Bard Press Releases

GALA GRADUATION CONCERT PRESENTED BY THE CONDUCTORS INSTITUTE AT BARD ON SUNDAY, JULY 30 Free Concert Features Works by Beethoven, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Shostakovich, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky as well as Two World Premieres by the Candidates

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Conductors Institute at Bard presents its 2006 Gala Graduation Concert on Sunday, July 30. The program, free and open to the public, begins at 3:00 p.m. in Olin Hall on the Bard College campus. The two candidates for the degree of master of fine arts in conducting—Marcelo Lehninger and Jordan Rodu—conduct the Institute Orchestra in a program of works from the traditional repertoire as well as world premieres of their own compositions. Works to be performed include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (1st and 4th movements); Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major (excerpt from the 1st movement); Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 (4th movement); Mozart’s overture to the Magic Flute; Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 (4th movement); Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique” (2nd movement); Lehninger’s “Lost and Found”; and Rodu’s “Taconic.” This is the second consecutive summer in which the two graduate degree candidates have participated in the Institute’s six-week program. They also completed required course work at Bard during the intervening academic year, including classes in composition, basic orchestra repertoire, languages, a second instrument (string or piano), and solfège. In addition, they completed private studies and master classes in technical score study and analysis with Maestro Harold Farberman, as well as podium time with the Institute string quintet and conducting opportunities with the Bard College Community Orchestra, Chorus, and Vocal Ensembles. Farberman founded the Conductors Institute 26 years ago with a summer 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 Conductors Institute is in its eighth year at Bard College, and this is the sixth year that the master of fine arts degree in conducting is being offered. In addition to Farberman, the year-round graduate program faculty includes Bard professors James Bagwell, Kyle Gann, Christopher Gibbs, Franz Kempf, and Laurence Wallach, as well as cellist Ling Kwan, pianist Sylvia Suzowsky, and violinist Marka Young. During the two six-week summer institutes, the M.F.A. candidates had new instructors and repertoire each week, assuring them of exposure to a variety of expert opinions. Visiting maestri have included Marin Alsop, Leon Botstein, Karen Lynne Deal, Guillermo Figueroa, Raymond Harvey, Apo Hsu, David Alan Miller, and Sidney Rothstein; and such visiting composers as David Del Tredici, Harold Farberman, George Tsontakis, and Joan Tower. Maestro Farberman anchors the faculty of the summer program. Conductor and composer Harold Farberman has written diverse works for orchestra, three operas, 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 Albany Records CDs devoted to his music. As a conductor and an advocate of modern music, Maestro 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 a 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. A member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s percussion section from 1951 to 1963, Farberman was its youngest performer when he joined the orchestra immediately after graduating from The Juilliard School of Music. For further information, call 845-758-7425 or visit the website www.bard.edu/ci. # ABOUT THE CONDUCTORS Marcelo Lehninger was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1979. He received a bachelor’s degree in conducting from the Brazilian Conservatory of Music and has participated in master classes given by such conductors as Alceo Bocchino, Yeruham Scharovsky, Andreas Weiss, Apo Hsu, Guillermo Figueroa, and Moshe Atzmon. He studied for many years with Roberto Tibiriça. Since winning the second prize in the first Eleazar de Carvalho National Competition for Young Conductors in 2001 (Rio de Janeiro), he led the Petrobrás Pró-Música Symphony as well as several orchestras in South America, including the Paraná Symphony Orchestra, Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Niteroi), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Symphony Orchestra, Amazonas Chamber Orchestra, Rio de Janeiro Camerata Orchestra, and the National University of Cuyo Symphony Orchestra in Mendoza, Argentina. In 2005 he recorded a CD of Brazilian folk music with the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to his focus on conducting, Lehninger studied violin and was a finalist in the first Paulo Bosisio Violin Competition in Rio de Janeiro, and was a member of the Suzuki Young Talents Orchestra and of the Rio House of Culture Orchestra. He also studied piano and was granted an award in the 14th National Piano Competition in the City of Araçatuba, State of São Paulo. Jordan Rodu came to Bard after completing his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He was a violist in the Berkshire Symphony and conducted the Williams College Student Symphony, as well as other ensembles he formed. While at Bard, Rodu continued playing viola with ensembles in New York City and Connecticut. He served as the choir director at the Red Hook United Methodist Church, and conducted a new opera at Harvard University. # # # (7/14/06)

This event was last updated on 08-10-2006

Back to Top

Bard Press Contact:
Emily M. Darrow
 845-758-7512
[email protected]
Recent Press Releases: