Bard College Conservatory of Music Presents Signs, Games & Messages 2025: A Kurtág Festival

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY—The Bard College Conservatory of Music presents the 2025 season of Signs, Games & Messages, a three-day festival celebrating the music and artistry of renowned Hungarian composer György Kurtág. The festival, which is free and open to the public, will begin on February 29 and take place through March 2 on Bard’s campus in Annandale. Curated by acclaimed pianist and conductor Benjamin Hochman, a lecturer at Bard College Berlin, this year’s festival offers four unique programs showcasing the range of Kurtág’s work.

“The Kurtág Festival is a remarkable opportunity for students, faculty, guest artists, and audiences to engage deeply with the work of one of the most profound musical voices of our time,” said Frank Corliss, director of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. “This recurring festival fosters a unique environment where musicians of all ages come together to explore, interpret, and celebrate Kurtág’s artistry in conversation with other great composers.”
Named after one of Kurtág’s signature compositions, Signs, Games & Messages is an annual festival dedicated to exploring his music and the composers who have shaped or been shaped by his artistry. This unique celebration fosters a timeless dialogue between composers, musicians, and styles, with Kurtág’s work as the central thread. 
For more information, please visit https://www.bard.edu/conservatory/events/ or contact Kat Ottosen [email protected]. 

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

PROGRAM ONE: Bartók and Kurtág
Friday, February 28 at 7:00 pm at the Conservatory Performance Space, Bard College 61 Blithewood Ave, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 12504
Featuring guest artists Hiromi Kikuchi (violin) and Ken Hakii (viola), this program explores the musical conversation between Béla Bartók and György Kurtág, two of Hungary’s most significant composers.

PROGRAM TWO: Piano Marathon, Bartók’s Mikrokosmos (Books IV, V, and VI)
Saturday, March 1 at 2:00 pm at the Conservatory Performance Space, Bard College 61 Blithewood Ave, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 12504
An exhilarating performance of Bartók’s Mikrokosmos by students and faculty of the Conservatory, showcasing the depth and brilliance of his pedagogical masterpiece.

PROGRAM THREE: Literary Inspirations I, Lichtenberg, Joyce, and Kurtág
Saturday, March 1 at 7:00 pm at the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, 1387 Annandale Rd, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY, 12504
A thought-provoking program featuring works by Kurtág, Bach, Gubaidulina, Purcell, Eötvös, Cage, and more, exploring the interplay of literature and music. Performed by faculty, students and guest artists.

PROGRAM FOUR: Literary Inspirations II, Beckett and Kurtág
Sunday, March 2 at 4:00 pm at the Conservatory Performance Space, Bard College 61 Blithewood Ave, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 12504
A profound musical journey through works by Kurtág, Schubert, and Beethoven, highlighting not only Beckett’s influence on Kurtág but also musical inspirations shared by both Kurtág and Beckett.

2025 Kurtág Festival performers Include: Guest Artists Ken Hakii (viola), Hiromi Kikuchi (violin), Will Langlie-Miletich (double bass); and Faculty Members Luosha Fang ’11 (violin), Lucy Fitz Gibbon (soprano), Benjamin Hochman (piano), Kayo Iwama (piano), Philip McNaughton (bassoon), Daniel Phillips (violin), Raman Ramakrishnan (cello), Melissa Reardon (viola), Terrence Wilson (piano), and Carmit Zori (violin).

Funding Credit
This festival has been permanently endowed through the generous support of László Z. Bitó '60 and Olivia Cariño. About the Bard College Conservatory
The Bard College Conservatory of Music expands Bard’s spirit of innovation in arts and education. The Conservatory, which opened in 2005, offers a five-year, double-degree program at the undergraduate level and, at the graduate level, programs in vocal arts, conducting, and instrumental performance, as well as Chinese music and culture. Also at the graduate level, the Conservatory offers an Advanced Performance Studies program and a two-year Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship. The US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, established in 2017, offers a unique degree program in Chinese instruments. The Bard Conservatory Orchestra has performed twice at Lincoln Center, and has completed three international concert tours: to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; Russia and six cities in Central and Eastern Europe; and three cities in Cuba. The orchestra also performs annually at area prisons. This year, the Conservatory has enrolled more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students from 25 countries and 31 states. In recognition of their academic and musical excellence, many students hold named scholarships, including the Bettina Baruch Foundation Scholarship, Y. S. Liu Foundation Scholarship, Joan Tower Composition Scholarship, Dr. Ingrid A. Spatt ’69 Memorial Flute Scholarship, and Stephen and Belinda Kaye Scholarship, among others. bard.edu/conservatory About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year, residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,200 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in more than 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 13 programs; eight early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 165-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.

This event was last updated on 02-10-2025

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