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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9/16Wednesday10:00 am – 2:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Bertelsmann Campus Center, Lobby
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9/23Wednesday11:00 am – 11:10 am EDT/GMT-4
Massena Campus
Opening Remarks, Abundant Intelligences: Jason Edward Lewis
We hope you will join us on the land for an afternoon of symposiums and learning.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026Wíhanble S’a Center’s Spring Open House at the Massena Campus is a bi-yearly event for all of our Bard community that brings together collaborations with nonhuman beings through hide work, shared meals, and conversation on the land. We are an American Indian-led research center grounded in Lakota knowledge systems, where learning happens through relation, responsibility, and community. These practices form the root of our approach to developing ethical AI tools, grounding rigorous technological research in land-based knowledge.
11:00 am – 11:10 am EDT/GMT-4
Massena Campus
Our Open House supports our college community by providing structured student training and a site for faculty engagement with Wíhanble S’a Center’s ongoing initiatives, including, but not limited to, the development of Lakota Dream Language, a neuro-AI storytelling platform that enables interactive exploration of dream narratives.
This year’s events center on a symposium with scholars and artists who consider present-day realities of technological entwinement within the context of Indigenous methodologies and advance new modes of ethical engagement. Fall 2026 features practitioners such as Nathan Young, Antoine Bellamare, Mikhel Proulx, Olivia Camfield, Wills Brewer, Bradley Dry, Assinijaq, and more.
Contact: Macaella Gray
Phone: 512-547-8233
E-mail: [email protected]
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9/23Wednesday11:30 am – 12:15 pm EDT/GMT-4
Massena Campus
Transformations through Image: Olivia Camfield, Woodrow Hunt, Schon Duncan, and assinijaq
We hope you will join us on the land for an afternoon of symposiums and learning.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026Wíhanble S’a Center’s Spring Open House at the Massena Campus is a bi-yearly event for all of our Bard community that brings together collaborations with nonhuman beings through hide work, shared meals, and conversation on the land. We are an American Indian-led research center grounded in Lakota knowledge systems, where learning happens through relation, responsibility, and community. These practices form the root of our approach to developing ethical AI tools, grounding rigorous technological research in land-based knowledge.
11:30 am – 12:15 pm EDT/GMT-4
Massena Campus
Our Open House supports our college community by providing structured student training and a site for faculty engagement with Wíhanble S’a Center’s ongoing initiatives, including, but not limited to, the development of Lakota Dream Language, a neuro-AI storytelling platform that enables interactive exploration of dream narratives.
This year’s events center on a symposium with scholars and artists who consider present-day realities of technological entwinement within the context of Indigenous methodologies and advance new modes of ethical engagement. Fall 2026 features practitioners such as Nathan Young, Antoine Bellamare, Mikhel Proulx, Olivia Camfield, Wills Brewer, Bradley Dry, assinijaq, and more.
Contact: Macaella Gray
Phone: 512-547-8233
E-mail: [email protected]
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9/23Wednesday12:15 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Massena Campus
Transformations through Sound: Robbie Wing & Warren Realrider
We hope you will join us on the land for an afternoon of symposiums and learning.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026Wíhanble S’a Center’s Spring Open House at the Massena Campus is a bi-yearly event for all of our Bard community that brings together collaborations with nonhuman beings through hide work, shared meals, and conversation on the land. We are an American Indian-led research center grounded in Lakota knowledge systems, where learning happens through relation, responsibility, and community. These practices form the root of our approach to developing ethical AI tools, grounding rigorous technological research in land-based knowledge.
12:15 pm – 1:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Massena Campus
Our Open House supports our college community by providing structured student training and a site for faculty engagement with Wíhanble S’a Center’s ongoing initiatives, including, but not limited to, the development of Lakota Dream Language, a neuro-AI storytelling platform that enables interactive exploration of dream narratives.
This year’s events center on a symposium with scholars and artists who consider present-day realities of technological entwinement within the context of Indigenous methodologies and advance new modes of ethical engagement. Fall 2026 features practitioners such as Nathan Young, Antoine Bellamare, Mikhel Proulx, Olivia Camfield, Wills Brewer, Bradley Dry, assinijaq, and more.
