Signs, Games, and Messages 2026: A Kurtág Festival

2026 marks the centenary of Hungarian composer György Kurtág, whose music is distinguished by precision, clarity, and deep emotional and cultural resonance. The seventh season of Bard Conservatory of Music’s annual Kurtág Festival celebrates this occasion with an expanded program featuring Bard faculty, students, and international artists connected to Kurtág. The festival places Kurtág’s music in dialogue with composers who shaped or reflect his artistic world - from Bach and Bartók to Abrahamsen and Adès.

Artists performing in the festival include Benjamin Appl (baritone); Demian Austin (trombone); James Baillieu (piano); Sydney Cornett (mezzo-soprano); Luosha Fang (violin); Lucy Fitz Gibbons (soprano); Benjamin Hochman (piano); András Kemenes (piano); Alexandra Knoll (oboe); Ryan McCullough (piano); Marcus Rojas (tuba); Erika Switzer (piano); András Szalai (cimbalom); and additional faculty and students of the Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Artistic Director: Benjamin Hochman.

This festival has been permanently endowed through the generous support of László Z. Bitó '60 and Olivia Cariño.

All on-campus festival events are free and open to the public. Rolling festival updates will be posted on this webpage and in our weekly eblasts.

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Program One
Kurtág And the Lieder Tradition
Wednesday, March 11, 7pm
Olin Hall

Program Two
Abrahamsen’s Schnee
Friday, March 27, 7pm
Conservatory Performance Space

Program Three
Bach Inventions and Sinfonias
Saturday, March 28, 1pm
Conservatory Performance Space
 
Program Four
Songs, Laments, Dances, Games
Saturday, March 28, 7pm
Chapel Of the Holy Innocents

Program Five
Kurtág, Mozart, And the Bach Family
Sunday, March 29, 3pm
Conservatory Performance Space

Program Six
György Kurtág in Context:
Bach, Bartók, And Kurtág
Part of Brooklyn Public Library’s
Classical Interludes Series
Saturday, April 4, 4pm
Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Cultural Center
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library

Free and open to the public

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Location: Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space