A MARATHON CONCERT ON SUNDAY, JULY 28, WILL FEATURE SEVEN MFA CANDIDATES OF THE CONDUCTORS INSTITUTE AT BARD COLLEGE Gala graduation concert will include works by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Strauss, and Stravinsky
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.-The first candidates for the master of fine arts degree in conducting of the Conductors Institute at Bard will take the podium for a gala graduation concert on Sunday, July 28. The concert will held in Olin Hall from 12:00 noon to 3:30 p.m., and from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. The conductors will each lead the Institute Orchestra for a total of 40 to 45 minutes. The audience is welcome to attend all or any part of the concert.
The program will include Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Brahms's Symphony No. 4, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and the Adagietto from Symphony No. 5, Mozart's Symphony No. 40, Strauss's Don Juan, and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, as well as compositions by the M.F.A. candidates.
The seven conductors-Carmine Aufiero, Gianmaria Griglio, David Hong, Jack Hunter, Masashi Mori, Peter Szep, and Laura Thomas-are completing the 15-month MFA in Conducting Program of the Conductors Institute. They hail from the United States, Italy, Korea, and Japan.
This is the second consecutive summer during which the seven candidates have participated in the Institute's six-week program and served as fellows with the Bard Music Festival. They have also completed required course work at Bard during the intervening academic year, including classes in composition, basic orchestra repertoire, languages, a "second" instrument (string or piano), and solfège. In addition, they have had private studies and master classes in technical score study and analysis with Maestro Harold Farberman, as well as podium time with the Institute string quintet and conducting opportunities with the Bard College Community Orchestra, Chorus, and Vocal Ensembles.
Harold Farberman founded the Conductors Institute 23 years ago to fill a void in the United States with a summer training program for conductors. "I hit on a formula that remains the same to this day-vigorous technical training and promotion of American music in a cooperative atmosphere," he said. The Conductors Institute is in its fourth year at Bard College, and this is the second year that the master of fine arts degree in conducting is being offered.
The structure of the six-week summer Institute provides new instructors and new repertoire each week, assuring the participants exposure to a variety of expert opinions. The 2002 visiting faculty include maestri Leon Botstein, Apo Hsu, Larry Rachleff, and Nan Washburn; composers Conrad Pope and Melinda Wagner; and maestro Eduardo Navega, who directs the Discovery Program, designed for beginning conductors.
Artistic director Harold Farberman is a noted conductor, composer, and musician. His earliest composition, Evolution, has been recorded four times, once by Leopold Stokowski. Aaron Copland invited Farberman to study composition with him at Tanglewood after hearing Evolution. He was music director of the Colorado Springs and Oakland Symphony Orchestras, and principal guest conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and the Bournemouth (Great Britain) Sinfonietta. He has been a frequent guest conductor and recording artist with such orchestras as the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, and Stockholm Philharmonic. A prolific composer of music for orchestra, ballet, film, chamber ensemble, and opera, he was awarded the Ives Medal for his dedication to the music of Charles Ives. In November 2000, his cello concerto was premiered by the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. Farberman founded the Conductors Guild and is the author of The Art of Conducting Technique.
For further information, call 845-758-7425 or visit the website www.bard.edu/ci.
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(7.16.02)