CONDUCTORS INSTITUTE AT BARD COLLEGE ANNOUNCES DATES FOR ITS SUMMER 2005 PROGRAM

"No serious conductor should miss the opportunity to study at the Institute." —Marin Alsop, principal conductor, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Conductors Institute (CI) at Bard is pleased to announce its 2005 summer program, which will take place from June 27 to August 5. The Institute, founded and directed by conductor and composer Harold Farberman, offers programs for professional and student conductors and composers. Participants in the six-week summer program work directly with Maestro Farberman, who anchors the faculty of guest conductors and composers in residence. New visiting faculty and new repertoire each week assure all Institute participants of exposure to a variety of expert opinions. In addition, there are evening lectures with internationally known scholars, composers, and conductors. Farberman founded the Conductors Institute in 1979 to fill a void in the United States for a training program for conductors. “I hit on a formula that remains the same to this day—vigorous technical training and promotion of American music in a cooperative atmosphere,” he said. The Institute offers study combinations that enable students to tailor their own programs. These include Visual Score Study/Baton Placement and Body Movement Technique, which, using Farberman’s innovative system, unites the study of Institute repertoire with instruction in the Alexander Technique as it relates to the enhancement of performance skills and expression. In the Conducting Program for Fellows and Colleagues, fellows work with the Institute orchestra during morning sessions while colleagues work with the Institute string quintet during afternoon sessions and with the Institute orchestra on Fridays. The Discovery Program is designed for conductors with limited experience who wish to improve their skills. Participants work with a string quartet in afternoon sessions for two weeks and attend all morning and evening sessions of the Conducting Program. The Composer-Conductor Program pairs each composer with a conductor who is responsible for learning and preparing the composer's work for public performance by the Composers’ Chamber Ensemble. The Conductors Institute, now in its third decade of existence and its seventh year at Bard College, also offers a 15-month program leading to a master of fine arts degree in conducting. For two consecutive summers, M.F.A. candidates participate in the Institute's six-week program. Candidates also complete required course work at Bard during the intervening academic year, which includes classes in composition, basic orchestral repertoire, languages, a second instrument (string or piano), and solfège, in addition to master classes in technical score study and analysis with Maestro Farberman. The program also offers podium time, including conducting opportunities with orchestra and chorus during the academic year, and culminates in a completion concert with the Institute Orchestra. Merit-based scholarships are available for a limited number of qualified applicants. The deadline for application to both the six-week Conductors Institute and the M.F.A. program in conducting is April 1, 2005. Bard College is located in New York's Hudson River Valley, 90 miles north of New York City and one hour from Tanglewood. For further information and an application, call the Conductors Institute at 845-758-7425, e-mail [email protected], or visit the website, www.bard.edu/ci. # Composer and conductor HAROLD FARBERMAN has written diverse works for orchestra, three operas (most recently The Song of Eddie, which was premiered at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in July 2004), numerous chamber works, a score for an Academy Award–winning documentary film, and music for dance companies. Many of his works, which have been performed all over the world, are represented on three CDs devoted to his music, released by Albany Records. An advocate of modern music, Farberman received the Ives Award for his definitive interpretations of the work of Charles Ives. His recordings of Mahler, Michael Haydn, and Irwin Bazelon, as well as of Ives and his own music, have earned worldwide recognition for excellence. Farberman founded the Conductors Guild and is the author of the pioneering work The Art of Conducting Technique: A New Perspective, an innovative approach to the physical placement and movement of the baton. He is also the founder and artistic director of the Conductors Institute and director of Bard’s master of fine arts degree program in conducting.

This event was last updated on 10-20-2004

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