BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC

BARD COLLEGECONSERVATORYOF MUSICUndergraduate Double DegreeGraduate Vocal Arts ProgramGraduate Conducting Program

THE BARD CONSERVATORY IS, ABOVE ALL, FEARLESS ANDADVENTUROUS. WE HONOR TRADITION BY LOOKING TOREINVENT IT. WE HONOR OUR STUDENTS BY TREATINGTHEM AS WHOLE PERSONS, CAPABLE OF MORE THANTHEY IMAGINED. WE BELIEVE IN EXCELLENCE,CURIOSITY, INQUIRY, RISK TAKING, AND COMMUNITY.THE MISSION OF THE BARD COLLEGE CONSERVATORY OFMUSIC IS TO PROVIDE THE BEST POSSIBLE PREPARATIONFOR A PERSON DEDICATED TO A LIFE IMMERSED IN THECREATION AND PERFORMANCE OF MUSIC.Grand Hall, Liszt Academy, Budapest

UNDERGRADUATEDOUBLE DEGREEOverviewThe unique undergraduate curriculum of the Bard CollegeConservatory of Music is guided by the principle that musiciansshould be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences toachieve their greatest potential. The five-year, double-degreeprogram combines rigorous Conservatory training with achallenging and comprehensive liberal arts program. AllConservatory students pursue a double degree in a thoroughlyintegrated program and supportive educational community.Graduating students receive a bachelor of music (B.Mus.) and abachelor of arts in a field other than music (B.A.). At the BardConservatory the serious study of music goes hand in hand withthe education of the whole person.2UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREEbard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate3

Outstanding FacultyThe strength of the Conservatory is in its outstanding faculty—renowned performing musicians whose artistry is featured in theworld’s great concert halls and in the teaching studio. They aredeeply committed to the individual growth of their studentsthrough on-campus weekly lessons, chamber music coachings, andstudio classes.4UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREEJoan Tower (left), composition facultybard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate5

CurriculumThe innovative Conservatory curriculum helps students by developingtheir musical and intellectual capabilities. In addition to weeklyprivate lessons, chamber music, and orchestra, the bachelor ofmusic program includes courses in aural skills, music history, and afour-semester Conservatory core sequence, which integrates musictheory, composition, and music history in order to place students’music making in a larger social, historical, and expressive context.6UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREEPeter Wiley (right), cello facultybard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate7

Performance OpportunitiesThe Bard Conservatory offers unparalleled performance opportunitiesfor its students in solo, chamber music, and orchestral settings. Inaddition to numerous opportunities on campus, students performthroughout the Hudson Valley, in New York City, and throughchamber music and orchestral tours around the world. Pastperformance venues have included Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall,Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, Brown University, and themajor halls of Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Moscow,St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest.8UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREEDavid Krakauer (right), clarinet facultybard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate9

“After a while, ideas from classes begin to cross-pollinate.Connections never before imagined become possible. I’vefound that my computer science class helps me analyzefour-part harmony; my idea about a phrase in a Bach sonatahelps me conceptualize Plato’s Allegory of the Cave; and thelogic of a mathematical proof helps me play a musicalphrase convincingly, and bring a sense of organization tomy practicing.”—Avery Morris, B.Mus. ’18, violin10UNDERGRADUATE DOUBLE DEGREEbard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate11

“For the curious, the musical, the intellectual, it’s a great choice,as the message here—both by intent and example—is thatthere are no boundaries between art and academics, and thatthe study of both may bring the fullest potential to each.”—Marc Goldberg, bassoon faculty12BARD CONSERVATORY OF MUSICbard.edu/conservatory/undergraduate13

GRADUATEVOCAL ARTSPROGRAMOverviewThe Graduate Vocal Arts Program (VAP) at the Bard CollegeConservatory of Music is a unique two-year master of musicprogram in the vocal arts. Conceived and led by renowned Americansoprano Dawn Upshaw, the program aims to inspire and preparethe young singer in the pursuit of a rewarding professional life inmusic in the 21st century.Each class consists of a select group of students. Each singerreceives the individual attention that can help to uncover andnurture his or her unique artistic voice.14GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAMDawn Upshaw (left) and students in Winter Songfestbard.edu/conservatory/vap15

