Music, like all art, engages the mind and the heart.
The mission of the Bard College Conservatory of Music is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music.
Bagwell was recognized by both organizations for the role he has played over the past two decades in creating a consistent record of excellence in choral performance.
The three-day program brought together renowned guzheng masters from China, musicians from across North America, and young student performers for a gathering of artistic exchange, collaboration, and performance.
Sasha Romero was appointed principal trombone of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2018. Prior to her appointment at The MET, she held the position of principal trombone with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2018.
Hailing from Longview, Texas, Sasha grew up within the acclaimed and robust Texas band system and achieved great musical success at a young age. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Music degree at Baylor University, where she studied with Brent Phillips; and her Master of Music degree at Rice University, studying with Allen Barnhill.
In addition to a lengthy list of national and international solo and chamber music competition wins to her name, Sasha is honored to have been a semi-finalist in the first Brass Division of the 2019 XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sasha is a passionate educator, and currently serves on the trombone faculties at Rutgers University, Mannes School of Music, and Bard College Conservatory of Music. A highly sought-after teacher, soloist, and clinician, she has presented solo recitals and masterclasses at numerous colleges, universities, music conservatories, and industry conventions across the United States.
When she is not at The MET, teaching, or screaming into the night at the shortcomings of NYC’s public transportation system (looking at you, weekend subway service), Sasha is occasionally invited to perform as a guest trombonist with the world’s major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, and others. She can be heard on Weezer’s OK Human album, as well as the film soundtracks to The Good Liar (2019) and Joker (2019).
Sasha currently makes her home in New York City, where she spends an embarrassing amount of time catering to the demands of her absurdly adorable cats and searching endlessly for decent Mexican food.
Sasha Romero is an S.E. Shires Performing Artist and she has a signature mouthpiece line with Long Island Brass Co.
Hugo Valverde
Horn
Hugo Valverde
Hugo Valverde carries a professional orchestral and solo career in the United States and his native Costa Rica as a French horn player, currently holding the full-time and tenured position of Second Horn with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2017.
As an orchestral player he has performed with the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra, the Classical Tahoe Festival Orchestra in Incline Village, Nevada, The Strings Music Festival Brass Ensemble in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, The Orchestra of the Americas on their Eastern Canada Tour, The Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, The New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
In his role as a soloist he performed Richard Strauss’ Concerto No. 1 with the Lynn Philharmonia Orchestra under Guillermo Figueroa and he premiered the piece “Tributo al Ciudadano Pablo” by Marvin Camacho -who is a well renowned Costa Rican composer and pioneer in new contemporary music- with the “Heredia Symphony Orchestra” of Costa Rica under Josué Jiménez. The piece is written and dedicated to him by the composer and it reflects Hugo Valverde’s commitment to Latin American repertoire, having performed and premiered pieces by Manuel Matarrita -Costa Rican pianist and composer-, and other Latin American composers. He often performs chamber music concerts with his colleagues of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall Concert Series at Weill Recital Hall and also with the woodwind quintet “Quinteto de Luz” in Costa Rica at the National Music Institute, Teatro Espressivo and the National Theatre of Costa Rica.
A dedicated educator, Mr. Valverde has been involved in pedagogical programs in the United States and Latin America, giving masterclasses for the Orchestra of the Americas, Yale University School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Bard College Conservatory of Music, National Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, The Blackburn Music Academy in Napa Valley, San Jose State University, Austin Peay University, New World School of the Arts, University of Panama School of Music and the University of Costa Rica, among others. During the pandemic he created the project “Lockdown Warmups”, which offered 40+ free masterclasses and professional online coaching from renown musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland and The Philadelphia Orchestras, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Bavarian Radio, Frankfurt Radio, Hamburg, West Germany Radio Symphonies, and other remarkable ones, for young Latin American horn players. He currently teaches at the Precollege Division at Manhattan School of Music.
As a recording studio musician, Mr. Valverde has been part of two soundtracks for movies called “The Woman in the Window”, produced by Fox 2000 Pictures, released by Netflix and 20th Century Studios and music composed by Danny Elfman; and the other one is “Don’t Worry Darling”, produced by New Line Cinema, and music by John Powell. He was also part of the recording of Sir Paul McCartney’s song “My Valentine” with Michael Bublé in the solo voice and Mr. McCartney himself in the live recording session at the Manhattan Center Studios. The song was released in February 2022 in various music and video streaming platforms like YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, etc.