Contact: Macaella Gray
Phone: 512-547-8233
E-mail: [email protected]
NEWSROOM
Bard College Presents an Evening of Jazz with Marilyn Crispell and Angelica Sanchez on September 8
A centerpiece of this collaboration is their celebrated duo recording, How to Turn the Moon (Pyroclastic Records).
Bard College Presents an Evening of Jazz with Marilyn Crispell and Angelica Sanchez on September 8
L–R: Marilyn Crispell, Angelica Sanchez.
The performance will be held on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 6:30 pm in the László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory building on Bard’s Annandale campus. Tickets start at $60. The concert will be followed with a wine and cheese reception, and all proceeds will benefit Jazz at Bard. To purchase tickets, please visit here.
Crispell, an NEA Jazz Master and 2025 and 2026 Mellon Foundation Jazz Legacy Fellow, has forged a singular musical language shaped by deep lyricism, fearless improvisation, and a lifelong commitment to artistic exploration. Her work with Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman, Joe Lovano, Wadada Leo Smith, and many others has established her as one of the most influential pianists and composers in contemporary creative music. For more than four decades, Crispell has remained a pioneering force in avant-garde jazz, creating music that is both adventurous and deeply expressive.
Sanchez is an acclaimed composer, pianist, and educator whose music seamlessly integrates intricate compositional structures with the spontaneity of improvisation. A leading voice in modern creative music, Sanchez has collaborated with artists including Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian, Nicole Mitchell, Joe Lovano, Tim Berne, and Billy Hart. Her recordings have received widespread critical acclaim, with Sparkle Beings named one of The New York Times' Top Ten Jazz Recordings of 2022 and Nighttime Creatures selected among DownBeat's Best Recordings of 2023.
A centerpiece of this collaboration is their celebrated duo recording, How to Turn the Moon (Pyroclastic Records). Recognized in NPR's Critics Poll as one of the Top 50 Recordings of 2020, the album showcases an extraordinary musical dialogue between Crispell and Sanchez. Through expansive improvisations, subtle textures, and profound listening, the recording reveals the deep artistic connection shared by these two remarkable pianists. This performance brings that acclaimed partnership to the stage, offering audiences a rare opportunity to experience the artistry behind How to Turn the Moon live. Moving fluidly between composition and improvisation, Crispell and Sanchez create music of intimacy, intensity, and discovery, demonstrating the boundless expressive possibilities of the piano duo.
Post Date: 08-13-2026
Bard Faculty Member Gwen Laster Awarded a MacDowell Fellowship
While in residence, Laster will complete work on her project, “Is My Black Still Beautiful: Reflections on a Childhood in Detroit.”
Bard Faculty Member Gwen Laster Awarded a MacDowell Fellowship
Gwen Laster, visiting artist in residence. Photo by Tom Moore Studios
Laster’s project explores the global complexities of Colorism, a discriminatory practice within one’s own ethnic group based on a person’s complexion and skin tone, through the lens of a Black girl reared during the post–civil rights movement in Detroit. The music spans various genres from contemporary classical to Motown, blues, soul, R&B, and jazz—both free and traditional. “Is My Black Still Beautiful” will premiere in New York City on July 23 at Mabou Mines,and on September 26–27 at the Philipstown Depot Theater.
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: 06-26-2026
Bard Musician Franz Nicolay Testifies in Congress
The case concerned the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster which has resulted in a monopoly on event ticket sales in the United States.
Bard Musician Franz Nicolay Testifies in Congress
Franz Nicolay, visiting instructor of music.
“We, as artists, simply don’t have the range of city-to-city, venue-to-venue choices that would constitute a healthy ecosystem,” Nicolay continued. “It’s a problem of affordability, in an economic climate which, through drastically increasing gas prices, airfare, postage and international shipping fees for merchandise, and hardening borders, is making the touring on which our livings depend increasingly unaffordable for musicians. And that increased overhead… has a corresponding effect on affordability and access for fans.”
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.
Read more in Chronogram
Further Reading in Rural Intelligence
Post Date: 06-02-2026