Bard Conservatory of Music News Archive

The Bard Conservatory Orchestra presents a live symphony performance of the music from one of the most enduring films in cinema history with A Symphonic Night at The Movies: The Wizard of Oz. Conducted by James Bagwell, the orchestra’s rendition will accompany a recently remastered screening of the film, performing the film’s original songs by composer Harold Arlen and Academy Award-winning score by Herbert Stothart, accompanied by Judy Garland’s original 1939 studio recordings.

The event will take place in two viewings on Saturday, September 23, at 7 pm, and on Sunday, September 24, at 2 pm, in the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater. Tickets start at $25 and sales benefit the Bard Conservatory Scholarship Fund. 

To reserve tickets, please visit here. 

Brian Hong, a Bard College Conservatory of Music faculty member who teaches viola and chamber music, has recently joined the Aizuri String Quartet. The Aizuri Quartet, managed by Gregory Brown at Pink Noise Agency, “views the string quartet as a living art and springboard for community, collaboration, curiosity and experimentation.” Praised by The Washington Post for “astounding” and “captivating” performances that draw from its notable “meld of intellect, technique and emotions,” Aizuri sets itself apart with its vigorous and passionate commitment to contemporary music and commissions. Their upcoming season will see world premieres of works by composers such as Jennifer Higdon, and collaborations with great composers and performers such as the Kronos Quartet and Kinan Azmeh. In their recent announcement, Aizuri welcomed its two new members, violist Brian Hong and cellist Caleb van der Swaagh, writing: “We’re over the moon to have these two incredible musicians join our quartet. Brian and Caleb are dynamic performers, passionate teachers, and creative thinkers. We are honored to welcome such thoughtful artists and beautiful humans into the Aizuri family.”

Brian Hong is a viola faculty member at Bard College Conservatory of Music. For the past five years, he has served as co-Artistic Director of NEXUS Chamber Music Chicago, an artist-driven collective of musicians with a mission to make classical music culturally relevant through live concerts and multimedia content. A Carnegie Hall Ensemble Connect alum and a Kovner Fellowship recipient, Hong studied violin with Laurie Smukler and Catherine Cho at Juilliard. He is the Programming Director of Project: Music Heals Us, a nonprofit providing musical education, access, and healing to isolated and marginalized communities.

Asher B. Edelman Professor in the Arts Joan Tower discusses more than 60 years of composing music, her inspirations (including visitations from dead composers), the changing landscape for women in composition, and her long tenure of teaching music at Bard with NPR’s music producer Tom Huizenga. When asked to describe her music, Tower confesses that it is hard to know one’s music but she can describe what she cares about. “My music is about rhythm, predominantly, the rhythm of ideas. And it's also organic, and it has a large-scale narrative. Usually, I only write in one movement, so I try to create an overall architecture for that one moment. It's also very important for me to be clear: I don't think my music ever gets complicated enough that you don't hear everything,” she says.