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Bard Music Program During COVID-19

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The following are our plans for operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Live music making is complicated during this time, but we are committed to offering you the safest environment in which to learn and make music.

Reopening Plans and Protocols for Musicians as of February 26, 2021

Latest updates bolded.

These are the new guideline updates as of February 26, 2021 and supersede earlier guidelines. 
IMPORTANT: If there is an outbreak of coronavirus on campus then we will revert to our earlier protocols.

Latest updates are in bolded in the top section. General protocols follow the table of contents below.

Updates:

Brass and Woodwind, solo and ensemble playing
  • Players  may play solo in classroom setting with the following stipulations:
    • Classes may only be held outside or in larger performance spaces (CPS, Olin Hall, Sosnoff Theater)
    • Masks with slits and bell covers required.
    • Socially distanced 20 ft from classmates.
    • Socially distanced 6 ft. from collaborative pianist.
    • Groups may rehearse for 60 minutes in a room and then the space should be ventilated for one hour after rehearsal ends.
    • Wind and brass players may play unmasked when practicing alone in a  practice room.  
  • Brass ensembles of up to 15 players may play with the following stipulations:
    • May only play outside or in larger performance spaces (CPS, Olin Hall, Sosnoff Theater)
    • Players must use masks with slits for mouthpiece and bell covers.
    • Brass and woodwind players inside must be socially distanced a minimum of 6 feet. Trombone players must be socially distanced a minimum of 10 ft.
    • Players outside may be unmasked but must maintain social distancing greater than 10 ft.
    • Players must sit back to back or side to side, or in a  broad semi-circle. They may not play directly facing each other.
    • Ensembles may rehearse for 60 minutes with 60 minutes of ventilation time.
    • Indoor spaces must be cleaned at least one time per day. Sosnoff Center will be fogged once per day.
    • Outside playing and rehearsing is ALWAYS preferred whenever possible.

Singers:
  • Unmasked singing is allowed with the following stipulations:
    • Singers may sing unmasked when singing alone in a practice room or in the video-linked teaching studios.
    • Singers may sing unmasked for up to two hours with a 60 minute period afterwards for ventilation; or 30 minutes with 30 minutes of ventilation time.
  • Masked singing is allowed with the following stipulations: 
    • Socially distanced 12 feet from pianist. 
    • In a classroom setting, everyone else must be socially distanced 20 ft. 
    • Classroom should be ventilated for one hour after class ends.
  • Outside group singing is allowed if singers are masked and distanced 12 ft. 
  • Group singing indoors is still not allowed. 
Pianist Collaboration Guidelines
  • Collaborative pianists may play for singers with the following stipulations: 
    • Both must be masked 
    • Socially distanced 12 ft.
    • Only one singer at a time. No duets or larger vocal ensembles. 
  • Collaborative pianist may play for brass and woodwind  players with the following stipulations:
    • Pianist masked.
    • Brass or woodwind player masked with slit for mouth piece, and with bell cover
    • Socially distanced a minimum of 6 ft.
    • When playing for larger groups of brass players, all players must be socially distanced a minimum of 6 ft. Trombone players must be distanced a minimum of 10 ft.
    • Players may rehearse for one hour and then the space should be ventilated for one hour.
Orchestra
  • Woodwind and brass players may be added to orchestra with the following stipulations:
    • 1 hour 15 minutes rehearsal limit with wind and brass then 60 minute gap
    • Daily cleaning or fogging of rehearsal space.
    • Woodwind and brass players must be masked with slit for mouthpiece, and with bell covers
    • All players in orchestra (including winds, and brass)  must be socially distanced a minimum of 6 ft. Trombones must be socially distanced a minimum of 10 ft. 
    • The total size of the orchestra, conductor, artistic staff and stage crew may not exceed 50 people. (This is by NY State regulation.)

General Guidelines

Introduction


We are writing today to update you on plans for reopening in the fall. As you know, live music making is quite complicated during this time; regardless, we are committed to offering you the safest environment in which to learn and make music. 

Regarding academic classes, we are assessing the classroom spaces to determine the maximum number of people a room can hold while maintaining social distancing. Some classes have been moved to other locations such as Olin Auditorium and the Conservatory Performance Space. We are working closely with each individual faculty regarding how a class is taught: either in person, a mix of in-person and remote, or less frequently, exclusively on-line. 

