Bard Music Festival Presents “Out of the Silence: A Celebration of Music”: Four Free Live-Streamed Concerts Showcasing Black Composers and Subjects of Past Festivals, with The Orchestra Now & Faculty of Bard College Conservatory (Sep 5–26)
These live-streamed concerts are presented on UPSTREAMING, the Fisher Center’s virtual stage.
To make a reservation for these free live-streamed events visit fishercenter.bard.edu
PROGRAM ONE
Sat, Sep 5 at 5:30pm (Fri, Sep 11 at 8:00pm broadcast WMHT)
The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein and James Bagwell
William Grant Still (1895–1978): Out of the Silence, from Seven Traceries (1939)
William Grant Still (1895–1978): Serenade (1957)
George Walker (1922–2018): Lyric for Strings (1946)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47): String Symphony No. 8 in D (1822)
PROGRAM TWO
Sat, Sep 12 at 5:30pm (Fri, Sep 18 at 8:00pm broadcast WMHT)
The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein, James Bagwell, Andrés Rivas & Zachary Schwartzman
Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981): Strum (2018)
Alvin Singleton (b. 1940): After Choice (2009)
Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941): Sonata da Chiesa (1990)
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904): Serenade for Strings, Op. 22 (1875)
PROGRAM THREE
Sat, Sep 19 at 5:30pm (Fri, Sep 25 at 8:00pm broadcast WMHT)
The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein, Andrés Rivas and Zachary Schwartzman
Roque Cordero (1917–2008): Adagio trágico (1972)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912): Four Novelettes, Op. 52 (1903)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–93): Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 (1880)
PROGRAM FOUR
Sat, Sep 26 at 5:30pm (Fri, Oct 2 at 8:00pm broadcast WMHT)
The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein
Duke Ellington (1899–1974): Solitude (1941; arr. Gould)
Duke Ellington (1899–1974): Sophisticated Lady (1932; arr. Gould)
Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–99): Violin Concerto in G, Op. 2, No. 1 (1773)
(with Ashley Horne, violin)
Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936)
Pairing masterworks by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and Bartók – all past subjects of the Bard Music Festival – with music by ten prominent Black composers – ranging from Classical pioneer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges to contemporary Americans Alvin Singleton, Adolphus Hailstork and Jessie Montgomery, the series celebrates Bard’s commitment to neglected rarities and the unquenchable joy of music-making.
“Out of the Silence” shines a light on some of the important Black composers so rarely admitted to the canon. Examples of their work will be heard alongside music by four composers featured in early seasons of the festival.
By celebrating more than three decades of musical exploration at Bard while amplifying some of society’s most unjustly neglected artistic voices, the series looks ahead to a more equitable future.
All four programs will be performed without an audience and with appropriate safety measures on Bard College’s idyllic Hudson Valley campus by its unique graduate training orchestra, TŌN, under the leadership of Music Director
Leon Botstein
and other members of the TŌN artistic team.