The mission of the Bard College Conservatory of Music is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music. We seek to do so in a just, inclusive, and diverse community.
Top, left to right: Missy Mazzoli, Jessie Montgomery
Bottom, left to right: Mira Wang, Hugo Valverde, Brian Hong, Yazhi Guo
New Faculty Appointments
Bard Conservatory To Welcome Six New Faculty Members In Fall 2022
Joining the composition faculty are Missy Mazzoli and Jessie Montgomery.
Joining the instrumental faculty are violinist Mira Wang, violist Brian Hong, and horn player Hugo Valverde.
Joining the US-China Music Institute faculty is suona player, Yazhi Guo.
Please join us in welcoming these outstanding musicians to our vibrant community at Bard.
New Faculty Appointments
Joining the Bard Conservatory faculty this fall are Missy Mazzoli, Jessie Montgomery, Mira Wang, Brian Hong, Hugo Valverde, and Yazhi Guo. Limited bios are available below, full bios may be found here.
Recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (NY Times), “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart” (Time Out NY), and praised for her “apocalyptic imagination” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker), Missy Mazzoli has had her music performed by the Kronos Quartet, LA Opera, eighth blackbird, the BBC Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, Scottish Opera and many others. In 2018 she became, along with Jeanine Tesori, the first woman to receive a main stage commission from the Metropolitan Opera, and was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of “Best Classical Composition". From 2018-2021 she was Mead Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and from 2012-2015 was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia. Missy Mazzoli joins the Bard Conservatory Faculty as a Composer in Residence.
Jessie Montgomery is an acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator. She is the recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and her works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (The Washington Post). Her growing body of work includes solo, chamber, vocal, and orchestral works. Jessie Montgomeryjoins the Bard Conservatory Faculty as a Composer in Residence.
Mira Wang has built a remarkable bridge from her time as a child prodigy in Beijing, China to an acclaimed soloist on the world stage today. She has appeared as a soloist with many prestigious orchestras all over the world including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Saarbrücken Radio Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and NDR Philharmonic Hannover. Mira Wang joins Bard Conservatory as an Artist in Residence, and she will also be teaching the Graduate Performance Studies class.
Joining the Bard Conservatory viola faculty, Korean-American violinist and violist Brian Hong is forging a career as a soloist and chamber musician. Known for his commanding stage presence and thoughtful ear, Mr. Hong has performed concertos with such orchestras as the Juilliard Orchestra, Fairfax Symphony, American Youth Philharmonic, Chesapeake Orchestra, US Army Orchestra, National Philharmonic, and the Springfield Symphony. A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Hong’s festival credits include Marlboro, Yellow Barn, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, the Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall, and the Perlman Music Program.
Joining the Bard Conservatory horn faculty, Hugo Valverde currently holds the full-time and tenured position of Second Horn with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. As an orchestral player he has performed with the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Tahoe Festival Orchestra in Incline Village, Nevada, The Strings Music Festival Brass Ensemble in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, The Orchestra of the Americas on their Eastern Canada Tour, The Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, The New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Yazhi Guo, is regarded by many as the finest suona player in the world, and his expressive performances and unique style have created many opportunities in the world of modern music for the instrument. He is a visiting artist and teaches master classes at Philadelphia University of the Arts and Berklee College of Music, as well as at the Bard Conservatory of Music.
Announcing The Creation Of Bard Conservatory's Inclusive Excellence in Music Scholarships
Bard Conservatory is committed to fostering musical and academic excellence in students coming from populations historically underrepresented in the classical music field. Bard Conservatory is pleased to announce the creation of up to 5 Inclusive Excellence in Music Scholarships for incoming first years in the Undergraduate Double Degree Program, 1 for incoming first years the Graduate Vocal Arts Program, and 1 for incoming first years in the Graduate Conducting Program.
These scholarships will cover up to the full cost of tuition, room and board at Bard College for the entirety of the student's academic program, and all students applying from populations that have been historically underrepresented in classical music will automatically be considered for this scholarship. In addition to financial support, our Inclusive Excellence in Music scholars will also receive support from Conservatory peer and faculty mentors in bi-weekly meetings, as well as full access to the resources of Bard College's Office of Equity and Inclusion. These services include group advising, the Learning Commons, and leadership development.
Works for solo piano by Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Wayman Chin’s playing has been described as, “transcendental, long lines spun like glorious gold thread,” “ferociously concentrated, intense, focused, and musically astute” (Boston Herald), “vividly characterized and atmospheric,” (Stamford Mercury, U.K.), and “sheer magic….every note is colored.”(the Freeman, Philippines).
Pianist Wayman Chin has performed widely throughout the United States, Asia, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, his concerts include performances at Princeton University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Jordan Hall, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, and the Old First Concert Series in San Francisco. Chin has appeared at Tsuen Wan Town Hall in Hong Kong, and in the Philippines, on the Sala Foundation concert series, at the residence of the United States Ambassador in Manila, and at Soochow University in Taipei.
