THE RICHARD B. FISHER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT BARD COLLEGE
Fall Events 2012 Live Arts Bard: Theatre Is Evil and False Peach Carolina Chocolate Drops Bard Student Dance Concerts and Theater & Performance Projects American Ballet Theatre American Symphony Orchestra Conservatory Sundays Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble: The Soul’s Messenger John Cage: On & Off the Air!
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Introducing Live Arts Bard Bard College’s new residency and commissioning program for the performing arts Live Arts Bard (LAB) is a laboratory where professional artists in theater, dance, and performance test ideas and develop new projects, many of which will be premiered at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College. Each year, LAB will invite a number of leading artists and companies from the United States and abroad to Bard’s campus. As our audience, you will have special access to sneak previews, artist talks, and work-in-progress showings. This fall’s resident artists include: Songwriter and musician Amanda Palmer Theater director Annie Dorsen and Wooster Group performer Scott Shepherd
Theatre Is Evil Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra Singer/songwriter Amanda Palmer will be in residence at Bard for three weeks in late August and early September. During that time she will shoot a music video and launch the tour of her first new studio album in four years, with two public concerts in conjunction with her new band, The Grand Theft Orchestra, featuring Michael McQuilken, Chad Raines, and Jherek Bischoff. The album, Theatre Is Evil, showcases Amanda’s powerful vocals and talented songwriting in ways that may surprise even her most ardent fans. From tauntingly playful tunes to ballads that tug at the heartstrings, the album offers a collection of sounds and rhythms heavily influenced by the music Palmer grew up listening to—most notably ’80s synth rock and Brit Pop. theater two Wednesday, September 5 at 7:30 pm Thursday, September 6 at 7:30 pm Tickets: $35 general admission; $20 Bard students, faculty, and staff.
False Peach Work-in-progress presentation Acclaimed director Annie Dorsen (Passing Strange on Broadway) and performer Scott Shepherd (of the Wooster Group) are collaborating with a group of French computer scientists to create False Peach, an increasingly elaborate dialogue between man and computer based on Hamlet. Annie, Scott, and their collaborators will be in residence at LAB for three weeks in September. Join them for a behindthe-scenes glimpse of this intriguing project as they develop it. theater two Thursday, September 13 at 7:30 pm Tickets: Free and open to the public Amanda Palmer. Photo by Andrius Lipsys
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IN CONCERT
Carolina Chocolate Drops Carolina Chocolate Drops—whose 2010 Nonesuch debut Genuine Negro Jig won a Best Traditional Folk Album Grammy—prove that old-time string music from the Piedmont region of the Carolinas is an ever-evolving sound. Not content to merely imitate or re-create this traditional music, they seek to freshly interpret it, with an emphasis on the central role that African Americans played in shaping this country’s popular music from its first stirrings more than a hundred years ago. In concert, the three musicians comprising the Chocolate Drops—singers and multi-instrumentalists Dom Flemons and Rhiannon Giddens, and guitarist and banjoist Hubby Jenkins—are “an end-to-end display of excellence,” according to the New York Times, encompassing string band, jug band, and fife-and-drum band music, as well as early jazz, blues, and other popular styles. On their latest release, Leaving Eden, the Carolina Chocolate Drops have expanded to a five-piece band, with beat-boxer Adam Matta and New Orleans cellist Leyla McCalla. This June, the band was nominated for a Duo/Group of the Year award from the Americana Music Association, and was also featured in the latest episode of PBS’s Sound Tracks: Quick Hits. sosnoff theater Saturday, September 15 at 8 pm Tickets: $15, 20, 30, 40; $10 students 4
Fisher Center Fall Events 2012
Carolina Chocolate Drops. Photo by Crackerfarm
Bard Student Performances The Fisher Center is proud to host events in
Theater & Performance
Bard’s Dance and Theater & Performance Programs. Please join us at the following public events and experience the imagination and creativity of a new generation of artists.
