(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) — Soprano Dawn Upshaw, composer Joan Tower, pianist Jeffrey Kahane, the American Symphony Orchestra, and two experimental theater pieces will entertain audiences at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College from September through December 2013. Theatrical programs include a performance of the award-winning theater piece, No Child… by Nilaja Sun and a staging of the magical comedy Elephant Room, an evening-length magic show that embraces and exposes the role of deception (and self-deception) in contemporary American culture.
The season plays out as follows:

 

American Symphony Orchestra: Leon Botstein, Music Director

2013–14 Series Concert One: Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka; Avner Dorman’s Piccolo Concerto with Fanya Wyrick-Flax ’13, piccolo; and Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5.

Founded in 1962 by legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski, the American Symphony Orchestra continues its mission to demystify orchestral music and make it accessible and affordable to everyone. Under music director Leon Botstein, the ASO has pioneered what the Wall Street Journal called “a new concept in orchestras,” presenting concerts in the Vanguard Series at Carnegie Hall curated around various themes from the visual arts, literature, politics, and history, and unearthing rarely performed masterworks for well- deserved revival. At Bard College, the ASO appears in an annual winter subscription series at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, and also takes part in the Bard Music Festival and SummerScape.

Sosnoff Theater

Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26 Concerts are at 8 p.m.; preconcert talks at 7 p.m. Tickets: $25, 30, 35, 40

 

The 2013-14 series continues with Concert 2 on Friday, February 21, and Saturday, February 22, 2014, and Concert 3 on Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12, 2014. Season subscriptions are available. For more information, contact the box office at 845- 758-7900.

 

No Child . . .

Written and performed by Nilaja Sun; directed by Hal Brooks

Actress and writer Nilaja Sun is a teaching artist at a high school in the Bronx, where every day the students face huge challenges in simply coming to school. She directed them in a play, and their trials and triumphs form the basis of No Child . . . In this remarkable solo performance, Sun herself takes all the parts, transforming into the students, teachers, parents, administrators, janitors, and security guards who inhabit our public schools and shape the future of America.

An award-winning hit that played off-Broadway for more than a year, No Child . . . is a virtuosic performance, joyous and heart-wrenching. In Sun’s words, “I created this piece to be a snapshot from the trenches, something entertaining and provocative that’ll get people talking about the state of our public schools.”

Sosnoff Theater

Friday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 5 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $25, $5 students

Presented as part of writer-performer Nilaja Sun’s Live Arts Bard residency.

 

 

Elephant Room

Starring Geoff Sobelle as Dennis Diamond, Steve Cuiffo as Louie Magic, and Trey Lyford as Daryl Hannah. Written by Cuiffo, Lyford, and Sobelle in collaboration with the magicians; directed by Paul Lazar.

Three magicians. One show. Zero boring stuff. Sub-zero intelligence. It’s time to make it all add up . . . in the Elephant Room. Diamond, Magic, and Hannah invite you to a place of secrets, of mystery. Filled with off-the-wall magic and sublime comedy, Elephant Room examines the childlike wonder of three deluded illusionists who choose to live their off-center lives by sleight of hand.

Part satire, part absurd theatrical documentary, Elephant Room is an evening-length magic show that embraces and exposes the role of deception (and self-deception) in contemporary American culture.

“Delightfully daft . . . their lovable-loser shtick as well as their nifty skills help turn Elephant Room into one of the coolest places in town.”—New York Times

Presented as part of writer-performer Geoff Sobelle’s Live Arts Bard residency.

Theater Two

Friday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 15 at 2 p.m.

Tickets: $25

No children under the age of 6.

 

Conservatory Sundays Series

The popular Sunday afternoon concert series returns, performed by students of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, with faculty and special guests. All ticket sales benefit the Conservatory’s Scholarship Fund.

Recognized as one of the finest conservatories in the United States, The Bard College Conservatory of Music is guided by the principle that musicians should be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences to achieve their greatest potential. All undergraduates complete two degrees over a five-year period, a bachelor of music and a bachelor of arts in a field other than music. Bard Conservatory graduates are studying for advanced degrees in music at distinguished graduate schools throughout the world. Conservatory students, faculty, and guest artists offer more than 80 public concerts of chamber music, master classes, and student recitals annually. After two successful concerts at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, and a three-week concert tour of Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong, the Conservatory Orchestra looks ahead to a busy performance season on the Bard campus and at international venues.

 

Dawn Upshaw and Friends

Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Gilbert Kalish, piano; and Nicole Divall, viola. The program includes works by Ives, Ravel, Hindemith, and Brahms.

September 15

 

Music Alive!

Joan Tower and Blair McMillen, artistic directors

More than 40 musicians present a colorful selection of music from the 20th and 21st centuries, with works by Louis Andriessen, Osvaldo Golijov, Joan Tower, Daniel Wohl ’03, and a premiere by Conservatory student Tamzin Elliott ’17.

September 29

 

Conservatory Orchestra

Leon Botstein, music director

Program includes Rossini’s Overture to William Tell; Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel; and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141.

November 10

 

Conservatory Orchestra

Jeffrey Kahane, guest conductor and pianist

Program includes Chausson’s Poe?me, for violin and orchestra, Op. 25, with Sabrina Tabby ’14; Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58; and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. December 8

All performances take place in the Sosnoff Theater at 3 p.m. Suggested donation $20 (orchestra seating) $15 (parterre / first balcony). Free to the Bard community with ID.

 

 

Bard College Dance Program
Moderation Dance Concert

Choreographed and performed by Bard students, assisted by professional lighting and costume designers, this concert gives students a chance to explore new territory in dance making. Some dances are presented in partial fulfillment for acceptance into the program. Theater Two

November 8, 9, and 10 at 7:30 p.m. November 10 at 2 p.m. Free admission—reservations via the Box Office

 

Senior Dance Concert

An evening of Senior Projects in dance, this concert represents a culmination of four years of work by the graduating seniors in the Bard Dance Program.

Theater Two

December 5, 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. December 7 at 2 p.m. Free admission—reservations via the Box Office

 

Bard College Theater & Performance Program
Moby Dick—Rehearsed

By Orson Welles; directed by Jonathan Rosenberg

Moby Dick—Rehearsed is a 1955 play by Orson Welles in which a company of actors gathers in a rehearsal room to work on an adaptation of the Herman Melville novel. In Welles’s dramatic experiment the rehearsal is the performance, and a door is opened on the act of theatrical creation.

Theater Two

October 24, 25, 26 and 27 at 7 p.m.; October 27 at 2 p.m.

Tickets: $15 Free for Bard community.

Reservations required: 845-758-7900

 

All programs take place in in the Sosnoff Theater and Theater Two of the Fisher Center. Tickets will go on sale on September 3, and can be ordered online at Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts or by calling the box office at 845-758-7900.