Bard Conservatory of Music News Archive

A native of Port Arthur, Texas, Alexander holds a bachelor of music degree in piano from Prairie View A&M University and a master of music degree in orchestral conducting from the Bard Conservatory of Music. He is currently pursuing a professional studies certificate in orchestral conduction from the Manhattan School of Music. The Project Inclusion Conducting Freeman Fellowship fosters the development of four to six conductors of diverse backgrounds who are on the verge of professional careers.

First-year instrumentalists Sophia Jackson, cello, and Aleksandar Vitanov, trumpet, have launched a new program called the Music Mentorship Initiative (MMI). The program offers tutoring and free private lessons to music students who otherwise cannot afford them, while allowing mentors—current Conservatory students who have completed a pedagogical training seminar—to gain teaching experience.
Become a Mentee

On Sunday, September 13, Live From Music Mountain, in partnership with Carnegie Hall, presented a special tribute to renowned pianist Peter Serkin, who taught at the Bard College Conservatory of Music from the time the program was established in 2005 until his death in February 2020. The special two-hour program, which was streamed on multiple platforms, included highlights of performances by Serkin and conversations with artists who were close to him, including Emanuel Ax, Jaime Laredo, Jeremy Denk, and Benjamin Hochman; Fred Sherry, Ida Kavafian, and Richard Stoltzman, cofounders with Serkin of the Tashi Quartet; producer Marty Krystall; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt of the Dover Quartet; composers Derek Bermel and Andreia Pinto-Correia; and former student Tomoki Park.