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Pianist Shai Wosner Curates Signs, Games & Messages, a Three-Day Festival Inspired by the Musical Explorations of György Kurtág at Bard Conservatory, February 24–26

Second annual festival highlights include Pierre-Laurent Aimard performing U.S. premieres of Kurtág solo piano works and The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, Op. 7: Concerto for Soprano and Piano with Aimard and Tony Arnold; Kurtág’s quartet Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, with movements from Cristóbal de Morales' 16th century Officium Defunctorum; and Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben paired with Kurtág’s Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova
 
Admission is free for all performances 

 
Conceived and curated by pianist Shai Wosner, Signs, Games & Messages is an annual three-day, four-concert festival at Bard College Conservatory of Music that explores the music of Hungarian composer György Kurtág (b. 1926), as well as that of composers who influenced or were influenced by him. Using Kurtág as a point of departure into music regardless of century or style, the Festival places different pieces and composers in a dialogue outside of time. Performances take place at Olin Hall, Chapel of the Holy Innocents, and the Bitó Conservatory Building Performance Space on Friday, February 24 at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and on Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. Admission is free for all performances. 
 
Reflecting on his inspiration for the festival, Shai Wosner said:
 
“The title of the annual festival—Signs, Games & Messages—taken from the work by Kurtág, captures the essence of his music and how it constantly interacts with other music and unfolds as a series of highly personal and condensed utterances. This year, the program centerpieces are 'messages' that reflect on the fragility of life—in particular the rarely-performed and monumental Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, and the great song cycle Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova. While sometimes late 20th-century music has a reputation for being ‘mathematical’ or ‘cerebral’, Kurtág stands for me as one of the big figures who forged a path for unapologetically visceral music, and opened the way for many who came after him.”
 
This year’s festival begins on Friday, February 24 with Pierre-Laurent Aimard performing solo piano works by Schubert and Kurtág, including U.S. premieres composed for Aimard by Kurtág during the pandemic and selections from the composer’s Játékok (Games)—short pieces stemming from the Hungarian tradition of blurring the lines between "educational" and "serious/concert" music. The program continues with Kurtág’s rarely performed The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, Op. 7: Concerto for Soprano and Piano—a cornerstone of late 20th century repertoire widely considered one of Kurtág’s masterpieces—with Aimard and soprano Tony Arnold.  
 
The second program, during the afternoon on February 25, revolves around Bartok's Mikrokosmos (which inspired Kurtag's Games), performed by Bard Prep Division students ages 8-16, interspersed with other related 'game'-like pieces including Bizet’s Jeux d'enfants, Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs, Ravel’s Ma mère l'Oye, and selections by Bach, Chopin, Fauré, and Beethoven, performed by pianists including Frank Corliss, Kayo Iwama, Blair McMillen, Victoria Schwartzman, Susanne Son, Terrence Wilson, and Shai Wosner. 
 
That same evening, the third program centers on spirituality, juxtaposing Kurtág’s quartet Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky with Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, both of which confront the reality of death and the possibility of renewed life. The pieces are interposed with movements from Cristóbal de Morales' 16th century requiem, Officium Defunctorum. Performers on this program include Bard’s Vocal Ensemble and String Quartet, and musicians from the Orion, Guarneri, and Borromeo quartets — violinists Daniel Phillips and Carmit Zori, violist Melissa Reardon, and cellist Peter Wiley —coming together for special performance of the Beethoven String Quartet. 
 
The final program on February 26 contrasts two song cycles about women: Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -Leben and Kurtág’sMessages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova, performed by pianist Kayo Iwama, members of the Bard Vocal Ensemble, and the Bard Contemporary Ensemble, conducted by Benjamin Hochman. Schumann’s piece is based on a male-written text that reflects outdated views on women of the time, while Kurtág's cycle is set to 15 poems by Rimma Dalos that are far more current in their sensibility. Heard side by side, the contrasting cycles explore both how the fragmentation in Schumann's music greatly influenced Kurtág's work, and how male-created art has perceived and portrayed a woman’s experiences through time.