The live recording and broadcast made in 2019 of George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” was chosen as the recipient of the “Best Opera Recording” award in the “63rd Grammy Award Ceremony”. In March 14th, 2021, The Metropolitan Opera Company won the “The Recording Academy” Grammy, and Mr. Valverde was part of this broadcast and recording, who was also given a certificate of participation as a member of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in recognition of his effort put into the project.
Mr. Valverde studied at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Lynn University Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida and the National Music Institute in San José, Costa Rica. His main teachers are Daniel León, Luis Murillo, Gregory Miller and William VerMeulen.
In his spare time, Hugo enjoys road biking around Central Park, New York City area, New Jersey and his native Costa Rica, and is an avid coffee aficionado, given the fact that Costa Rica is known worldwide for the top-quality coffee they produce.
Tara Helen O'Connor
Flute
Tara Helen O'Connor
Tara Helen O'Connor is a charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a two-time Grammy nominee, she was the first wind player chosen to participate in The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) and is now a Season Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A Wm. S. Haynes flute artist, Tara is a regular participant in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, Spoleto Festival USA, Chamber Music Northwest, Mainly Mozart Festival, Music from Angel Fire, Rockport Music, Bay Chamber Concerts, Manchester Music Festival, the Banff Centre, the Great Mountains Music Festival, Chesapeake Music Festival and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. Along with her husband Daniel Phillips, she is the newly appointed Co-Artstic Director of the Music From Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico.
A much sought-after chamber musician and soloist, she has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the Orion String Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Jaime Laredo, Dawn Upshaw, Eliot Fisk, Jeremy Denk, Ida Kavafian, Peter Serkin and David Shifrin. Tara is a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape, the legendary Bach Aria Group and is a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble. A passionate advocate of new music, she is a member of the Talea and Cygnus Ensembles. Tara has appeared on A&E's Breakfast with the Arts and PBS' Live from Lincoln Center. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Bridge Records. She has just released a solo CD of American flute works entitled The Way Things Go on Bridge Records with pianist Margaret Kampmeier.
Tara holds a DMA from Stony Brook University where she studied with the late Samuel Baron. Her other teachers include Julius Levine, Thomas Nyfenger, Robert Dick and Keith Underwood. Her yearly summer flute master class at the Banff Centre in Canada was legendary. She is Associate Professor of Flute, Head of the Woodwinds Department and the Coordinator of Classical Music Studies at Purchase College School of the Arts Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Tara is on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory of Music, the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music and is a visiting artist, teacher and coach at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She lives with her husband, violinist Daniel Phillips and their two miniature dachshunds, Chloé and Ava on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
For more information about the flute studio at Bard, please visit: https://bardconservatoryfl.wixsite.com/my-site.
Yue Li
Dizi
Yue Li
Li Yue is a Chinese bamboo flute (dizi) performer, Associate Professor of Dizi at Tianjin Conservatory of Music, and a graduate advisor. He currently serves as Director of the Wind and Percussion Teaching and Research Office in the Department of Traditional Chinese Music at Tianjin Conservatory of Music, and is also an adjunct dizi instructor at the Central Conservatory of Music. In addition, he is the Deputy Secretary-General of the Xiao and Xun Professional Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society. Li holds a Doctorate in Dizi Performance from the Central Conservatory of Music.
In 2007, he won first place in the Bamboo Flute category at the CCTV National Instrumental Music Television Competition, and in 2009 received the Gold Medal at the Golden Bell Awards for Bamboo Flute. Li was admitted to the Secondary School of the Central Conservatory of Music in 2000, where he studied under renowned dizi masters Zhang Yongfa, Liu Hanyou, Zhan Yongming, Wang Ciheng, and Xin Zhengkui. In 2006, he entered the Central Conservatory of Music to study with Professor Dai Ya, a distinguished dizi performer, educator, and doctoral advisor. In 2022, he was admitted to the doctoral program in Dizi Performance at the Central Conservatory of Music, continuing his studies with Professor Dai Ya.
In recent years, Li has been invited to perform as a dizi soloist with leading orchestras and ensembles worldwide, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian National Folk Chamber Orchestra, the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the China National Symphony Orchestra, and the China National Traditional Orchestra, among many others, giving hundreds of performances.
Li joined the faculty of the US-China Music Institute at Bard in 2025 through USCMI's ongoing partnership with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.