Bard College Conservatory of Music to Offer New Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance Beginning Fall 2021
Conservatory’s Five-Year Undergraduate Dual-Degree Program Adds Degree in Vocal Performance
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— Beginning in fall 2021, the Bard College Conservatory of Music’s five-year undergraduate double-degree program will offer a bachelor of music in vocal performance. Integrating world-class musical training with rigorous academic pursuit, the program develops students’ artistic skills through a diverse, inclusive range of repertoires and performance opportunities, emphasizing exploration and musical self-actualization. The students’ musical knowledge is enriched and contextualized by complementary coursework across all divisions of the College, understanding that the role of the singing artist is both communicator and innovator.Vocal performance students will work with faculty in both the Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Bard College Music Program. Opportunities for collaboration include the Chamber Singers, led by Maestro James Bagwell; the annual, fully-staged Opera Workshop at Bard’s Fisher Center; and performance classes led by Rufus Müller. Performance coursework will be matched with body and breath awareness courses in the Feldenkrais Method and/or Alexander Technique.
For information about the Conservatory’s undergraduate program, visit here. For application and audition information, visit here. To open an application, visit here.
Vocal Degree Course Requirements
The requirements (by semester) of the bachelor of music degree in the Conservatory are:
- Vocal Coaching (six)
- Diction for Singers (four)
- Chamber Singers (four)
- Vocal Pedagogy (one)
- Vocal Seminar (two)
- Vocal Electives (four)
- Song Class
- Opera Workshop
- Bard Baroque Ensemble
- Feldenkrais and the Voice
- Alexander Technique
Conservatory Course Requirements
All conservatory students take a full range of music classes including:
- Studio Instruction
- Chamber Music
- Conservatory Core Sequence in Theory, Analysis, and Composition
- Aural Skills
- Music History
Conservatory Performance Requirements
All conservatory students must fulfill the following performance requirements:
- First and Second year Juries
- Mid-Point recital (3rd year)
- Off-campus Community Recital (4th year)
- Final Degree Recital (5th year)
Additional Performance Opportunities
- Recital Performances on-campus and in off-campus concert series’
- Annual concerto competition
- Performances with Bard Baroque Ensemble
- Performances with Bard Conservatory Orchestra and Bard College Orchestra
- Performances with Symphonic Chorus and Bard Chamber Singers
Information about the Bard College bachelor of arts curriculum can be found here.
Faculty List: link to bios
- Stephanie Blythe
- Teresa Buchholz
- Richard Cox
- Lucy Fitz Gibbon
- Kayo Iwama
- Ilka LoMonaco
- Rufus Müller
- Erika Switzer
Recognized as one of the finest conservatories in the United States, the Bard College Conservatory of Music, founded in 2005, is guided by the principle that young musicians should be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences to achieve their greatest potential. All undergraduates complete two degrees over a five-year period: a bachelor of music and a bachelor of arts in a field other than music. The Conservatory Orchestra has performed twice at Lincoln Center and has completed three international concert tours: in June 2012 to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; in June 2014 to Russia and six cities in Central and Eastern Europe; and in June 2016, to three cities in Cuba. For additional information about The Bard College Conservatory of Music, please visit bard.edu/conservatory.
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