(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – The Orchestra Now, under the baton of Zachary Schwartzmann, performs works by Tchaikovsky, Messiaen, and Glinka at Simon’s Rock of Bard College on Friday, March 3, at 7:30pm, in a free concert in the Daniel Arts Center.

The Orchestra Now will perform an overture, a symphony, and four “mediations for orchestra,” including Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4; Messiaen’s “L’Ascension”; and Glinka’s Overture from “Ruslan and Lyudmila.”

Zachary Schwartzman has conducted around the United States, in Brazil, England, Bosnia, and Mexico. His orchestral performances have been featured on NPR, including a national broadcast on “Performance Today.” In 2004, he received a career development grant from the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation. He has served as assistant conductor for the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opera Atelier (Toronto), Berkshire Opera Festival, Opéra Français de New York, L’Ensemble orchestral de Paris, Gotham Chamber Opera, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Connecticut Grand Opera, and Opera Omaha, among others.

Schwartzman was associate conductor for two seasons with New York City Opera, as well as conductor in their VOX series, and has been associate/assistant conductor for fifteen productions at Glimmerglass Opera, where he conducted performances of Carmen and the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck.

Schwartzman’s credits as assistant conductor include recordings for Albany Records, Bridge Records, Naxos Records, and a Grammy-nominated world-premiere recording for Chandos Records. He has been music director of the Blue Hill Troupe since 2004 and assistant conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra since 2012.

Schwartzman has appeared as both assistant conductor and conductor at Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. He was recently appointed resident conductor of The Orchestra Now (TON) and music director of the Bard College Orchestra. In addition to degrees in Piano Performance and Orchestral Conducting, he earned a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College.

Founded in 2015, The Orchestra Now (TON) is an innovative pre-professional orchestra and master’s degree program at Bard College that is preparing a new generation of musicians to break down barriers between modern audiences and great orchestral music of the past and present. Under the leadership of conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein, TON mines the wealth of underperformed repertoire, reimagines traditional concert formats, and strives to make the experience of the performers a part of the listeners’ experience. At a TON concert, musicians and audience inspire one another, each following their curiosity with a shared sense of adventure.

The musicians of TON hail from across the U.S. and eleven other countries: Australia, Canada, China, France, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan and Venezuela. In addition to a concert series at their home base — the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College — they perform multiple concerts each season at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and offer complimentary concerts at venues across the boroughs of New York City in the Around Town series.