ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard Orchestra, conducted by Nathan Madsen, presents a concert on Friday, May 16, at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall. The free concert features a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, with soloist Lydia Spielberg ’09, cello, winner of the Bard Orchestra’s 2008 Concerto Competition. Also on the program is Copland’s Quiet City and Haydn’s Symphony No. 99. No reservations are necessary; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

A native of Arizona, Lydia Spielberg is a junior at Bard College, where she is pursuing a double major in music performance and classical studies. She is currently principal cellist of the Bard Orchestra, and has also played in both the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra (Woodstock, N.Y.) and the Musica Nova Orchestra (Mesa, Ariz.). Spielberg is the recipient of the John Bard Scholarship and the Betsie Richards Memorial Scholarship. She has studied chamber music with the Colorado Quartet, both at Bard and at the Soundfest Quartet Institute on Cape Cod, and is a student of Diane Chaplin, cellist of the Quartet.

Nathan Madsen, recently appointed music director of the Bard Orchestra, just completed his third season as staff conductor at the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra, and this season will begin work with the Empire State Youth Orchestra. Recent appearances as guest conductor include performances with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Bard College Conservatory of Music, Da Capo Chamber Players, and Bard Musical Theater Group. A strong and passionate advocate of new compositions, Madsen founded the USC Friends of Music, a chamber orchestra that juxtaposed newly composed music with more familiar works. Always looking for new ways to approach music and engage audiences, he formed an outreach organization at USC that sought to make classical music more familiar to nonmusic majors, dubbed SCound Bites. Madsen delivered his own alternative preconcert talks prior to performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and LA Opera, and drew enthusiastic support from the USC community. He regularly appears at the Conductors Institutes’ Composer-Conductor Week, and collaborated last season with the Scottish conceptual artist Martin Creed in a British commission for the dedication of the CCS Hessel Museum of Art. This season he assisted James Bagwell and Dawn Upshaw in the production of a new opera by English composer David Bruce. Madsen received a master’s degree from the Conductors Institute at The Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Harold Farberman. He holds a dual degree in music and East Asian languages and cultures from USC. A recipient of a grant from the Freeman Foundation, he also attended the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

For further information, call the Music Program at 845-758-7250.

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(5/2/08)

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Nathan Madsen, director, Bard Orchestra

This event was last updated on 05-17-2008

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