Bard Conservatory News Archive

Bard Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli was profiled by Opera News ahead of the premier of her work, Lincoln in the Bardo, at the Metropolitan Opera. The profile gives an account of Mazzoli’s upbringing in a Philadelphia suburb, from taking up piano at age seven to playing in punk bands on cemetery grounds, to composing globally recognized operas performed in Europe and the United States. Mazzoli made the connection between her childhood home and common themes of her work, like opioid addiction, which claimed the lives of many she grew up with. “The people I went to high school with, who are now in the grips of addiction—that could have very easily been me if I hadn’t been so distracted by music,” said Mazzoli. “The difference in our circumstances is very small.”

Opera News also details the challenges and doubts that Mazzoli has overcome in her stellar career, such as the professor who assured her that she would never achieve an academic position as a composer—Mazzoli is now a composer in residence at Bard—as well as promises from leading figures in opera that “the current crop of women composers were not ready for the “big leagues.”  Mazolli is also the first woman to premier an opera at the Met, and her previous premier, The Galloping Cure, was hailed by the Times of London as “one of the greatest operas of the century.” The piece also introduced the mentorship program she co-founded with fellow composer Ellen Reid, in order to ensure other young composers do not face the same headwinds. “These comments have reverberated through my mind every time I applied for a job, every time I put myself out there,” says Mazzoli. “My success is indeed the sweetest form of revenge I can imagine.”

Mazzoli is faculty member in the Bard Music Program and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, whose mission is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music. She teaches classes on composition and new music, as well as giving private studio instruction for composition majors at Bard.
 

Bard College musicians played Carnegie Hall last week, and will take the stage again at Lincoln Center on Saturday. Both performances are part of the China Now Festival, now in its ninth iteration since Artistic Director Jindong Cai founded the festival at Bard in 2018. As with previous seasons, the aim of this year’s festival program is to promote the music of contemporary Chinese composers, this time under the theme of “Chasing Dreams.” 

The Bard East/West Ensemble, the China Now Chamber Orchestra, and The Orchestra Now, Bard’s graduate training program for classical music professionals, are among those featured in the concerts. In addition to the performances taking place in two of New York City’s most prestigious venues, three concerts are also happening upstate at Bard’s Fisher Center and Chapel of the Holy Innocents, and at Kingston’s Tempo Performing Arts Center. Matt Moment previewed the concerts for the Daily Catch, delving into their bold musical choices and Professor Cai’s guiding inspiration.
 

Asher B. Edelman Professor of Music Joan Tower, who has been a member of Bard’s faculty for 54 years, was profiled in the Daily Catch and featured on Classical music station WHMT. Tower was interviewed by WHMT along with Alexandra Balog, director of the Atalena Artists Collective, who are presenting a concert celebrating Tower’s work on October 3. “Seeing [Joan] composing every day, after all she’s accomplished … her discipline and love for music has influenced my way of thinking about music and life in general,” Balog said.

“[Tower] was larger than life for me [as a child],” Bard Artist in Residence and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, who will perform at the celebratory concert, told the Daily Catch. “[Her music can be] stormy, serene, humorous, nostalgic, tender, or violent.” Tower said her goal as a professor is to help writers develop their own perspective. “We don’t try to burden our students with our style,” she said. “They develop their own voice, which is something I’m very proud of.”

The October 3 concert marks Tower’s 54 years at Bard with an evening of her music performed by Bard faculty, students, the Cassatt Quartet, and musicians of The Orchestra Now (TŌN). This celebratory concert is free and open to the public.
 

The ninth annual China Now music festival celebrates the 250th anniversary of America and the evolution of the American Dream with events in New York City, Kingston, and at Bard College, October 2–11, 2026

The US–China Music Institute at Bard College Conservatory presents the ninth annual China Now Music Festival, taking place in New York City, Kingston, and at Bard College from October 2–11, 2026 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America and the evolution of the American Dream.

This year’s festival “Chasing Dreams” reminds us that the pursuit of dreams is a shared human experience that connects all people. Artistic director of the China Now Music Festival, Jindong Cai, emphasizes the power of music in sustaining hope and preserving historical memory as we navigate turbulent times. He says, “For this year’s festival, we aim to tell stories of the shared dreams, resilience, and creativity that connect all of us, American and Chinese alike. Through music, we can be reminded that our histories and aspirations are deeply intertwined.”

