BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
Undergraduate Double Degree Graduate Vocal Arts Program Graduate Conducting Program
THE BARD CONSERVATORY IS, ABOVE ALL, FEARLESS AND ADVENTUROUS. WE HONOR TRADITION BY LOOKING TO REINVENT IT. WE HONOR OUR STUDENTS BY TREATING THEM AS WHOLE PERSONS, CAPABLE OF MORE THAN THEY IMAGINED. WE BELIEVE IN EXCELLENCE, CURIOSITY, INQUIRY, RISK TAKING, AND COMMUNITY.
THE MISSION OF THE BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC IS TO PROVIDE THE BEST POSSIBLE PREPARATION FOR A PERSON DEDICATED TO A LIFE IMMERSED IN THE CREATION AND PERFORMANCE OF MUSIC.
Grand Hall, Liszt Academy, Budapest
UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREE
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UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREE
Overview The unique undergraduate curriculum of the Bard College Conservatory of Music is guided by the principle that musicians should be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences to achieve their greatest potential. The five-year, double-degree program combines rigorous Conservatory training with a challenging and comprehensive liberal arts program. All Conservatory students pursue a double degree in a thoroughly integrated program and supportive educational community. Graduating students receive a bachelor of music (B.Mus.) and a bachelor of arts in a field other than music (B.A.). At the Bard Conservatory the serious study of music goes hand in hand with the education of the whole person.
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UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREE
Outstanding Faculty The strength of the Conservatory is in its outstanding faculty— renowned performing musicians whose artistry is featured in the world’s great concert halls and in the teaching studio. They are deeply committed to the individual growth of their students through on-campus weekly lessons, chamber music coachings, and studio classes.
Joan Tower (left), composition faculty
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UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREE
Curriculum The innovative Conservatory curriculum helps students by developing their musical and intellectual capabilities. In addition to weekly private lessons, chamber music, and orchestra, the bachelor of music program includes courses in aural skills, music history, and a four-semester Conservatory core sequence, which integrates music theory, composition, and music history in order to place students’ music making in a larger social, historical, and expressive context.
Peter Wiley (right), cello faculty
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UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREE
Performance Opportunities The Bard Conservatory offers unparalleled performance opportunities for its students in solo, chamber music, and orchestral settings. In addition to numerous opportunities on campus, students perform throughout the Hudson Valley, in New York City, and through chamber music and orchestral tours around the world. Past performance venues have included Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, Brown University, and the major halls of Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest.
David Krakauer (right), clarinet faculty
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“After a while, ideas from classes begin to cross-pollinate. Connections never before imagined become possible. I’ve found that my computer science class helps me analyze four-part harmony; my idea about a phrase in a Bach sonata helps me conceptualize Plato’s Allegory of the Cave; and the logic of a mathematical proof helps me play a musical phrase convincingly, and bring a sense of organization to my practicing.” —Avery Morris, B.Mus. ’18, violin
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UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREE
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“For the curious, the musical, the intellectual, it’s a great choice, as the message here—both by intent and example—is that there are no boundaries between art and academics, and that the study of both may bring the fullest potential to each.” —Marc Goldberg, bassoon faculty
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BARD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
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GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAM
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GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAM
Overview The Graduate Vocal Arts Program (VAP) at the Bard College Conservatory of Music is a unique two-year master of music program in the vocal arts. Conceived and led by renowned American soprano Dawn Upshaw, the program aims to inspire and prepare the young singer in the pursuit of a rewarding professional life in music in the 21st century. Each class consists of a select group of students. Each singer receives the individual attention that can help to uncover and nurture his or her unique artistic voice.
Dawn Upshaw (left) and students in Winter Songfest
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GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAM
Outstanding Faculty A group of master voice teachers, coaches, instructors in Alexander Technique, and experts in acting, movement, and diction are supplemented by guest artists drawn from the professional music world.
Dawn Upshaw (right), VAP artistic director
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GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAM
Curriculum The vocal arts curriculum is divided into three main components: core seminars, private instruction, and workshops. The core seminars focus on topics that address different aspects of the singing life such as poetry and text, the creation of new performance opportunities, contemporary music, and opera. Students receive weekly private instruction in voice, vocal coaching, and Alexander Technique. Additional course work includes weekly workshops in opera, acting, diction and phonetics, movement, language translation, vocal chamber music, and professional development.
Performance Opportunities Performing is the central means of artistic self-discovery in the VAP classes. Most of the classes require weekly in-class participation at a performance level and culminate in public concerts. Throughout the course of the program, each singer is offered opportunities to perform works drawn from the song, oratorio, and operatic repertoires. Singers work in collaboration with pianists, instrumentalists, and orchestra—in recital, oratorio, and fullystaged operatic productions. The VAP curriculum connects the young singer with a larger artistic world through frequent performances in the surrounding area and New York City.
Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw
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GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAM ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL
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GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAMS
Overview The Graduate Conducting Program (GCP), orchestral and choral, balances a respect for established traditions with the flexibility and curiosity needed to keep abreast of evolving musical ideas. The program equips its graduates with the broad-based skills and experience necessary to meet the special opportunities and challenges of a conducting career in the 21st century.
