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.
Applying to the Program
Upcoming Events
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9/24ThursdayVarious Campus Locations
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10/02Friday7:30 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
China Now Music Festival: Chasing Dreams at Carnegie Hall
Bard East/West Ensemble and THE RIFT: Opera in One Act
Friday, October 2, 2026Join us for the opening night of the ninth annual China Now Music Festival at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Led by conductor and artistic director Jindong Cai, this concert features the New York premiere of THE RIFT, a chamber opera in one act by composer Huang Ruo and Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang that explores the story behind Maya Lin’s iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That same night, the Bard East/West Ensemble will perform works by contemporary composers Zhang Zheng, Luk Wai Chun, and Wang Danhong. Soloists include soprano Karen Vuong, mezzo-soprano Michelle Mariposa, tenor Edward Graves, bass-bartitone Daniel Klein, and pipa performer Yang Jin.
7:30 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
The festival is co-presented by the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music, China. Follow this link for tickets to the opening night concert: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2026/10/02/Chasing-Dreams-Bard-EastWest-Ensemble-and-China-Now-Chamber-Orchestra-0730PM
Use discount code NOW57513 to receive 20% off tickets.
For student and senior discounted tickets, visit the Carnegie Hall box office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue.
Sponsored by: Bard College Conservatory of Music
View Press Release
Contact: US-China Music Institute
Website: https://www.barduschinamusic.org/chasing-dreams
Phone: 845-758-7026
E-mail: [email protected]
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10/03Saturday4:30 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Asia Society 725 Park Ave. New York City, NY 10021 United States
China Now Music Festival: Chasing Dreams at Asia Society
US-China Music Forum: Chasing Dreams
Saturday, October 3, 2026
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Asia Society 725 Park Ave. New York City, NY 10021 United States
Join us for a special afternoon of conversation and song with composer Huang Ruo, librettist Su Wei, and conductor Jindong Cai, moderated by Asia Society's Rachel Cooper. A vibrant discussion on how music captures the emotion and power of history is accompanied by song--sopranos Lucy Fitz Gibbon and Karen Vuong will sing arias from two major operatic works foregrounding Chinese American stories, with Xinri Zhang on keyboard. Stay back to meet the artists during the lively wine reception that follows!
The US-China Music Forum: Chasing Dreams commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States, highlighting THE RIFT and Men of Iron and the Golden Spike, two major musical works that focus on the sacrifices and contributions of Chinese Americans. This is part of the China Now Music Festival, created to deepen understanding of Chinese culture through orchestral, operatic, and chamber music performances.
The theme, "Chasing Dreams," reminds us that the pursuit of dreams is a shared human experience that connects us all.
The festival is centered on two major musical works that focus on the sacrifices and contributions of Chinese Americans. The opening concert, on October 2 at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, features THE RIFT, a chamber opera in one act by Chinese American composer Huang Ruo and playwright David Henry Hwang. The work tells the compelling story behind Maya Lin's iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial and explores themes of identity and reconciliation. The festival concludes on October 11 at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, with Zhou Long's Men of Iron and the Golden Spike. This large scale symphonic oratorio honors the thousands of Chinese laborers who built the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s. The performance will feature an 80-piece orchestra, a 120-voice chorus, and six vocal soloists.
The festival is co-presented by the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music, China. Follow this link for tickets to the US-China Music Forum at Asia Society: https://asiasociety.org/new-york/events/chasing-dreams-us-china-music-forum
Sponsored by: Bard College Conservatory of Music
View Press Release
Contact: US-China Music Institute
Website: https://www.barduschinamusic.org/chasing-dreams
Phone: 845-758-7026
E-mail: [email protected]
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10/04Sunday3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
TEMPO Performing Arts Center 29 Wurts Street Kingston, NY, 12401 United States
China Now Music Festival: Chasing Dreams at KingstonBard East/West Ensemble conducted by Jindong Cai
Sunday, October 4, 2026As a part of the ninth annual China Now Music Festival, Chasing Dreams, the Bard East/West Ensemble celebrates America’s 250th anniversary by performing pieces from their recent tour. Returning home from a tour in China that took them to 8 cities for 15 performances, the ensemble will showcase their cross-cultural sound through unique arrangements of works by Aaron Copland, Astor Piazzolla, and Jiang Ying, among others.
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
TEMPO Performing Arts Center 29 Wurts Street Kingston, NY, 12401 United States
The festival is co-presented by the US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music, China. Follow this link for tickets to the TEMPO Performing Arts Center concert: https://tempokingston.org/events/bard_china_ensemble/
Sponsored by: Bard College Conservatory of Music
View Press Release
Contact: US-China Music Institute
Website: https://www.barduschinamusic.org/events/2026/7/28/chasing-dreams-bard-eastwest-ensemble-kingston
Phone: 845-758-7026
E-mail: [email protected]
NEWSROOM
Fisher Center Performance of The Egyptian Helen reviewed in Opera Magazine
“A performance [of The Egyptian Helen] as effective as this one makes one consider it in a new light.”