With works by an outstanding roster of contemporary Chinese-American and Chinese composers including Huang Ruo, Zhou Long, and Li Shaosheng, the festival reflects the tenacity of the human spirit through stories of creativity, perseverance, and innovation. From Maya Lin’s determination to realize a bold artistic vision, to the sacrifices of the Chinese railroad workers to build a nation, to the scientists and explorers whose ambitions continue to expand humanity’s horizons, these works celebrate the many ways dreams have shaped American history and continue to inspire future generations. Together, they embody the China Now Music Festival’s mission of fostering cross-cultural understanding through music while honoring the enduring contributions of Chinese people who have chased freedom, unity, and equality in what has historically been called the American Dream.

Led by conductor Jindong Cai, the opening night at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on October 2 at 7:30 pm features a performance of renowned composer Huang Ruo and Tony-award winning librettist David Henry Hwang’s chamber opera, The Rift. The chamber opera recounts the creation of architect Maya Lin’s iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Although it is now one of the most beloved and most visited memorials in the United States, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial had a deeply contentious beginning. The controversial origin of the memorial is at the heart of this story featuring interconnected yet conflicting characters: architect Maya Lin sung by soprano Karen Vuong; a Vietnam War veteran sung by tenor Edward Graves; a Vietnamese refugee sung by mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa; and former secretary of defense Robert McNamara sung by Daniel Klein. In an article by AsAmNews, librettist David Henry Hwang describes Maya Lin’s journey as “a story about how a work of art can help to heal a country.” That same night, the festival’s resident ensemble, the Bard East/West Ensemble, will perform three works written for the group by Zhang Zheng, Luk Wai Chun, and Wang Danhong. The core members of the ensemble are composed of a Western string quintet and seven Chinese instruments including dizi, erhu, pipa, ruan, suona, guzheng and sheng, with Chinese and Western percussionists.

For the final two concerts at Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College on October 10 at 3 pm and at Frederick P. Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center on October 11 at 3 pm, artistic director Jindong Cai conducts The Orchestra Now (TŌN), China Now Chorus, and vocal soloists, bringing to life Pulitzer-winning composer Zhou Long and librettist Sun Wei’s powerful symphonic oratorio Men of Iron and the Golden Spike. The work honors the thousands of Chinese laborers who came to America in the 1860s to build the Transcontinental Railroad that connected the US coasts and transformed the nation. Zhou Long writes, “In this divisive moment in our country, I hope this piece reminds audiences that America has always been shaped by diverse ethnic communities, and that the stories of Chinese laborers deserve their rightful place in our shared history.” This monumental work returns to the stage in New York City after its premiere during the 2019 China Now Music Festival and features a large orchestra, 120 choristers, and vocal soloists.

In the same program as the oratorio is the US premiere of Li Shaosheng’s symphonic suite Chasing the Sky which explores humanity’s enduring fascination with the skies and the journey of space exploration. The piece traces the relationship between ancient imagination, scientific discovery, and contemporary innovation. Through five interconnected movements, the work reflects on the timeless human desire to understand the universe as we push the boundaries of knowledge while remaining connected to the world we call home. The work celebrates generations of dreamers, researchers, engineers, and explorers whose curiosity and dedication have expanded our understanding of the cosmos. The performance features a suona soloist in the second movement, Questioning the Sky, and a tenor soloist Li Yi in the powerful finale. The soaring vocal lines embody the timeless spirit of discovery and humanity's shared aspiration to reach beyond the horizon.

Additional musical performances include a concert on Sunday, October 4 at 3 pm at TEMPO Performing Arts Center in Kingston and another on Friday, October 9 at 2 pm at Chapel of the Holy Innocents at Bard College. At TEMPO, the Bard East/West Ensemble will present the three pieces from the previous concert at Carnegie Hall in addition to repertoire that further showcases their innovative, cross-cultural sound. Returning home from a 2026 tour in China that took them to 8 cities for 15 performances, the Bard East/West Ensemble will perform unique arrangements of works by Aaron Copland, Astor Piazzolla, and Jiang Ying, among others. At the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, singers from the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, will perform Chinese and American folk songs, along with other contemporary works. 

Through opera, orchestral works, chamber music, and conversation, the 2026 China Now Music Festival reminds audiences of important moments in American history and invites the listeners to reflect on how the “American Dream” has changed over time. As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the festival offers an opportunity to listen to music that explores the impact and contributions of Chinese people on the development of America.