James Bagwell (right), choral conducting faculty
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GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAMS
Outstanding Faculty The program is led by faculty members with broad experience in the professional music world who are deeply committed to the development of young conductors. It is codirected by Harold Farberman, founder and director of the Conductors Institute at Bard; James Bagwell, principal guest conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and academic director and associate conductor for The Orchestra Now; and Leon Botstein, president of Bard College and music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra Now, and the Bard Conservatory Orchestra. Additional classroom and studio faculty are drawn from the Bard Conservatory, the Bard Music Program, and the greater professional world.
Harold Farberman (center), orchestral conducting faculty
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GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAMS
Curriculum Common Curriculum The curriculum centers on instruction in conducting with generous podium time. Common curriculum is shared by both the orchestral and choral tracks, and includes instruction in music history, ear training, score reading, composition, foreign language study, and career workshops. Choral In addition to a four-semester core seminar in choral conducting, students on the choral track take classes in diction, voice lessons, vocal pedagogy, and choral repertoire. Orchestral Students on the orchestral track take the four-semester core seminar in orchestral conducting and private instrumental lessons. Orchestral conducting students also participate in two summers of the Conductors Institute; in the final summer they present their thesis concert with full orchestra.
Conducting Opportunities The opportunity for substantial podium time is integral to the growth and education of young conductors. The orchestral conductors have weekly sessions both with piano and with the Orchestral Conducting Ensemble, an ensemble of players drawn from the Conservatory Orchestra and The Orchestra Now. There are additional regular opportunities to conduct the full complement of the Bard Conservatory Orchestra. Choral students regularly lead the Bard Chamber Singers and Bard Symphonic Chorus. In addition, they work with the Bard Conductors Chorus, a professional ensemble in New York, three times each semester.
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Collaborative piano fellow and VAP student
COLLABORATIVE PIANO FELLOWS The Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship is a two-year fellowship designed to ease the transition of a collaborative pianist between school and the working world. This program allows students to expand their knowledge of the core collaborative piano repertoire, to get experience playing for high-level undergraduate and graduate students under the mentorship of master musicians, and to deepen their musical understanding through the guidance of the distinguished faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. bard.edu/conservatory/fellowship
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BARD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
Carl Albach (right), trumpet faculty
ADVANCED PERFORMANCE STUDIES The Advanced Performance Studies Program is a four-semester certificate program for exceptionally gifted performers who wish to continue their study of music through concentrated study with the world-class faculty of the Bard Conservatory. The curriculum includes weekly private lessons, full participation in the Bard Conservatory orchestra and chamber music programs, and the opportunity to audit or enroll in most courses throughout the College. bard.edu/conservatory/aps
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Rufus Müller (right), Bard Music Program voice faculty
AFFILIATED PROGRAMS Bard Music Program The Bard Music Program is part of Bard’s four-year bachelor of arts curriculum—that is, the study of music in a liberal arts context. This program offers majors in classical performance and composition, musicology, theory, jazz performance and composition, electronic music, ethnomusicology, and world music. Students develop their talents as performers through lessons and participation in large and small ensembles. All courses and ensembles in the Music Program are also open to Conservatory students. music.bard.edu The Orchestra Now A presentation of Bard College, The Orchestra Now is a unique training orchestra and master’s degree program designed to prepare musicians for the challenges facing the modern symphony orchestra. Musicians receive advanced orchestral training and take graduate-level courses leading to a master of music degree in curatorial, critical, and performance studies. bard.edu/orchnow 28
BARD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
Conservatory Director Robert Martin (center) and students rehearse for the Bard Music Festival
The Conductors Institute The Conductors Institute offers summer courses for conductors designed to promote technical clarity and precision in baton movement in a positive working atmosphere. The program enables conductors at every level to fulfill their musical capabilities and encourages conductors to be advocates of composers and new music. Graduate Orchestral Conducting Program students participate in the Conductors Institute as part of their degree. bard.edu/conservatory/ci/programs Bard Music Festival The Bard Music Festival was founded in 1990 to promote new ways of understanding and presenting the history of music to a contemporary audience. Each year, a single composer is chosen as the main subject. The biography of the composer, the influences and consequences of that composer’s achievement, and all aspects of the musical culture surrounding the time and place of the composer’s life are explored. fishercenter.bard.edu/bmf Preparatory Division The Conservatory also offers a Preparatory Division serving young people ages 2 to 18—the study of music by the young in the context of a first-class conservatory. bard.edu/conservatory/preparatory
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“What brought me to Bard, in a word, was the faculty. To work with Joan Tower, George Tsontakis, and James Bagwell was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. I had long followed and admired their work, and then I found out that each of them taught here. It’s easy for musicians to focus only on music, whereas I wanted to have a broader education that would prepare me for a world that requires a more well-rounded base of knowledge and experience.” —David Bloom ’13 and M. Mus. ’15 in conducting
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BARD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
The László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building. Opposite: The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
FACILITIES The László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building is a 16,500-square-foot structure connected to the Avery Arts Center’s music wing. Facilities include the 145-seat Conservatory Performance Space, 15 teaching studios, lounge, and large classroom. The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by architect Frank Gehry, houses two theaters and dance, theater, and rehearsal studios. The Sosnoff Theater is an intimate 800-seat theater with orchestra, parterre, and two balcony sections and orchestra pit. The Franklin W. Olin Humanities Building is the main academic facility on campus. A 380seat concert hall is attached by a glass lobby that features a circular interior colonnade. The Bard Music Practice Rooms building contains a dozen practice rooms. The Edith C. Blum Institute facilities include Blum Hall, practice rooms, offices, classrooms, listening library, and studios for recording, editing, computer music, composition, and jazz percussion.