Post Date: 01-24-2023

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Renowned Composer, Conductor, and Bard Conservatory Dean Tan Dun Is Appointed Cultural Ambassador for Hong Kong

Dean of Bard Conservatory Tan Dun has been appointed Hong Kong’s ambassador for cultural promotion. As the ambassador, Tan will initiate large-scale art projects and invite local artists to promote international cultural exchanges. “To me, Hong Kong is one of the most multicultural cities,” says Tan. “The exchange of different kinds of culture is flourishing in this metropolis, where East meets West.” His five-year appointment begins on January 1, 2023.

Post Date: 12-12-2022

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The Fisher Center at Bard Presents New Interpretations of Two Holiday Classics

Bard Conservatory Orchestra, Conducted by Leon Botstein, Performs Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker for In-Person and Remote Audiences, December 3

Fisher Center Premieres SITI Company’s Production of Dickens’
A Christmas Carol, Co-Directed by Anne Bogart ’74 and Darron L West,
Concluding SITI Company’s “Finale Season,” December 16–18

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON —The Fisher Center at Bard celebrates the holidays with two seasonal classics given fresh interpretations by world-renowned artists with deep connections to the college. Leon Botstein leads the Bard Conservatory Orchestra in a symphonic concert performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker on December 3, and the Fisher Center presents the world premiere of SITI Company’s reimagining of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, co-directed by Anne Bogart ‘74 and Tony Award winner Darron L West. The work, commissioned by the Fisher Center, is the final production in SITI Company’s 30th anniversary “Finale Season,” and runs for three performances, December 16-18.

In its special holiday performance on December 3, the 80-piece Bard Conservatory Orchestra, with a 24-member children’s chorus, takes on Tchaikovsky’s score for perhaps the most widely performed holiday classic, the two-act ballet The Nutcracker. The concert showcases the skill of the exceptional young players comprising the orchestra. It gives Fisher Center audiences a world-class rendering of the music, which Bard visiting associate professor of music Peter Laki, in a program note, contends is “the only thing critics liked about the piece from the start,” and is “what has ensured The Nutcracker’s place in the repertoire for 130 years, and is likely to keep it there.”

After fruitful work-in-progress performances in December 2021, SITI Company returns to the Fisher Center to premiere a uniquely SITI A Christmas Carol. They conjure the ghosts of the past, present, and future to speak to our society’s immediate need for gratitude, charity, fairness, justice, and equity. The cast includes Akiko Aizawa, Will Bond, Gian-Murray Gianino, Leon Inguslrud, Ellen Lauren, Kelly Maurer, Barney O’Hanlon, Stephen Duff Webber, and special guests Violeta Picayo and Donnell E. Smith. The production features costumes and scenery by James Schuette, lighting by Brian H Scott, and sound by Darron L West.

Gideon Lester, Artistic Director of the Fisher Center, says, “For 30 years, the legendary SITI Company has been one of the most inspiring and influential American theater ensembles. It’s an honor for the Fisher Center at Bard to collaborate with the company to create their ‘finale’ production—a wholly original adaptation of A Christmas Carol that brings Dickens’ words to new life through the theatrical power of imagination—in SITI’s inimitable style. Anne Bogart is a Bard alum, so this is a fitting homecoming. We’re delighted to continue our collaboration with her at her alma mater and to welcome her superb collaborators back to the Sosnoff Theater.”

Anne Bogart has said, “SITI Company and I are thrilled to return to Bard to share our encounter with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I graduated from Bard in 1974, and my trajectory was deeply affected by all of my experiences there. Bard instilled in me a sense of adventure and an enduring curiosity.”

Performance Schedule and Tickets

Bard Conservatory Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, performs The Nutcracker on Saturday, December 3, at 8 pm EST, in the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater. In-person tickets are available for a suggested donation of $15–20, and livestream access is pay-what-you-wish.