US-China Music Forum:
This year, on October 3rd at 4:30PM, alongside Asia Society, the China Now Music Festival will co-host the US-China Music Forum: Chasing Dreams, followed by a reception. The forum features live solo performances of excerpts from Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s The Rift and Zhou Long and Su Wei’s Men of Iron and the Golden Spike, as well as a panel discussion. The creators and performers behind The Rift and the Men of Iron and the Golden Spike will discuss how music captures the emotion and power of history, what the “American Dream” means to them, and how they envision music and performance illuminating stories that have been neglected. The discussion will be followed with a Q&A.

For more information on the festival, visit https://www.barduschinamusic.org/chasing-dreams
 

Bard Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli was the subject of a New York Times feature article, on the occasion of the back-to-back world premieres for two operas she composed. 

The Galloping Cure, cowritten with librettist Royce Vavrek, debuted as a Scottish Opera production at the Edinburgh International Festival; meanwhile, Lincoln in the Bardo is set to premier at the Metropolitan Opera—who also commissioned it—in October. The former opera has received rave reviews, according to the Times, for providing “politically urgent, musically eclectic works for a new generation of operagoers.” The Times of London labeled the latter opera as “one of the greatest operas of the century.”

The forthcoming Lincoln in the Bardo is based on George Saunders’s 2017 novel of the same name. Following the former American president through the Civil War while he is also grieving the death of his son, it engages themes of political polarization that remain relevant today. It will be the first world premiere opera at the Met that was written by a woman; Mazzoli is also one of two women to have been awarded Met commissions. Artistic director of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program, Stephanie Blythe, will also be featured in the new opera.

Mazzoli’s operas are written as much for new audiences as for traditional ones, she told the Times. “I don’t feel that opera has to stay stuck in the past,” Mazzoli said. “I really want my work to spark a conversation among the audience, with the critics, with the press. I just want people to come out asking more questions than they have answers.”

At 45, Mazzoli has already written seven operas, drawing from a wide range of musical styles and traditions that are expanding the definition of the operatic form. Mazzoli studied music in college and in graduate school, though she cites MTV as being as much an influence as anything from the operatic canon. The use of nontraditional instrumentation—including kazoos, in the case of Lincoln in the Bardo—further distinguishes Mazzoli as charting a new direction for opera. “The idea that opera is only for people in tuxedos, that is the perception we are fighting against,” she told the Times.

Mazzoli is faculty member in the Bard Music Program and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, whose mission is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music. She teaches classes on composition and new music, as well as giving private studio instruction for composition majors at Bard.
 

Concerts and Discussions Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of America at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Bard College, Tempo Performing Arts Center, and Asia Society

The US–China Music Institute at Bard College Conservatory announces the launch of the ninth annual China Now Music Festival, taking place in New York City, Kingston, and at Bard College from October 2–11, 2026 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America and the evolution of the American Dream.

This year’s festival “Chasing Dreams” reminds us that the pursuit of dreams is a shared human experience that connects all people. Artistic director of the China Now Music Festival, Jindong Cai, emphasizes the power of music in sustaining hope and preserving historical memory as we navigate turbulent times. He says, “For this year’s festival, we aim to tell stories of the shared dreams, resilience, and creativity that connect all of us, American and Chinese alike. Through music, we can be reminded that our histories and aspirations are deeply intertwined.”

With works by an outstanding roster of contemporary Chinese-American and Chinese composers including Huang Ruo, Zhou Long, and Li Shaosheng, the festival reflects the tenacity of the human spirit through stories of creativity, perseverance, and innovation. From Maya Lin’s determination to realize a bold artistic vision, to the sacrifices of the Chinese railroad workers to build a nation, to the scientists and explorers whose ambitions continue to expand humanity’s horizons, these works celebrate the many ways dreams have shaped American history and continue to inspire future generations. Together, they embody the China Now Music Festival’s mission of fostering cross-cultural understanding through music while honoring the enduring contributions of Chinese people who have chased freedom, unity, and equality in what has historically been called the American Dream.

Led by conductor Jindong Cai, the opening night at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on October 2 at 7:30 pm features a performance of renowned composer Huang Ruo and Tony-award winning librettist David Henry Hwang’s chamber opera, The Rift. The chamber opera recounts the creation of architect Maya Lin’s iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Although it is now one of the most beloved and most visited memorials in the United States, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial had a deeply contentious beginning. The controversial origin of the memorial is at the heart of this story featuring interconnected yet conflicting characters: architect Maya Lin sung by soprano Karen Vuong; a Vietnam War veteran sung by tenor Edward Graves; a Vietnamese refugee sung by mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa; and former secretary of defense Robert McNamara sung by Daniel Klein. In an article by AsAmNews, librettist David Henry Hwang describes Maya Lin’s journey as “a story about how a work of art can help to heal a country.” That same night, the festival’s resident ensemble, the Bard East/West Ensemble, will perform three works written for the group by Zhang Zheng, Luk Wai Chun, and Wang Danhong. The core members of the ensemble are composed of a Western string quintet and seven Chinese instruments including dizi, erhu, pipa, ruan, suona, guzheng and sheng, with Chinese and Western percussionists.

