers of 2013 and 2014, she studied at Orford Music Academy. Last year, she was invited by the Orford Music Festival to play a viola solo as a prelude to the New Orford String Quartet’s fifth anniversary concert with Marc-André Hamelin. In November 2014, she won the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition.
 
The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College
Named for the late Richard B. Fisher, the former chair of Bard’s Board of Trustees, the Fisher Center has become an influential force in performing arts programming, earning critical acclaim for innovative productions of opera, orchestral, chamber, dance, and theater programs. The Center was designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry and distinguished acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, and has received international praise for its breathtaking architecture and superb sound.
 
Each summer the Fisher Center presents the Bard SummerScape festival, eight weeks of performing arts programs reflecting the life and times of the featured composer of the esteemed Bard Music Festival, now celebrating its 26th year. Fall and spring seasons include original productions, special one-night-only concerts, and touring artists from around the globe.
 
The Fisher Center is home to the Bard College Theater & Performance and Dance Programs, providing students access to exceptional theater facilities and opportunities to work with professional directors and dramaturges on publicly attended productions throughout the year. The Bard College Conservatory of Music and Bard College Music Program stage regular orchestral and chamber concerts.
 
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This event was last updated on 11-30-2015

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