We have secured two outdoor tents which will serve as an alternative space for classes. We hope that this will allow us to spread out somewhat to avoid the density of our spaces. We are consulting with Nuvance Health, which is reviewing our plans for musicians. We have also created four teams who are advising us on how to best make music in-person. The four groups are addressing larger ensembles, chamber ensembles (including jazz), private lessons and practice rooms. Additionally, we have assembled a team exclusively for vocal music, both private and ensemble. Each group is made of faculty from all undergraduate and graduate programs with the goal being consistency in our health practices across all the music programs at Bard. 

Our first priority in creating these guidelines is the health and safety of the students, faculty and staff. We follow three core principles in making these guidelines: 
● Prioritizing as much as possible in-person music making and teaching in smaller gatherings, and minimizing as much as possible elements of the curriculum that require large gatherings of people. 
● Creating a safer physical environment in the music teaching studios, performing spaces and practice rooms. (e.g. increased ventilation, gaps between room use, sanitization processes etc.)
● Changing the way we work to reduce the likelihood of transmitting the virus to one another. (e.g. altering work and teaching schedules, specific rules for wearing of masks by musicians, changing rehearsals schedules and procedures, streaming of live concerts etc.) 
Finally, these guidelines will change as new information becomes available and as new health regulations are put into effect.

General Guidelines



● Students will need to complete Bard College’s online health screening everyday before taking part in music classes and activities. 
● Social distancing of 6 feet will be required at all times. 
● Masks will be required at all times when in the building. Specific guidance for winds, brass and singers is below. 
● There will be no audiences for concerts until the Conservatory receives clearance from the Covid Response team.. All concerts will be streamed. 
● Windows are to remain open during use of rooms whenever possible. ● Students and faculty will wipe down high-touch surfaces before and after studio use. (e.g. music stands, keyboards, door handles, etc.) 
● All common seating/lounge areas and water fountains in music facilities will be closed. ● To reduce the building occupancy, music staff will work remotely as much as possible. However there will be representative staff in music buildings during normal teaching hours. 
● We have added two tents near Bito/Blum for additional socially distanced spaces for rehearsals, lessons and coachings. 
● No outside visitors will be allowed in music facilities. 
● Brass and woodwind players will use bell covers and masks with slits for mouthpiece whenever playing on campus. 

Cleaning

● There will be a hygiene station in Bito and Blum with cleaning supplies and masks available for students, faculty and staff. 
● There will also be cleaning supplies in teaching studios and practice rooms. ● There will be general cleaning and sanitization of music spaces by Bard Environmental Services once per day.
● Students, faculty and staff will be asked to wipe down rooms before and after use— specifically, music stands, piano keyboard, chairs, door handles. Supplies for this will be available. 
● Music staff will disinfect high-touch surfaces in common areas at regular intervals throughout the day. 
● Brass players will be required to empty spit valves into a cloth or disposable absorbent pad, which will be provided by the college. Cloths should be cleaned after each use. Absorbent pads should be disposed of properly. 
● Sharing of auxiliary instruments will generally not be allowed unless there is sufficient time for cleaning and sanitizing of instruments between use. 
● Larger rehearsal and performance spaces, when used by woodwind or brass players, will be deep cleaned or fogged once per day. 

Orchestra

Orchestra will start rehearsing with strings, harp, percussion, piano only. As health conditions improve we will add wind and brass players to orchestra. We will be holding in-person socially distanced rehearsals following all guidelines of the College and New York State. Orchestra performances will be streamed live and audience size will be limited.

Chamber Music



● Student chamber ensembles will generally be limited to groups no larger than 4 players. (Slightly larger chamber groups may be possible if large spaces for rehearsal are available.) 
● Coachings will take place either in the tents when the weather is warm, or in larger teaching spaces. 
● Chamber music groups will be taught through both in-person coachings and online coachings. 
● Chamber Music groups will be announced during the second week of classes, with rehearsals and coachings beginning the following week. 
● String, piano, percussion and harp chamber music groups will be assigned first. Wind and brass groups will be formed as soon as health conditions allow (hopefully after the third week of the semester.) 
● Chamber Music performances will be streamed. 
● Chamber music groups may rehearse in a room for 60 minutes and then the room must ventilate for 30 minutes.