Outstanding FacultyA group of master voice teachers, coaches, instructors in AlexanderTechnique, and experts in acting, movement, and diction aresupplemented by guest artists drawn from the professional musicworld.16GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAMDawn Upshaw (right), VAP artistic directorbard.edu/conservatory/vap17

CurriculumThe vocal arts curriculum is divided into three main components:core seminars, private instruction, and workshops. The coreseminars focus on topics that address different aspects of thesinging life such as poetry and text, the creation of newperformance opportunities, contemporary music, and opera.Students receive weekly private instruction in voice, vocal coaching,and Alexander Technique. Additional course work includes weeklyworkshops in opera, acting, diction and phonetics, movement,language translation, vocal chamber music, and professionaldevelopment.Performance OpportunitiesPerforming is the central means of artistic self-discovery in the VAPclasses. Most of the classes require weekly in-class participation ata performance level and culminate in public concerts. Throughoutthe course of the program, each singer is offered opportunities toperform works drawn from the song, oratorio, and operaticrepertoires. Singers work in collaboration with pianists,instrumentalists, and orchestra—in recital, oratorio, and fullystaged operatic productions. The VAP curriculum connects theyoung singer with a larger artistic world through frequentperformances in the surrounding area and New York City.18GRADUATE VOCAL ARTS PROGRAMBenjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screwbard.edu/conservatory/vap19

GRADUATECONDUCTINGPROGRAMOverviewThe Graduate Conducting Program (GCP), orchestral and choral,balances a respect for established traditions with the flexibilityand curiosity needed to keep abreast of evolving musical ideas.The program equips its graduates with the broad-based skillsand experience necessary to meet the special opportunities andchallenges of a conducting career in the 21st century.ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL20GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAMSJames Bagwell (right), choral conducting facultybard.edu/conservatory/gcp21

Outstanding FacultyThe program is led by faculty members with broad experience in theprofessional music world who are deeply committed to thedevelopment of young conductors. It is codirected by HaroldFarberman, founder and director of the Conductors Institute at Bard;James Bagwell, principal guest conductor of the AmericanSymphony Orchestra and academic director and associate conductorfor The Orchestra Now; and Leon Botstein, president of Bard Collegeand music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, TheOrchestra Now, and the Bard Conservatory Orchestra. Additionalclassroom and studio faculty are drawn from the Bard Conservatory,the Bard Music Program, and the greater professional world.22GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAMSHarold Farberman (center), orchestral conducting facultybard.edu/conservatory/gop23

CurriculumCommon Curriculum The curriculum centers on instruction inconducting with generous podium time. Common curriculum isshared by both the orchestral and choral tracks, and includesinstruction in music history, ear training, score reading,composition, foreign language study, and career workshops.Choral In addition to a four-semester core seminar in choralconducting, 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-semestercore seminar in orchestral conducting and private instrumentallessons. Orchestral conducting students also participate in twosummers of the Conductors Institute; in the final summer theypresent their thesis concert with full orchestra.Conducting OpportunitiesThe opportunity for substantial podium time is integral to thegrowth and education of young conductors. The orchestralconductors have weekly sessions both with piano and with theOrchestral Conducting Ensemble, an ensemble of players drawnfrom the Conservatory Orchestra and The Orchestra Now. There areadditional regular opportunities to conduct the full complement ofthe Bard Conservatory Orchestra. Choral students regularly lead theBard Chamber Singers and Bard Symphonic Chorus. In addition,they work with the Bard Conductors Chorus, a professionalensemble in New York, three times each semester.24GRADUATE CONDUCTING PROGRAMSbard.edu/conservatory/gcp25

Collaborative piano fellow and VAP studentCarl Albach (right), trumpet ESTUDIESThe Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship is a two-year fellowship designed toThe Advanced Performance Studies Program is a four-semester certificate programease the transition of a collaborative pianist between school and the working world.for exceptionally gifted performers who wish to continue their study of music throughThis program allows students to expand their knowledge of the core collaborative pianoconcentrated study with the world-class faculty of the Bard Conservatory. Therepertoire, to get experience playing for high-level undergraduate and graduatecurriculum includes weekly private lessons, full participation in the Bard Conservatorystudents under the mentorship of master musicians, and to deepen their musicalorchestra and chamber music programs, and the opportunity to audit or enroll inunderstanding through the guidance of the distinguished faculty of the Bard Collegemost courses throughout the College.Conservatory of ry/fellowship26BARD CONSERVATORY OF MUSICbard.edu/conservatory 27