Kassandra A new twist on the well-known story of the Trojan War as told by the seer Kassandra. Adapted from the novel by Christa Wolf and
Dance
directed by Jean Wagner, artist in residence. theater two
Moderation Dance Concert
October 11, 12, and 13 at 7 pm
theater two
October 14 at 2 and 7 pm
October 26 and 27 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15; $5, alumni/ae and senior citizens
Free admission—reservations via the Box Office
Senior Dance Concert
Theater Festival: Five Senior Projects in Directing
theater two
resnick theater studio
December 14 and 15 at 7:30 pm
November 13, 14, and 15 at 7 and 9 pm
December 16 at 2 and 7:30 pm
November 16, 17, and 18 at 5, 7, and 9 pm
Free admission—reservations via the Box Office
Free admission—reservations via the Box Office
La Ronde. Photo by Kye Erlich
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“One of the most beautiful sights in dance is American Ballet Theatre in full flight. ” —clive barnes, new york post
American Ballet Theatre The Leaves Are Fading by Antony Tudor The Moor’s Pavane by José Limón In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp Recognized as one of the premier dance companies in the world, American Ballet Theatre (ABT) brings the highest quality dance and dancers to audiences across the globe. Celebrating its role as America’s National Ballet Company®, ABT tours nationally and internationally, performing for more than 400,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1940, ABT developed a repertoire under the direction of Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith that honored the past while encouraging the development of the art form through the creation of new works. Classics from the 19th century such as Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty live side by side with seminal works of the early 20th century such as Apollo, Les Sylphides, Jardin aux Lilas, and Rodeo, as well as such contemporary masterpieces as Push Comes to Shove and Airs. ABT has commissioned works by the great choreographic geniuses of the 20th century: George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, and Twyla Tharp, among others. Under the artistic direction of former ABT Principal Dancer Kevin McKenzie, the Company remains steadfast in its vision as “American” and continues to bring the art of dance theater to the great stages of the world. sosnoff theater Friday, October 5 at 8 pm Saturday, October 6 at 2 and 8 pm Sunday, October 7 at 2 pm Tickets: $20, 30, 40, 50
The ABT Orchestra performs The Leaves Are Fading and The Moor’s Pavane (strings only).
These performances have been underwritten by the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation. Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes in The Leaves Are Fading. ©Lois Greenfield. Cover: Kristi Boone in In the Upper Room. ©Rosalie O’Connor
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“Mr. Botstein drew playing of alluring effervescence from the orchestra.” —new york times
American Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Leon Botstein, Music Director
Founded in 1962 by legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski, the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) continues its mission to demystify orchestral music, and make it accessible and affordable to everyone. Under music director Leon Botstein, the ASO has pioneered what the Wall Street Journal called “a new concept in orchestras,” presenting concerts in the Vanguard Series at Carnegie Hall curated around various themes from the visual arts, literature, politics, and history, and unearthing rarely performed masterworks for well-deserved revival. The ASO appears in residence at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, as well as Bard’s annual SummerScape and Bard Music Festival. In addition to many albums released on the Telarc, New World, Bridge, Koch, and Vanguard labels, live performances by the American Symphony are now available for digital download. In many cases, these are the only existing recordings of some of the rare works that have been rediscovered in ASO performances. Featured soloists include Peter Blaga, tuba; David Nagy, bassoon; and Renata Rakova, clarinet—winners of the 2011 Bard College Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition.
concert one
concert two
Carl Maria von Weber
Harold Farberman
Bassoon Concerto in F, Op. 75
Clarinet Concerto
Andante and Rondo Ungarese, J.158, Op.35
Renata Rakova, clarinet
David Nagy, bassoon Menachem Zur Tuba Concerto Peter Blaga, tuba
Anton Bruckner Symphony No. 8 Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23, 2013
Richard Strauss Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64 concert three Friday, October 12 and
Richard Wagner
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Lohengrin: Preludes to Acts I and III Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod Die Walküre: Act I Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20, 2013
sosnoff theater Preconcert talk at 7 pm | Performance at 8 pm | Tickets: $25, 30, 35, 40 Leon Botstein conducting American Symphony Orchestra. ©Cory Weaver
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Conservatory Sundays Join us on Sunday afternoons for a series of concerts performed by students of The Bard College Conservatory of Music, with faculty and special guests. All ticket sales benefit the Conservatory’s Scholarship Fund.
Faculty/Student Chamber Music
Music Alive!
Program includes Beethoven, Septet in E-flat Major,
Artistic directors Joan Tower and Blair McMillen
Op. 20, and Harrison, Suite for Percussion.
present electrifying new music, including works
October 14
by Bard music faculty and students. October 28
Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein
Conservatory Orchestra
With music director Leon Botstein and Blair McMillen,
with guest conductor Marcelo Lehninger (MFA ’07)
piano. Works include Beethoven, Grosse Fuge, Op. 133
Program includes Haydn, Symphony No. 88;
(arranged for string orchestra); Stravinsky, Concerto
Dvorˇák, Symphony No. 8; and the world
for Piano and Wind Instruments; Strauss, Der
premiere of Christopher Swist’s Abaprima.
Rosenkavalier Suite; Brahms, Symphony No. 4.