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Achebe House (Bard Prison Initiative) Albee (classrooms, offices, Difference and Media Project/Multicultural Affairs) Alumni Houses (residence halls): Bluecher, Bourne, Honey, Leonard, Obreshkove, Rovere, Rueger, Shafer, Shelov, Steinway, Wolff Anna Jones Memorial Garden Annandale Hotel (Publications and Public Relations Offices) off map Anne Cox Chambers Alumni/ae Center (Development and Alumni/ae Affairs, Institutional Support) Aspinwall (classrooms and faculty offices) Avery Arts Center: Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center, Center for Moving Image Arts, Edith C. Blum Institute (Film and Electronic Arts and Music Programs, Bard College Conservatory of Music offices) Bard College Farm Bard College Field Station Bard Hall (recital space) Barringer House (Center for Civic Engagement) Bertelsmann Campus Center (bookstore, post office, Down the Road Café, Weis Cinema, and Career Development, Student Activities, and Trustee Leader Scholar Program Offices) Bitó Conservatory Building Blithewood (Levy Economics Institute) Brook House (Residence Life) Buildings and Grounds, Financial Aid Office, Student Accounts Carriage House (Central Services) Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS Bard) and Hessel Museum Chapel of the Holy Innocents Community Garden Cruger Village (residence halls): Bartlett, Cruger, Keen North, Keen South, Maple, Mulberry, Oberholzer, Sawkill, Spruce, Stephens, Sycamore Fairbairn: see Warden’s Hall Feitler House (residence hall) Fisher Annex (MFA Program offices) Fisher Center for the Performing Arts: Sosnoff Theater, LUMA Theater (Theater and Performance Program, Dance Program) Fisher Studio Arts Building Gahagan (offices) Hegeman (classrooms, faculty offices, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, MBA in Sustainability Office) Henderson Annex Henderson Computer Resources Center
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Hirsch Hall (residence hall) Honey Field Hopson: see Warden’s Hall Hopson Cottage (Admission Office) Kline Commons (dining facility, Green Onion Grocer) Libraries (Stevenson, Hoffman, Kellogg) Lorenzo Ferrari Field Complex Ludlow (administrative offices, Registrar’s Office, Institute for Writing and Thinking) McCarthy House (Hannah Arendt Center, Human Rights Project) Music Practice Rooms Nursery School (Abigail Lundquist Botstein Nursery School, Bard Community Children’s Center) Old Gym (Safety and Security Office, student activity spaces) Olin Humanities Building and Auditorium (Olin Hall) Olin Language Center Ottaway Gatehouse for International Study (IILE) parliament of reality by Olafur Eliasson President’s House Preston Hall (classrooms, offices) Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation (Resnick Laboratories, Bitó Auditorium) Resnick Commons (residence halls; Center for Spiritual Life) Robbins House (residence hall, Student Health and Counseling Services) Rose Science Laboratories Sands House (residence hall) Seymour: see Warden’s Hall Shafer House (Written Arts Program) Sottery Hall (Center for Student Life and Advising) South Hall (residence hall) Stevenson Athletic Center Stone Row: North Hoffman, South Hoffman, McVickar, Potter (residence halls, BEOP, Learning Commons) Tewksbury Hall (residence hall) Tremblay Hall (residence hall) Ward Manor (residence hall, Manor House Café, Bard Music Festival Office) Ward Manor Gatehouse (Center for Civic Engagement) Warden’s Hall: Fairbairn, Hopson, Seymour (faculty and program offices, residences) Woods Studio (Photography Program) Conservatory venues in red Map Illustration: Mark Hess
CONTACT The Bard College Conservatory of Music PO Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 845-758-7196 conservatory@bard.edu bard.edu/conservatory Bard Conservatory Admissions 845-752-2409 conservatoryadmission@bard.edu bard.edu/conservatory/admission
©2015 Bard College. All rights reserved. Printed by Quality Printing, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. All photography by Karl Rabe, except Peter Aaron ’68/Esto: cover and page 30, Stephanie Berger: page 18, Scott Barrow: page 28, Pete Checchia: page 16, ©Anna Wesolowska/www.photographerhedman.com: page 31.
Bard College Conservatory of Music Annandale-on-Hudson, New York