Tag: Bard College

Music in NYC: The Orchestra Now French-themed FREE Concert

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Music in NYC: The Orchestra Now French-themed FREE Concert

TŌN, The Orchestra Now comes to New York City with two Sunday concerts at Symphony Space on February 16, 2020 at 4pm and at The Metropolitan Museum of Arts on February 23, 2020 at 2 pm

Leon Botstein Conducts The Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall
Leon Botstein Conducts The Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall; Photo by David DeNee

Following last January’s sold-out concert, TŌN’s resident conductor Zachary Schwartzman returns to Symphony Space with more audience favorites by Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen, and Stravinsky on February 16. The Orchestra’s outstanding and enthusiastic young artists will highlight this free performance with brief remarks about each of the works.

On February 23, TŌN will give the final installment this season of its top-selling Sight & Soundseries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Haydn’s The Clock: The Intersection of Art & Technology. The program will explore how musicians, like their contemporaries in art and science, were mesmerized by advancements and pseudo-advancements in science and technology during the second half of the 18th century. While Mozart poked fun at this fascination in Così fan tutte, Haydn drew inspiration from the advances in horology in Vienna and London.
Each presentation in the Sight & Sound series offers a discussion accompanied by musical excerpts performed by The Orchestra Now along with on-screen artworks, followed by a full performance and audience Q&A with conductor Leon Botstein.
Peter Norton Symphony Space, New York City
Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 4 PM
Zachary Schwartzman, conductor
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Messiaen: The Forgotten Offerings
Ravel: Boléro
Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947)
Tickets: Free concert, advance RSVP is suggested.

    The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
    Haydn’s The Clock: The Intersection of Art & Technology
    Sun, Feb 23, 2020 at 2 PM
    Leon Botstein, conductor
    Haydn: Symphony No. 101, The Clock
    Artwork about Technology from the exhibition Making Marvels
    Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Making Marvels: Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through March 1, 2020.
    Tickets priced at $30–$50; Bring the Kids for $1. All tickets include same-day museum admission. Tickets may be purchased online at metmuseum.org/sightandsound, by calling The Met at 212.570.3949, or at The Great Hall box office at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

     

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    Beyond NY: Opera Demon at Bard SummerScape

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    Beyond NY: Opera Demon at Bard SummerScape

    Rarely performed in the US opera by Anton Rubinstein is part of the SummerScape 2018 program on July 27 – August 5 at Bard College

    Opera Demon Bard SummerScape Upstate NY
    Bard SummerScape presents Anton Rubinstein’s Demon / Photo by Maria Baranova

    Bard SummerScape is well known for its daring and adventurous streak offering to its audiences a delicious yet rarely performed music. Last year the program included A. Dvorak’s Dimitrij. This year it presents Anton Rubinstein’s opera Demon. Rubinstein’s work will complement the rest of the SummerScape program lineup celebrating the music of the The Mighty Five, the Russian composers of the late 19th century whose ambition was to write compositions rooted in Russian folk songs and traditional tonalities. The resulting trove of music literature enriched the sound palette and expanded the music language.

    As for The Demon, with an all-Russian cast directed by Thaddeus Strassberger and accompanied by the American Symphony Orchestra with Mr. Botstein, current president of Bard College, conducting the opera will surely delight and amuse by its vibrant music and opulent choral arrangements. The performance are taking place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

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    Beyond NY: Jazz Music for Two Pianos with Fred Hersch and Sullivan Fortner

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    Beyond NY: Jazz Music for Two Pianos with Fred Hersch and Sullivan Fortner

    Catskill Jazz Factory brings great music to Bard College 

    This partnership of two great pianists is promising to make a delightful night full of fresh perspectives on contemporary jazz. Each musician brings a distinct style and artistic excellence while being true the roots of his style. Merging these two creative personalities playing the music of Fred Hersh, Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter and others is not an easy fit. But it will surely be refreshing and exciting. 

    double piano jazz concert bard college ny October 2017
    Fred Hersch / Photo credit Vincent Soyez

    Fred Hersch is a celebrated figure on the international jazz scene. He came to fame in 1984 when he debuted with Horizons. His very elegant style of introspective and emotionally rich music is gaining in its depth with each appearance and recording. His trio with bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson enjoys a fruitful collaboration and maintains a demanding live performance and recording schedule. The New York Times review of the trio performance at the Vanguard back in 2012 described their style as “the incremental stretch toward an elusive ideal”.
    double piano jazz concert bard college ny October 2017A celebrated pianist and a bandleader, Hersch is also a well-known composer and jazz educator. Being nominated for ten Grammy awards, the last two in 2017, and named a 2016 Doris Duke Artist puts Hersch at the top of the list of contemporary jazz musicians. His very personal story of near-death health crisis, a remarkable come-back and an openness about his experiences all contribute to his very distinct status among the musicians. A profile in the WallStreetJournal by Ted Gioia calls this return to life “a miracle” which brought Hersch music to the level “that doesn’t get any better than this”. Hirsch’s latest album Open Book was released in September 2017.

    double piano jazz concert bard college ny October 2017
    Sullivan Fortner / Image source sullivanfortnermusic.com

    Sullivan Fortner, a 2015 Cole Porter Jazz Fellow with the American Pianists Association, brings in the vibe of his generation to this fascinating partnership. Also a leader of his own band, The Sullivan Fortner Trio, who are performing extensively, Fortner had played with vibraphonist Stefon Harris and the trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Etienne Charles and toured with major jazz collectives of today.
    double piano jazz concert bard college ny October 2017Graduating from Oberlin Music Conservatory with bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies and master’s from Manhattan School of Music, Fortner is recognized for his youthful energy mixed with the disciplined maturity.  A review in the New York Times of his “Aria” album release stresses that “his fundamentals as a player could hardly be stronger”.

