THE BARD MUSIC PROGRAM PRESENTS TWO CONCERTS THIS DECEMBER AT THE RICHARD B. FISHER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT BARD COLLEGE December 8 and 15 Concerts Feature the Bard College Community Chorus, Orchestra, and Chamber Singers

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard Music Program presents two concerts, on Wednesday, December 8, and Wednesday, December 15, at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College. Admission is $5, free for Bard students and children 12 and under. Both programs begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Sosnoff Theater. The Bard College Community Chorus and Chamber Singers, under the direction of James Bagwell, associate professor of music and director of choral music at Bard, will perform Igor Stravinsky’s Mass and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Theresienmesse on Wednesday, December 8. “Both settings of the mass, Stravinsky’s from 1948 and Haydn’s from the 1790s, are by very different composers who are approaching the same text,” explains Bagwell. “They are both masterpieces of the genre.” The chorus is composed of students and community members. The Bard College Orchestra will perform Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B flat and Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture on Wednesday, December 15. Bagwell notes that Schubert wrote this work in his teens and it is a “fresh, lovely piece.” The orchestra, founded five years ago by Joan Tower, is now under Bagwell’s direction. Master’s degree students from Bard's Conductors Institute work with Bagwell to coach and prepare for the performance. Maestro Bagwell notes that this year, “We are very excited to perform in the new Fisher Center, which has such superb acoustics. This is a very exciting opportunity for the students to work in such a distinguished concert hall.” Reservations are not required, but may be made by calling the Fisher Center Box Office at 845-758-7900. About James Bagwell: Jay Harvey wrote in the Indianapolis Star, “Bagwell displayed a fine sense of detail and proportion. . . . His cues and encouragement to soloists, the choir, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra had an electrifying intensity that seemed to yield a full measure of commitment to the music by all concerned.” James Bagwell maintains an active schedule throughout the United States as a conductor of choral, operatic, and symphonic literature. He is the chorus master of the Bard Music Festival; music director of the Light Opera of Oklahoma; and principal guest conductor of and artistic adviser to the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and Indianapolis Chamber Singers, a professional ensemble that he founded. Bagwell also serves as music director of Cincinnati's May Festival Youth Chorus and director of the May Festival Summer Chorus. He has trained choruses for several major American orchestras, including the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and Indianapolis Symphony. # # # (11/15/04)

This event was last updated on 05-23-2005

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