BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC PRESENTS ITS FREE FALL CONCERT AND LECTURE SERIES

World-renowned musicians will perform at Bard College; series begins Sunday, September 4 ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Bard College Conservatory of Music will present its Conservatory Concerts and Lectures Series this fall in Olin Hall and the Sosnoff Theater of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. All performances are free and open to the public. No reservations are necessary. The series begins on Sunday, September 4, at 3:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, with a piano recital of works of Chopin, performed by Conservatory graduate student Xin Tong. Tong, a student of Melvin Chen, has just completed undergraduate studies at Yale College with a major in computer science. He will compete this fall in the International Chopin Competition in Poland. Sunday, September 11, at 3:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Melvin Chen, will give its premiere performance. Works to be performed include Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, with guest artists Ida Kavafian, violin, and Steven Tenenbom, viola (both members of the Conservatory faculty). Chen is associate director of the Bard College Conservatory. On Wednesday, September 14, at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, a piano recital will feature American pianist Jeremy Denk, who has established a reputation as one of today’s most compelling young artists. Denk, a 1998 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, won the 1997 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He serves on the faculty of the Conservatory. On Thursday, September 15, at 7:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, a piano master class will be offered by pianist and Conservatory faculty member Richard Goode. In addition to his distinguished international solo career, Goode serves with pianist Mitsuko Uchida as coartistic director of the Marlboro School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont. Sunday, November 20, at 3:00 p.m. in the Sosnoff Theater of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra will perform under guest conductor Fabio Mechetti. The program will include Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 9, Mozart’s Symphony 31 (“Paris”) and 35 (“Haffner”), and Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, for cello and orchestra. Brazilian-born Mechetti is music director of the Jacksonville Symphony. A recital on Sunday, December 11, at 3:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, will feature chamber music performed by Conservatory students and faculty. The Conservatory’s instrumental and composition faculty includes world-class musicians and composers, including violinists Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, Weigang Li, Laurie Smukler, and Arnold Steinhardt; violists Steven Tenenbom, Michael Tree, and Ira Weller; cellists Sophie Shao and Peter Wiley; double bassist Marji Danilow; pianists Melvin Chen, Jeremy Denk, Peter Serkin, and piano master classes with Richard Goode; oboist Laura Ahlbeck; flutist Tara Helen O’Connor; clarinetists Laura Flax and David Krakauer; bassoonist Marc Goldberg; horn players Julie Landsman and Jeffrey Lang; and trombonist John Rojak. The Conservatory also includes classes in composition with Joan Tower and George Tsontakis; vocal arts with Dawn Upshaw; conducting with Harold Farberman; and has the Colorado Quartet and Da Capo Chamber Players in residence. In addition, members and principals of the American Symphony Orchestra will be available for instruction, coaching, and leading of sectional rehearsals in the Conservatory Orchestra. In 2006–2007, the Conservatory is introducing three additional programs: the Vocal Arts Graduate Program, directed by Dawn Upshaw; The Conductors Institute, directed by Harold Farberman; and the Composition Program, directed by Joan Tower and George Tsontakis. “The mission of the Conservatory at Bard is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music,” says Robert Martin, director of the Conservatory and vice president for academic affairs at Bard College. “We believe deeply in the value of an education in the liberal arts and sciences, not as a luxury, but as the best preparation for functioning competitively and creatively.” According to Melvin Chen, associate director of the Conservatory and professor of music and science at Bard College, “Music, like all art, engages the mind and the heart. It redefines boundaries and questions limits in order to make a meaningful statement about the human condition. The education of the mind is therefore as important as the education of the fingers or voice. The greatest musicians not only have the technical mastery to communicate effectively, but also are deeply curious and equally adept at analytical and emotional modes of thought.” For further information about the lecture and concert series, call 845-758-7425. # Building on its distinguished history of innovation in arts and education, Bard College has launched the Bard College Conservatory of Music. This innovative, five-year double-degree program is guided by the principle that musicians should be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences to achieve their greatest potential. While training and studying for the bachelor of music degree with world class musicians and teachers and performing in state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Frank Gehry–designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Bard Conservatory students will also pursue a bachelor of arts degree at Bard, one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges. The graduating musicians will be capable of pursuing professional careers with the broad, deep knowledge afforded by a liberal arts education, ready to enter their professions with interpretive skills well beyond simple musical competence. For more information about the Bard College Conservatory of Music, call 845-758-7196, e-mail [email protected], or log onto the program’s website, www.bard.edu/conservatory.

This event was last updated on 09-08-2005

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