Fisher Center presents SITI Company’s A Christmas Carol Friday, December 16, at 8 pm; Saturday, December 17, at 6 pm; and Sunday, December 18, at 2 pm. Tickets are $25–65, with $5 tickets for Bard students made possible by the Passloff Pass and a 20% discount for groups of six or more.

Tickets for both events can be reserved at fishercenter.bard.edu, by phone at 845-758-7900 (Monday–Friday, 10 am–5 pm EST), or by email at [email protected].

Post Date: 11-16-2022

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Bard Conservatory of Music Presents Uncaged with World-Renowned Conductor and Composer Tan Dun on November 4

The Bard Conservatory of Music presents Uncaged, a centennial concert in honor of John Cage performed by the Bard Conservatory Orchestra under the direction of Tan Dun. The first part of the program features John Cage’s Credo in US (1942); Third Construction (1941), with members of the Conservatory percussion studio; 4′ 33″ (1952); and Atlas Eclipticalis (1961-62). Following a 15-minute intermission, the second part of the concert features Tan Dun’s Percussion Concerto: The Tears of Nature (2012). The performance will be held on Friday, November 4 at 8 pm in the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater. Tickets are $15-$20 suggested donation. Virtual livestream tickets are pay-what-you-wish. To reserve tickets, visit fishercenter.bard.edu, call 845-758-7900 (Mon-Fri 10 am-5 pm), or email [email protected].

The world-renowned artist and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world’s music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. A winner of today’s most prestigious honors, including the Grammy Award,Oscar/Academy Award, Grawemeyer Award, Bach Prize, Shostakovich Award, and most recently Italy’s Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement, Tan Dun’s music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television. Tan Dun is Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. As dean, Tan Dun further demonstrates music’s extraordinary ability to transform lives and guide the Conservatory in fulfilling its mission of understanding music’s connection to history, art, culture, and society.

As a conductor of innovative programs around the world, Tan Dun has led the China tours of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra. His current season includes leading the Orchestre National de Lyon in a six-city China tour, the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in a four-city tour of Switzerland and Belgium, as well as engagements with the Rai National Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra where he was recently named Artistic Ambassador. Tan Dun currently serves as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, Tan Dun conducted the grand opening celebration of Disneyland Shanghai, which was broadcast to a record-breaking audience worldwide. Tan Dun has led the world’s most esteemed orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Münchner Philharmoniker, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Post Date: 10-27-2022

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Bard Conservatory Faculty Member Renée Anne Louprette in Romania on Fulbright Award for Research on Historic Pipe Organs

Renée Anne Louprette, assistant professor of music, director of the Bard Baroque Ensemble, and College organist, is spending her fall semester sabbatical conducting research supported by a Fulbright US Scholar Award in Brașov, Romania. Hosted by Transylvania University, Louprette’s project focuses on the rich cultural heritage of historic pipe organs in the Transylvanian region and the efforts of local artisans to rescue, preserve, and restore these instruments. She has given recital performances in the urban centers of Brașov and Sibiu, completed audio and video recordings of 18th-century instruments in fortified churches of Mediaș, Saschiz, and Hărman, and of the 1930 Wegenstein organ in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Bucharest. She is also conducting interviews and collecting critical documentation related to notable 18th-century organ builders and recent restorations. She hopes that these efforts will help cast new light on this precious musical heritage unique to Romania as a cross-cultural center of Eastern Europe.

Post Date: 10-21-2022

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Bard Composer in Residence Jessie Montgomery Named 2023 Musical America Composer of the Year

Jessie Montgomery, composer in residence at Bard, has been named Musical America’s 2023 Composer of the Year. “Jessie Montgomery grew up surrounded by jazz and activism. A  Juilliard-trained violinist, she gravitated towards composition in her 20s, and later learned to associate her own Black identity with her music. The resulting body of work has been embraced all around the world for its freshness and energy,” writes Musical America. The 62nd annual Musical America awards will be presented at an awards ceremony in New York City on December 4.

Bard composer in residence Missy Mazzoli (2022) and Asher B. Edelman Professor in the Arts Joan Tower (2020) were recent recipients of this award.

Post Date: 10-14-2022