Private Lessons

● Private studio instruction will be offered through a mix of in-person and remote lessons. The precise balance between in person and remote will be determined by each studio faculty member. 
● Students who in the past have traveled off campus for their lessons will be required to have their lessons on-campus or online. 
● There will be gaps between lessons for ventilating of teaching space. ○ strings/piano/percussion/composition: 60 minutes on, 30 minutes off 

○ Winds, brass and voice: 30 minutes on, 60 minutes off 
● Face masks are mandatory for all and at all times, with the exception of wind and brass players. 
● All singers will take lessons with masks on. 
● For all players (including winds and brass) social distancing of 6’ with floor markers, with face masks and bell covers on. Trombones will maintain social distancing of 10 ft. ● All wind and brass players will play with masks and bell covers. 
● Remote lessons can take place either in the high speed video conferencing room in the Blum Music Building or in specially outfitted rooms in the music facilities. Students may also take remote lessons from their dorm room or off-campus apartment. 
● For remote lessons, faculty and students may, if they like, use special software (“Hi Maestro”), which is being provided free of charge to Bard music faculty and students. This software is optimized for better audio quality and is designed specifically to be used for private music lessons. 
● We have purchased three computers equipped with external microphones and ethernet cables for streaming lessons.

Practice Rooms

● Whenever possible, practicing should be done in the student’s dorm room, off-campus residence, other unshared space, or outside. 
● Musicians may practice in their dorm rooms with permission of their roommate. Students will not be able to practice in their dorms during quiet hours. 

Practice Rooms: 

● Wind, Brass, Voice musicians may practice by themselves for two hours at a time with one hour of gap time to allow room to ventilate. 
● Spring players, pianists, percussionists and harpists may practice by themselves for two hours at a time with 30 minutes of gap to allow for ventilation. 
● All students are required to go through the online room reservation system in order to use a practice room. Students may not use an empty room they find without signing it out officially. (This will assist with any needed contact tracing the school has to do.)
● Students are responsible for wiping down surfaces, music stands, chairs, doorknobs, light switches, and other high-touch areas before and after use. Cleaning supplies will be provided for cleaning of rooms between practice sessions. 
● Maximum occupancy for each room will be posted. Small practice rooms in Bito, Blum, Bito Practice Room Building and New Robbins basement will be limited to one person per room. 
● Strings, piano, percussion and harp will practice with masks on at all times whenever practicing inside. 
● Wind and brass players will use masks and bell covers whenever practicing inside. ● We will reserve 5 woodwind and brass priority rooms for practice and lessons. These studios will all have windows that open. These rooms will be equipped with small fans to increase ventilation. 
● There will be a two hour total limit on daily practice room sign out. Pianists may sign out three total hours on any given day.

Voice Lessons and Coaching

● Voice instruction and coaching will be offered in a socially distanced way by using two rooms directly connected by video cameras and microphones/headphones. Singer will be in one room and teacher and accompanying pianist will be in the other room. 
● Singers taking lessons from faculty in New York City may use this system or may take remote lessons using an online platform such as Hi Maestro, Zoom Facetime etc.
● Where possible, pianist-singer pairings will remain fixed throughout the semester.
● Pianists, when playing for vocal coaching and lessons in the video rooms, will not be required to gap 30 minutes between sessions. But they will need to follow all protocols for sanitizing of the piano and room when they complete their session. 
● The sharing of musical scores and printed documents will be minimized and controlled by a combination of digital delivery and advanced placement of printed materials to a designated mailbox. 
● Masking for singers while singing is required. 
● The duration of voice lessons should not exceed a maximum length of 30 minutes.
● Breaks between voice lessons will be a minimum of 60 minutes. 
● Prior to the beginning of a lesson or coaching, students will be expected to wait outdoors or in designated common spaces until receiving text notification that their instructor is ready to begin instruction. 
● Whenever possible, windows will be opened to increase natural ventilation.

Applying to the Program

  • How to Apply
    To apply to the undergraduate Bard Music Program, apply through the Bard Admission Office. Applying to the Bard Conservatory of Music requires a separate application to the Conservatory.
    Apply to the Undergraduate Program   Apply to the Conservatory