Catalogue

The Orchestra Now

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) is a unique preprofessional orchestra offering a master’s degree and a certificate program designed to prepare musicians for the challenges facing the modern symphony orchestra. Musicians in the master’s degree program receive three years of advanced orchestral training and take graduate-level courses in orchestral and curatorial studies, leading to a Master of Music degree in Curatorial, Critical, and Performance Studies. Musicians in the Advanced Certificate program receive two years of training and take core seminars in orchestral and curatorial studies. Bard faculty and guest scholars in music history, art history and visual culture, and other disciplines in the humanities participate in the program’s seminars. Based at Bard’s main campus in Annandale, TŌN offers full-tuition scholarships and fellowships.

TŌN performs concert series at the Fisher Center at Bard; Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; and other concert halls throughout the Northeast. Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, is the music director and principal conductor of The Orchestra Now. The orchestra has also performed with many distinguished guest conductors and soloists, including Neeme Järvi, Vadim Repin, Fabio Luisi, Peter Serkin, Hans Graf, Gerard Schwarz, Tan Dun, Zuill Bailey, and JoAnn Falletta. Recordings featuring TŌNinclude Ferdinand Ries piano concertos with Piers Lane on Hyperion Records, and a Sorel Classics concert recording of pianist Anna Shelest performing works by Anton Rubinstein with TŌN and conductor Neeme Järvi. Recordings of TŌN’s live concerts from the Fisher Center can be heard on Classical WMHT-FM and WWFM/The Classical Network, and are featured regularly on Performance Today, broadcast nationwide. Visit the website to learn more about TŌN musicians and for information on upcoming concerts.