The Bard College campus is awash in music; by all accounts, that fact is one of the school’s most distinctive features. The Music Program, one of the largest programs on campus, provides a wide range of musical concentrations, from classical composition and performance to jazz, electronic music, musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory. The music faculty all maintain highly visible careers outside academia, many of us nationally or internationally. Many of our most active music students are majoring in something other than music, and all are welcome.
Photo by Karl Rabe
The Bard Conservatory
The Music Program is separate from the Bard College Conservatory of Music, which has a double-degree program and various graduate programs. The Conservatory's primary differences are as follows: focus on classical music performance and composition; secondary major required; five-year program; and audition required to apply. Despite the separation, many performance opportunities involve both Conservatory students and Music Program students.
The Bard Baroque Ensemble
The Bard Baroque Ensemble welcomes students from both the College and Conservatory. At the start of the semester, students from the College or Conservatory wishing to join should contact director Renée Anne Louprette at [email protected] to express their interest in joining. Watch a livestreamed concert by the Bard Baroque Ensemble in collaboration with Bard Chamber Singers, Preparatory Chorus, Graduate Vocal Arts Program, performing works by Bach in Olin Hall.
Applying to the Program
Upcoming Events
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5/14Thursday5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Blum N211, the jazz room
Jazz Improv Ensemble
Thursday, May 14, 2026
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Blum N211, the jazz room
Jazz Improv class end of year concert.
Sponsored by: Music Program
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5/14Thursday7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Blum N210
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5/14Thursday8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Bard Hall
Bard Accordion Orchestra
Thursday, May 14, 2026
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Bard Hall
Join us on May 14 for a performance of the Bard Accordion Orchestra, which will feature soulful new interpretations of various American immigrant musics: from klezmer to zydeco to polka to forró to the contemplative edge of accordion-based experimentalism, and more! This ensemble features the students enrolled in "Accordionology: Class, Race, and Migration in American Musics."The Bard Accordion Orchestra will be followed by a short set from local accordionist Matt Schreiber. Schrieber has been dedicated to the study and performance of Southeastern European folk traditions for over two decades, and blends improvisation, songcraft, and vernacular music into a single stream. Matt has performed on stages and in kitchens throughout the US and Europe, and his original music has been featured in Hollywood film and awarded in Bulgaria. Matt can be found performing regularly with Hinterlands, Krivo, and Anatole Trio.We will also have fabric paint and accordion stamps, so Bring Your Own T-shirt (BYOT) (or buy one of our limited supply) to support the maintenance of our accordions.
Sponsored by: Music Program
Contact: Maria Sonevytsky
E-mail: [email protected]
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5/14Thursday8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Blum Hall
Contemporary Jazz Composers
Thursday, May 14, 2026
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Blum Hall
Jazz class concert.
Sponsored by: Music Program
Contact: Erica Lindsay
E-mail: [email protected]
NEWSROOM
James Bagwell Named Principal Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and Berkshire Bach Society
Bagwell was recognized by both organizations for the role he has played over the past two decades in creating a consistent record of excellence in choral performance.
James Bagwell Named Principal Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and Berkshire Bach Society
James Bagwell, director of the music program at Bard College and director of performance studies in the Bard College Conservatory of Music.
He has been a regular guest conductor for the Tulsa Symphony since 2007, leading it in performances of Mozart’s Requiem and Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, returning in subsequent seasons to conduct Britten’s War Requiem, and Mahler’s First Symphony. “We are thrilled to welcome James Bagwell as principal conductor of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra,” said Morgan Walker, executive director of Tulsa. “His long-standing relationship with the orchestra, combined with his depth of experience and artistic leadership, makes him the ideal partner as we look ahead to an exciting new chapter.”
Bagwell, who additionally serves as codirector of the Bard Conservatory Graduate Program in conducting and is associate conductor of The Orchestra Now (TŌN), also frequently appears as a guest conductor for orchestras around the country and abroad, including the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Interlochen Music Festival, and the Jerusalem Symphony. “I’ve long admired James Bagwell’s work as a choral conductor,” said Eugene Drucker, artistic director of Berkshire Bach, “specifically in the Berkshire Bach Society vocal concerts for which I’ve had the pleasure of serving as his concertmaster, and more generally in his meticulous preparation of the chorus for opera productions at Bard College’s Summerscape and for oratorio performances with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.”
The Music Program, one of the largest programs on Bard’s campus, provides a wide range of musical concentrations, from classical composition and performance to jazz, electronic music, musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory.
Post Date: 05-12-2026
Professor Franz Nicolay Reviews Burning Down the House, A New Book About the Talking Heads, for the Wall Street Journal
Franz Nicolay, visiting instructor of music at Bard College, reviewed Burning Down the House by Jonathan Gould, a new book about the band The Talking Heads, for the Wall Street Journal. The book, Nicolay writes, tracks the “almost magical, barely explicable, transformation of a group” that “has to be a candidate in the perennial conversation about the greatest American rock band.”
Professor Franz Nicolay Reviews Burning Down the House, A New Book About the Talking Heads, for the Wall Street Journal
Franz Nicolay.
The Music Program provides a wide range of musical concentrations, from classical composition and performance to jazz, electronic music, musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory. The music faculty all maintain highly visible careers outside academia, nationally and internationally.
Post Date: 01-27-2026
Bard Conservatory and Music Faculty and Alumni/ae Nominated for 2026 GRAMMY Awards
The 2026 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 68th GRAMMY Awards, will take place on Sunday, February 1.
Bard Conservatory and Music Faculty and Alumni/ae Nominated for 2026 GRAMMY Awards
Clockwise from top left: Lights on a Satellite, featuring Gwen Laster; In This Short Life featuring Devony Smith VAP ’14; Schubert/Beatles featuring Julia Bullock VAP ’11; La Mer: French Piano Trios featuring Eri Nakamura CPF ’15.
The Bard College campus is awash in music—by all accounts, one of the school’s most distinctive features. The Music Program, one of the largest programs on campus, provides a wide range of musical concentrations, and the Bard Conservatory aims to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music.
Post Date: 11-25-2025