Image Credit: Photo by János Sutyák

The Fisher Center Presents The Conservatory Sunday Series

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— The Bard College Conservatory of Music presents the Conservatory Sundays concert series at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on October 14, 21, and 28, and Sunday, December 9. Performed by Conservatory students with faculty and special guests, proceeds from the concert series benefit the Scholarship Fund of The Bard College Conservatory of Music. Suggested donations are $20 (orchestra seating) and $15 (parterre/first balcony). The minimum donation for orchestra seating is $5. Seating location for tickets reserved without a donation will be assigned by the Box Office. For ticket information contact the Fisher Center box office at fishercenter.bard.edu or call 845-758-7900.

On Sunday, October 14, at 3 p.m., the faculty and students of the Conservatory of perform a concert of chamber works. The program includes Antonin Dvořák’s Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 87; Lou Harrison’s Suite for Percussion (1942), featuring the Bard Percussion Ensemble; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.

Writing during  his creative peak in 1887, the Piano Quartet is one of Dvořák’s most admired works. The piece integrates symphonic grandeur with elements of Czech folk music. This performance features Director of the Conservatory and cellist Robert Martin, faculty member and violist Marka Gustavsson, and students Jia Ming Wang, violin and Chi-Hui Yen, piano.

Another highlight of this program is the performance of American composer Lou Harrison’s Suite for Percussion. “The tradition of American percussion ensemble music is young and the late 1930s and early 1940s was an exciting time for the art.  Lou Harrison is a grandfather of this music in a certain sense. He was turning ordinary objects and wild noise–makers into wonderfully colorful and surprisingly melodic music.  Suite (for Five Percussionists) is an early standard of this repertoire.  Performing it on this concert is a chance for me and the Bard percussion students to dig into an early masterpiece,” says Sō Percussion and Conservatory faculty member Jason Treuting. An important piece in the history of the development of percussion music, Suite for Percussion will be performed by Treuting, along with the Bard Percussion Ensemble: Petra Elak, Amy Garapic, Christopher Gunnell, and Zihan Yi.

One of the last works Beethoven wrote before he was aware of his encroaching deafness, his Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, is a lighthearted work in the layout of the classic divertimento, and is one of Beethoven’s most popular and successful works. The matinee performance will feature members of the Orion String Quartet and Bard faculty members Daniel Phillips, violin, and Marka Gustavsson, viola, with students Emma Schmiedecke, cello; Bence Botar, bass; Noemi Sallai, clarinet; David Nagy, bassoon; and Ferenc Farkas, horn.

The concert series continues on Sunday, October 21, at 3 p.m. Leon Botstein will conduct the Conservatory Orchestra, performing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 (1827); Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds (1924) Blair McMillen, piano; Richard Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (1945); and Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98.

On Sunday, October 28 at 3 p.m., artistic directors Joan Tower and Blair McMillen present Music Alive!, an afternoon of electrifying new music, featuring Bard Conservatory musicians. The concert includes a mix of styles and features several recent works by Bard music faculty and students.  The program features Ondřej Kukal’s

Clarinettino (1990); John Halle’s Sphere’s (2002); Jose Sanchez’s Lazos Macabros (2011, rev. 2012); George Tsontakis’s Gymnopedie (2007), George Tsontakis, conductor; Gian Carlo Menotti’s Steal Me, Sweet Thief (1939); Kurt Weill’s Lonely House (1947); Leonard Bernstein’s Oh, Happy We (1956), Blair McMillen, piano; and David Lang’s Pierced (2007), Joan Tower, conductor.

The Conservatory Orchestra returns on Sunday, December 9, at 3 p.m. with guest conductor Marcelo Lehninger (MFA ’07), performing Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 88; Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8; and the world premiere of Christopher Swist’s Abaprima.

For more information about additional events, including concerts and master classes, go to www.bard.edu/conservatory.

The mission of The Bard College Conservatory of Music is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music. The Conservatory features a unique double-degree program in which all undergraduate Conservatory students receive a bachelor of music and a bachelor of arts in another field. In addition, the Conservatory offers a graduate program in vocal arts, led by renowned soprano Dawn Upshaw; graduate programs in orchestral and choral conducting, codirected by James Bagwell, Leon Botstein, and Harold Farberman; a postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship, directed by Frank Corliss; and a Preparatory Division for students ages 3–18.

To download high-resolution images click here or go to http://fishercenter.bard.edu/press/photos.php?group_id=420929

This event was last updated on 07-13-2013

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