For the final two concerts at Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College on October 10 at 3 pm and at Frederick P. Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center on October 11 at 3 pm, artistic director Jindong Cai conducts The Orchestra Now (TŌN), China Now Chorus, and vocal soloists, bringing to life Pulitzer-winning composer Zhou Long and librettist Sun Wei’s powerful symphonic oratorio Men of Iron and the Golden Spike. The work honors the thousands of Chinese laborers who came to America in the 1860s to build the Transcontinental Railroad that connected the US coasts and transformed the nation. Zhou Long writes, “In this divisive moment in our country, I hope this piece reminds audiences that America has always been shaped by diverse ethnic communities, and that the stories of Chinese laborers deserve their rightful place in our shared history.” This monumental work returns to the stage in New York City after its premiere during the 2019 China Now Music Festival and features a large orchestra, 120 choristers, and vocal soloists.

In the same program as the oratorio is the US premiere of Li Shaosheng’s symphonic suite Chasing the Sky which explores humanity’s enduring fascination with the skies and the journey of space exploration. The piece traces the relationship between ancient imagination, scientific discovery, and contemporary innovation. Through five interconnected movements, the work reflects on the timeless human desire to understand the universe as we push the boundaries of knowledge while remaining connected to the world we call home. The work celebrates generations of dreamers, researchers, engineers, and explorers whose curiosity and dedication have expanded our understanding of the cosmos. The performance features a suona soloist in the second movement, Questioning the Sky, and a tenor soloist Li Yi in the powerful finale. The soaring vocal lines embody the timeless spirit of discovery and humanity's shared aspiration to reach beyond the horizon.

Additional musical performances include a concert on Sunday, October 4 at 3 pm at TEMPO Performing Arts Center in Kingston and another on Friday, October 9 at 2 pm at Chapel of the Holy Innocents at Bard College. At TEMPO, the Bard East/West Ensemble will present the three pieces from the previous concert at Carnegie Hall in addition to repertoire that further showcases their innovative, cross-cultural sound. Returning home from a 2026 tour in China that took them to 8 cities for 15 performances, the Bard East/West Ensemble will perform unique arrangements of works by Aaron Copland, Astor Piazzolla, and Jiang Ying, among others. At the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, singers from the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, will perform Chinese and American folk songs, along with other contemporary works. 

Through opera, orchestral works, chamber music, and conversation, the 2026 China Now Music Festival reminds audiences of important moments in American history and invites the listeners to reflect on how the “American Dream” has changed over time. As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the festival offers an opportunity to listen to music that explores the impact and contributions of Chinese people on the development of America.

US-China Music Forum:
This year, on October 3rd at 4:30PM, alongside Asia Society, the China Now Music Festival will co-host the US-China Music Forum: Chasing Dreams, followed by a reception. The forum features live solo performances of excerpts from Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s The Rift and Zhou Long and Su Wei’s Men of Iron and the Golden Spike, as well as a panel discussion. The creators and performers behind The Rift and the Men of Iron and the Golden Spike will discuss how music captures the emotion and power of history, what the “American Dream” means to them, and how they envision music and performance illuminating stories that have been neglected. The discussion will be followed with a Q&A.

For more information on the festival, visit https://www.barduschinamusic.org/chasing-dreams

The Galloping Cure, an opera by Missy Mazzoli, composer in residence at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, was featured on the BBC’s Radio 4: Front Row. A collaboration between Mazzoli and author and Bard Fiction Prize winner Karen Russell, The Galloping Cure is based on a short story by Russell that was inspired by Kafka’s short story “A Country Doctor.” The opera is an allegory for the opioid crisis in which a mysterious carousel cures a town of its illnesses but becomes more expensive and addictive as time passes. The Edinburgh International Festival, where the opera premiered, described it as “visually stunning and emotionally gripping… [evoking] a darkly funny and devastating vision of a crumbling society.”