Fisher Center Performance of The Egyptian Helen reviewed in Opera Magazine
Hailey Clark (Helena) and the company of The Egyptian Helen. Photo by Maria Baranova
The Strauss opera, described as difficult for performers and audiences alike, was staged by Christian Räth, conducted by Leon Bostein, and featured the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard Festival Choir. The review concludes by noting Botstein’s long association with this specific work, having written about and recorded it extensively, making for an “exciting” interpretation that, according to Myers, “overcame many of the work’s difficulties."
Post Date: 09-24-2026
The Orchestra Now at Bard College Revives Works of Composer Friedrich Gernsheim that Survived Destruction by Nazi Germany
Over the weekend, audiences at the Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater heard music that had not been performed in New York since 1913. The music was that of Friedrich Gernsheim, a masterful composer whose work was spirited away from Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and rarely heard since except in recordings.
The Orchestra Now at Bard College Revives Works of Composer Friedrich Gernsheim that Survived Destruction by Nazi Germany
Leon Botstein conducting The Orchestra Now. Photo by David DeNee
“The Gernsheim Festival: Rediscovering a Master” ran from September 18-20, featuring orchestral and chamber concerts as well as a panel discussion exploring Gersheim’s life and legacy. The concerts represented the public debut of the Gernsheim Rediscovery Initiative, a multi-year project led by The Orchestra Now (TŌN) the graduate orchestra at Bard College, conducted by Leon Botstein, dedicated to recovering and presenting the composer’s work to new audiences, starting at Bard.
Friedrich Gernsheim was a German-Jewish composer, conductor, and pianist. His work was systematically destroyed by the Nazis. A prodigious pianist, he settled in Berlin where he taught composition at the Prussian Academy of Fine Arts, while gaining recognition for his own compositions. Gernsheim died in 1916; 20 years later, in their effort to erase the contributions of Jewish artists and intellectuals, the Nazis destroyed Gernsheim’s printing plates, sheet music, and the remaining copies of a 1928 biography of the composer. In recent years, Gernsheim’s work has been the subject of renewed interest.
“Since about 30 years ago, there have been studio recordings of Gernsheim’s work, but what has been lacking in his rediscovery are live performances,” musicologist and Bard Visiting Associate Professor in the Music Program at Bard Peter Laki told the Daily Catch. “That’s why this festival is very important: It’s a wonderful concentration of Gernsheim that’s rarely seen anywhere in the world.”
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. The Orchestra Now (TŌN) is a graduate program of Bard College that is training the next generation of music professionals to become creative ambassadors of classical music, offering a master’s degree or an advanced certificate.
Post Date: 09-24-2026
Bard Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli featured in the New York Times
“That’s what I like about opera: That it’s a music-driven story where every emotion is taken to an extreme.”
Bard Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli featured in the New York Times
Mazzoli's "Lincoln in the Bardo" is the first opera written by a woman to have its world premiere at the Met.
The Galloping Cure, cowritten with librettist Royce Vavrek, debuted as a Scottish Opera production at the Edinburgh International Festival; meanwhile, Lincoln in the Bardo is set to premier at the Metropolitan Opera—who also commissioned it—in October. The former opera has received rave reviews, according to the Times, for providing “politically urgent, musically eclectic works for a new generation of operagoers.” The Times of London labeled the latter opera as “one of the greatest operas of the century.”
The forthcoming Lincoln in the Bardo is based on George Saunders’s 2017 novel of the same name. Following the former American president through the Civil War while he is also grieving the death of his son, it engages themes of political polarization that remain relevant today. It will be the first world premiere opera at the Met that was written by a woman; Mazzoli is also one of two women to have been awarded Met commissions. Artistic director of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program, Stephanie Blythe, will also be featured in the new opera.
Mazzoli’s operas are written as much for new audiences as for traditional ones, she told the Times. “I don’t feel that opera has to stay stuck in the past,” Mazzoli said. “I really want my work to spark a conversation among the audience, with the critics, with the press. I just want people to come out asking more questions than they have answers.”
At 45, Mazzoli has already written seven operas, drawing from a wide range of musical styles and traditions that are expanding the definition of the operatic form. Mazzoli studied music in college and in graduate school, though she cites MTV as being as much an influence as anything from the operatic canon. The use of nontraditional instrumentation—including kazoos, in the case of Lincoln in the Bardo—further distinguishes Mazzoli as charting a new direction for opera. “The idea that opera is only for people in tuxedos, that is the perception we are fighting against,” she told the Times.
Mazzoli is faculty member in the Bard Music Program and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, whose mission is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music. She teaches classes on composition and new music, as well as giving private studio instruction for composition majors at Bard.
Post Date: 09-18-2026