    The concert at Richard B. Fischer Center for Performing Arts at Bard College located on a picturesque campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY is organized by an innovative educational and performance art community the Catskill Jazz Factory. Bard College is well-known for its rigorous art education program and the best in class roster of music performances in upstate NY. Only two hours away from hustle and bustle of New York City, the campus is sufficiently insulated for full concentration and study, yet affords a convenience of being accessible via train connection to the city.

    The Richard B. Fisher Center is an architectural jewel in itself being designed by Frank Gehry and hosting a multitude of adventurous programs at the world-class facilities.

    Book the tickets  here.

    Venue: Richard B. Fisher Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

    Dates: October 7, 2017

    Places to eat around Bard College.

     

    Beyond NY: Opera Dimitrij at Bard SummerScape in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

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    Beyond NY: Opera Dimitrij at Bard SummerScape in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

    Antonin Dvorak’s Rarely Performed Masterwork 

    Dvorak Opera Dimitrij at Bard SummerScape in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
    Scene from Dimitrij; photo by Todd Norwood

    This year Bard SummerScape is dedicated to the Romanticism in music and is celebrating Chopin. Adding  Antonin Dvorak’s rarely staged operatic jewel Dimitrij  to the program makes a lot of sense as Dvorak is rightly considered to carry on Chopin’s Romantic tradition, and this complicated drama is well placed in the lineup celebrating Slavic roots and historic influences.

    The opera brings back a murky history of Russian Tsars at the “time of troubles” at the beginning of 17th century. The story starts at exactly where Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” leaves off with the death of Tsar Boris and the dark times of uncertainty approaching. The plot of Dimitrij is centered around a young pretender to the throne who appears in Moscow surrounded by Polish nobles and claims to be Dimitrij. His quest to rule is validated when the widow of Ivan, The Terrible recognizes him as her long lost son attempting to avenge her own grievances with the rulers. But the secret is bound to be revealed with all the ambitions at play. The intrigues of the power struggle, society division in pledging loyalty to competing clans, conspiracy theories and treacherous deceptions are only amplified by gorgeous music and powerful choral renditions. Sounds too familiar? It might be because a drive for power is as universal as love and death. The director of this Dimitrij production Anne Bogart thinks that the subject is particularly relevant today.

    In the words of the Boston Globe “Shakespeare could hardly have bettered” this tragic story. In fact the story was developed by a librettist Marie Cervikova-Riegrova who based it on an unfinished plot by F. Schiller’s Demetrius. It is also worth noting that apparently Dvorak, working on the opera in 1881-1882, was not familiar with Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” which was completed between 1868-1873 to A. Pushkin’s drama with the same title.

    Beyond NY: Opera Dimitrij at Bard SummerScape in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
    Fischer Center; Photo: Peter Aaron ’68/Esto

    Bard SummerScape opera performance takes place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Art which is located on the campus of a picturesque Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. Bard College is well known for its rigorous and diverse art education program and the best in class roster of summer performances in upstate NY. Only two hours away from hustle and bustle of New York City, the campus is sufficiently insulated for full concentration and study, yet affords a convenience of being accessible via train connection to the city.

    The Richard B. Fisher Center is an architectural jewel in itself being designed by Frank Gehry and hosting a multitude of adventurous programs at the world class facilities.

    Book the tickets for Dimitrij  here.

     

    Venue: Richard B. Fisher Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

    Dates: July 28 & 30, August 2,4 & 6, 2017 

    Places to eat around Bard College.

     

    Beyond NYC: Celebrating 100 Years of Jazz History with Catskill Jazz Factory at Fisher Center, Bard College, NY

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    Beyond NYC: Celebrating 100 Years of Jazz History with Catskill Jazz Factory at Fisher Center, Bard College, NY 

    May 13, 2017, Bard College, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 

    Beyond NYC: Celebrating 100 Years of Jazz History with Catskill Jazz Factory at Fisher Center, Bard College, NY
    Catskill Jazz Factory

    An innovative educational and performance art community Catskilll Jazz Factory is celebrating 100 years of jazz history from it’s folk roots to american classics like Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. The program brings together bandleader Chris Washburn on trombone, Brazilian pianist Andre Mehnari , vocalist/composer Sarah Elizabeth Charles, clarinetist Evan Christopher and friends.

    The event will take place at the picturesque town of Annandale-on-Hudson, NY at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Art which is located on the campus of a picturesque Bard College. Bard College is well known for its rigorous and diverse art education program and best in class roster of summer performances in upstate NY. Only two hours away from hustle and bustle of New York City, the campus is sufficiently insulated for full concentration and study, yet affords a convenience of being accessible via train connection to the city.

    The Richard B. Fisher Center is an architectural jewel in itself being designed by Frank Gehry and hosting a multitude of adventurous programs at the world class facilities.

    For tickets click here.

    Venue: Richard B. Fisher Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY       Date&Time: Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 8pm 

    Places to eat around Bard College.