Mazzoli spoke with the BBC about her opera, which they describe as “sometimes elegiac, sometimes… dystopian.” “Opera is inherently multimedia [and] immersive,” Mazzoli said. Her research involved riding on and listening to carousels in Paris and Coney Island in New York, to “make the audience feel like they were on a carousel [by] recreating this doppler effect.” Although The Galloping Cure is about a serious subject, “it’s not moralistic, it’s not dour… my goal is that people come out of it having more of a language to discuss something that’s very hard to talk about. Losing someone to addiction, it’s very hard to have the words for it. So my attempt to talk about it was to make this piece.”

The Galloping Cure premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival earlier this month. Mazzoli’s next opera Lincoln in the Bardo, which is based on the novel by George Saunders, will premiere in October at the Metropolitan Opera, the first opera by a woman to do so.

Bard Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli was profiled in a New York Times article about the Luna Composition Lab, the mentorship program she founded with fellow composer Ellen Reid. They founded the lab after they realized they’d never experienced female mentorship in composing. “We took a good hard look at what we wished we had had,” said Mazzoli, and the two asked themselves, “What can we do to make this more diverse, more vital, more alive, more fun?” The Lab, which turns 10 this year, matches young and experienced composers who are female, nonbinary or gender nonconforming, and mentees receive eight months of mentorship and attend a music festival in New York. Now, Mazzoli and Reid are organizing musical events for LunaLab@10, an anniversary celebration of the program and its expanded reach. “We want the field to expand,” said Mazzoli, “and so bringing in gender diversity, racial diversity, economic income diversity, geographic diversity helps [the] field survive and thrive.”

Mazzoli is a Grammy-nominated composer and musician who has written operas including Lincoln in the Bardo and Proving Up that are based on contemporary literature. She teaches in the Bard College Conservatory of Music, which provides the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music.

Professor of Music James Bagwell, director of the music program at Bard College and director of performance studies in the Bard College Conservatory of Music, has been announced as the principal conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, as well as principal conductor and director of choral music at the Berkshire Bach Society. Bagwell will assume a central artistic leadership role with Tulsa Symphony, helping shape programming and performances as the orchestra continues to expand its artistic vision and community impact. Bagwell was recognized by both organizations for the role he has played over the past two decades in creating a consistent record of excellence in choral performance. “These two appointments mark the culmination of a long artistic association with the Tulsa Symphony and Berkshire Bach,” said Bagwell. “I look forward to many more years of artistic collaborations with these two prestigious organizations.”

He has been a regular guest conductor for the Tulsa Symphony since 2007, leading it in performances of Mozart’s Requiem and Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, returning in subsequent seasons to conduct Britten’s War Requiem, and Mahler’s First Symphony. “We are thrilled to welcome James Bagwell as principal conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra,” said Morgan Walker, executive director of Tulsa. “His long-standing relationship with the orchestra, combined with his depth of experience and artistic leadership, makes him the ideal partner as we look ahead to an exciting new chapter.” 

Bagwell, who additionally serves as codirector of the Bard Conservatory Graduate Program in conducting and is associate conductor of The Orchestra Now (TŌN), also frequently appears as a guest conductor for orchestras around the country and abroad, including the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Interlochen Music Festival, and the Jerusalem Symphony. “I’ve long admired James Bagwell’s work as a choral conductor,” said Eugene Drucker, artistic director of Berkshire Bach, “specifically in the Berkshire Bach Society vocal concerts for which I’ve had the pleasure of serving as his concertmaster, and more generally in his meticulous preparation of the chorus for opera productions at Bard College’s Summerscape and for oratorio performances with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.” 

The Music Program, one of the largest programs on Bard’s campus, provides a wide range of musical concentrations, from classical composition and performance to jazz, electronic music, musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory. 
 

The US-China Music Institute's eighth annual conference on Chinese Music in the West was highlighted in China Daily. The three-day program brought together renowned guzheng masters from China, musicians from across North America, and young student performers for a gathering of artistic exchange, collaboration, and performance. The event culminated in a special performance by the Gu Zheng Tianxia Ensemble, held at Olin Hall at the Bard College Conservatory of Music, which featured 40 guzheng players, “their sound flowing as one and filling the hall with a powerful, continuous wave of music,” writes China Daily. The guzheng, one of China's most recognizable traditional instruments, has become increasingly popular in China and the West as musicians explore new techniques and forms of innovation while maintaining the instrument’s traditional character, said Cai Jindong, director of the US-China Music Institute.