Music, like all art, engages the mind and the heart. It redefines boundaries and questions limits in order to make a meaningful statement about the human condition. The education of the mind is, therefore, as important as the education of the fingers. The greatest musicians not only have the technical mastery to communicate effectively but also are deeply curious, and equally adept at analytical and emotional modes of thought.
Conservatory Director, Frank Corliss, and Dean, Tan Dun
Our Story
In 2005, Robert Martin led the founding of Bard College Conservatory, the first (and so far only) conservatory to require all its students to pursue a bachelor of arts in a field other than music in addition to a bachelor of music in their specialized music studies. Bard Conservatory was founded on the principle that the skills and attitudes fostered by an education in the liberal arts and sciences are exactly those that will make the difference between technical excellence and genuine artistry. Upon Martin's retirement from Bard in 2019, the Conservatory welcomed Director Frank Corliss and Dean Tan Dun. As dean, Tan Dun has further demonstrated music’s extraordinary ability to transform lives and guided the Conservatory in fulfilling its mission of understanding music’s connection to history, art, culture, and society.
About Us
Performance Opportunities
The Bard Conservatory offers unparalleled musical opportunities for its students. The Conservatory Orchestra performs regularly on campus, in New York City, and in semiannual concert tours to Asia or Europe. Students frequently perform alongside faculty in chamber music concerts at Bard, in regional chamber music concert series, and in concerts for the Bard Music Festival. Concerto competition winners from the undergraduate instrumental and graduate Vocal Arts Programs perform with either the Bard Conservatory Orchestra or the American Symphony Orchestra.
World-Class Faculty
The Bard Conservatory’s undergraduate faculty members are renowned performing musicians whose artistry has been featured in the world’s great concert halls. They are on campus weekly to give lessons, coach chamber ensembles, offer master classes, hold studio classes, and lead sectional rehearsals of the orchestra. Details about the faculties of the graduate Vocal Arts Program and the Graduate Conducting Program can be found at their individual program pages.
Outstanding Facilities
The László Z. Bitó ’60 building, completed in 2013, contains general-use classrooms, faculty offices, teaching studios, two percussion studios, a 100-seat recital hall, a student lounge, instrument storage lockers, and administrative offices. The Conservatory’s largest performing venue is the Sosnoff Theater at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Additional performing venues, classrooms, practice rooms, and studios are located throughout campus in the Avery Arts Center, the Olin Humanities Building, and the Bitó Practice Room Building.
Accreditation
Bard College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a regional accrediting agency approved by the United States Education Department.
-
Accreditation
The New York State Education Department has registered the following courses of study leading to Bard College bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees: the bachelor of arts, bachelor of music, bachelor of science, master of arts in curatorial studies, master of arts in teaching, master of fine arts, master of business administration in sustainability, master of music in vocal arts, master of music in conducting, master of music in curatorial, critical, and performance studies, master of science in environmental policy, master of science in climate science and policy, master of education in environmental education, master of science and master of arts in economic theory and policy, and the master of arts, master of philosophy, and doctor of philosophy degrees in decorative arts, design history, and material culture. New York State Education Department, Office of Higher Education, Office of College and University Evaluation, Room 960 EBA, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234; phone 518-474-1551. https://www.nysed.gov/heds/IRPSL1.html
Bard is also a member of the American Council on Education, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, College Entrance Examination Board, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, Education Records Bureau, and Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities.
Bard is also a member of the American Council on Education, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, College Entrance Examination Board, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, Education Records Bureau, and Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities.Discover More