December 9
October 21 sosnoff theater Performance at 3 pm. Suggested donation $20 (orchestra seating) $15 (parterre / first balcony) Free to the Bard community with ID. 10
Fisher Center Fall Events 2012
Bard Conservatory students. Photo by Karl Rabe
NEW ALBION RECORDS
Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble The Soul’s Messenger Composer/performer Meredith Monk has been deemed “a magician of the voice,” amazing audiences across the globe for more than 45 years with her genre-spanning compositions. Her groundbreaking exploration of the voice as an instrument creates landscapes of sound that unearth feelings, energies, and memories for which we have no words. Monk and her acclaimed Vocal Ensemble will showcase her range as a composer and her engagement with performance as a vehicle for spiritual transformation. Repertoire includes Music for Unaccompanied Voice, Music for Voice and Piano (including Gotham Lullaby), and selections from The Games (1984), mercy (2001), impermanence (2004), and Songs of Ascension (2008), among others. The majority of these selections can be heard on the ECM New Series label. New Albion Records was founded in San Francisco in 1984 to explore the world of art music. Its current catalogue includes 138 releases. In recent years its focus has moved from recording projects to concert events. This is New Albion’s fifth such event with the Fisher Center. sosnoff theater Friday, November 9 at 8 pm Saturday, November 10 at 8 pm Tickets: $15, 25, 35, 45 Bohdan Hilash, Meredith Monk, Allison Sniffin, Katie Geissinger. ©2012 Musée du Louvre / Olivier Ouadah
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“I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.” —john cage
JOHN CAGE TRUST
John Cage: On & Off the Air! Radio Music (1956) One to eight performers, each at one radio
27’10.554” for a Percussionist (1956) Solo percussionist utilizing metal, wood, skin, and electronic instruments (radios)
Water Walk (1959) Solo performer making use of 34 specified properties (including piano, five radios, bathtub, toy fish, blender, and rubber duck)
4’33” (1952) Solo performer, at one radio
Credo in Us (1942) One pianist, two percussionists, and one performer on radio
The City Wears a Slouch Hat (1959) Four speakers, four percussionists, Foley sound effects, and film
John Cage’s interest in radio as both a medium of transmission and a musical instrument was lifelong, beginning in childhood with original broadcasts created on behalf of his Boy Scouts of America troop and culminating, the year before his death, with his Europera 5 (1991), one of three mixed-media works created for the operatic stage. John Cage: On & Off the Air! celebrates this engagement with an everchanging program of works wrapped around a newly staged revival of Cage’s peripatetic The City Wears a Slouch Hat (CBS Radio, 1942). Based on a play by Kenneth Patchen, it features a newly commissioned film of light and shadows by the New York composer Mikel Rouse and performed by the celebrated Canadian-based percussion ensemble NEXUS. The film for The City Wears a Slouch Hat will incorporate the use of shadows to simulate characters of a live performance. In this way, the “shadow film” will mirror the live action appearing on stage, as well as becoming a “portable set.” John Cage: On & Off the Air! celebrates Cage’s centennial year under the auspices of the John Cage Trust. Its theme spotlights Cage’s ever-prescient work with technology; its design extends Cage’s devotion to multiplicity, creativity, and responsive living. sosnoff theater Saturday, November 17 at 8 pm Tickets: $15, 25, 35, 45 John Cage. Photo by Ben Guthrie
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Ticket Information Ordering Tickets by Telephone Call the Box Office from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday, at 845-758-7900 to speak with a ticket services representative. All orders received at least 14 days prior to the date of your first event will be mailed; all others will be held at the Box Office. Buying Tickets in Person The main Box Office, located in the lobby of the Sosnoff Theater in the Fisher Center, is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and one hour prior to Sosnoff Theater performances. Online Visit our website at fishercenter.bard.edu to order online and select your own seats. Subscribe and Save 25% Order tickets to two or more events in this brochure and save 25% off the full price. Visit our website to learn more about our subscription program. Other Discounts Only one discount is applicable per order. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for special discounts. Call the Box Office for more information. Patrons aged 62 and over are eligible for a discount of 20% off single tickets (discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer). Student Discounts Students with a valid full-time student ID, or under the age of 25, may purchase up to two $5 rush tickets starting one hour before the performance, subject to availability. Seat locations will be assigned by the Box Office. Students with a valid ID, or under the age of 25, may purchase up to two advance sale tickets at a 20% discount. Access and Facilities for the Disabled Seating in the Sosnoff Theater is available in all price categories for patrons in wheelchairs and their companions. For patrons with special requirements not covered here, please call 845-758-7948 for assistance. Tickets are nonrefundable. Late seating is not guaranteed. Please allow sufficient time for travel and parking. For seating charts, house policies, directions to Bard, maps of the campus and the area, and other information, visit fishercenter.bard.edu.
To Order Tickets
Box Office 845-758-7900 | Fax 845-758-7910 | fishercenter.bard.edu
Major support for the Center’s programs has been provided by the Board of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College and the Friends of the Fisher Center, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts.
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Fisher Center Fall Events 2012
Above and back cover: The Richard B. Fisher Center. ©Peter Aaron ’68/Esto
Sosnoff Theater Seating C
Seating for all events in the Sosnoff Theater is reserved. Seating for all events in Theater Two is general admission.
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845-758-7900 | fishercenter.bard.edu
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Bard College