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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.

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    Interested in visiting Bard for a campus tour or performance? 
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A singer in front of an orchestra in Olin Hall
Photo by Karl Rabe

Offering Unique Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

  • Undergraduate Double Degree in Liberal Arts and Music Performance (BA and BM)
  • Graduate Degree in Vocal Arts (MM)
  • Graduate Degree in Conducting (MM)
  • Graduate Degree in Instrumental Studies (MM)
  • Master of Arts in Chinese Music and Culture (MA)
  • Advanced Performance Studies 
  • Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship
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The Bard Conservatory also offers a Preparatory Division for students ages 3–18.

News

a black and white archival photo of a man at a piano

Bard Conservatory of Music Announces Seventh Annual Kurtág Festival Honoring György Kurtág’s 100th Birthday, March 11–April 4

The 2026 edition highlights the clarity, precision, and expressive depth of Kurtág’s music.

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two men raise their hands to conduct against a black backdrop

Bard Conservatory Orchestra Innovation and Legacy Concert Featured in China Daily and Xinhua

The concert, notes Xinhua, was “more than a performance—it was a profound musical dialogue across eras and cultures.”

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The Eighth Annual China Now Music Festival Reviewed in <em>China Daily</em>

The Eighth Annual China Now Music Festival Reviewed in China Daily

The final performance of the festival, a chamber opera and dance concert by the Bard East/West Ensemble, will take place on October 5 at 3 pm at Jazz at Lincoln Center. 

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Upcoming Events and Performances

  • A piano lit on an empty stage.; Student Recital: Jessica Ward, viola
    2/4
    Wednesday
    Student Recital: Jessica Ward, viola 7:00 pm
    Bard Hall
  • A piano lit on an empty stage.; Graduate Degree Recital: Kuang Zhou, viola
    2/6
    Friday
    Graduate Degree Recital: Kuang Zhou, viola 2:00 pm
    Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
  • A blurred black and white image of three fingers.; Undergraduate Degree Recital: Andrew Altrock, piano
    2/7
    Saturday
    Undergraduate Degree Recital: Andrew Altrock, piano 7:30 pm
    Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
  • A piano lit on an empty stage.; Undergraduate Degree Recital: Maggie Yang, mezzo-soprano
    2/8
    Sunday
    Undergraduate Degree Recital: Maggie Yang, mezzo-soprano 7:30 pm
    Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
  • The Sound of Spring
    2/14
    Saturday
    The Sound of Spring
    A Chinese New Year Concert with The Orchestra Now

    3:00 pm
    Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater

Meet Our Faculty

See All Faculty
  • Derek Fenstermacher
    Tuba

    Derek Fenstermacher

    Currently principal tubist with both the New Jersey and Chattanooga Symphony Orchestras, Derek Fenstermacher received his B.M. from the University of Alabama, an M.M. from the Cincinnati College/Conservatory of Music. His primary instructors have included Mark Barton, Timothy Northcut, Demondrae Thurman, Mike Dunn, and Philip Moore, with additional tutelage from Andrew Miller, Warren Deck, Gene Pokorny, Dan Perantoni, Dave Kirk, Cristian Ganicenco, Gil Long, Sam Pilafian, and Pat Sheridan. Mr. Fenstermacher won his first orchestral position at the age of 20 and has since performed with the Nashville Symphony, New World Symphony, Houston Ballet, Alabama Symphony, Cincinnati Chamber, Huntsville Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, West Virginia Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, and Meridian Symphony Orchestras. As a soloist, he has won many prestigious music competitions, including 1st place at the Leonard Falcone Artist Tuba Competition, and three 1st place awards at the 2008 International Tuba/Euphonium Conference. An avid chamber musician, he currently performs with the Boreas Tuba Quartet, and will be joining the New York Tuba Quartet in 2012. With over 10 years teaching experience, Mr. Fenstermacher has given masterclasses at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Montclair State University, as well as numerous other schools in Alabama, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, and New Jersey.
  • Barbara Jöstlein Currie
    Horn

    Barbara Jöstlein Currie

    Barbara Jöstlein Currie joined the Met Orchestra in 1998, as assistant horn. A year later, she won the 4th horn position which she has held since. Growing up in Chicago and studying with former Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians Phil Farkas and Nancy Fako, she left for New York to study with former Met principal horn, Julie Landsman at the Juilliard school with a full scholarship. During her studies, she took a year off to play third and associate horn with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in Israel. She has performed frequently at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and with the San Diego Symphony during the summer. Along with teaching at the Bard Conservatory, she also teaches at Manhattan School of Music pre-college, and has given master classes at many universities such as Colburn and Cincinnati Conservatory, as well as in Japan. Barbara is also active in the recording industry, playing on movies such as True Grit and Contagion, and with musicians such as Tony Bennett and Sting, and has also recorded soundtracks in Los Angeles during her time off. During her summers, Barbara lives in Southern California with her husband and three children, and make frequent trips to Disneyland and the beach. Barbara's brother Thomas is the associate principal horn of the St. Louis Symphony and played for two years with the NY Philharmonic.
  • Weston Sprott
    Trombone

    Weston Sprott

    Weston Sprott enjoys an exciting career that includes orchestral, chamber, and solo performances, as well as numerous educational and outreach efforts. He is Dean of the Preparatory Division at The Juilliard School, leading Juilliard Pre-College and the Music Advancement Program, and a trombonist in New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, of which he has been a member since 2005. He has been recognized as “an excellent trombonist” with a “sense of style and phrasing [that] takes a backseat to no one”. He is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program Aspire Award.

    Sprott has performed frequently with the Philadelphia Orchestra, held a position with the Zurich Opera/Philharmonia, and has appeared with numerous other major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and Oslo Philharmonic. He previously held principal positions with the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. His chamber music and festival engagements include the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Fesitval (SICMF), Classical Tahoe, Festival Napa Valley, Walla Chamber Music Festival, Chineke!, PRIZM Ensemble, and numerous others.

    As a soloist, Sprott has been featured regularly throughout the United States, Europe, South Africa, and Asia. He made his Carnegie solo debut in 2007 and was a featured soloist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is 2017. Sprott’s debut album, Act I, was released in 2010 and hailed by the American Record Guide as “an outstanding recording” that “feels the emotion of every note and phrase”.

    A dedicated and tireless teacher, Sprott holds faculty positions at Juilliard Pre-College and Bard College. He previously led the brass department at Mannes College and held faculty positions at Rutgers University, Purchase College, and the Juilliard Music Advancement Program. He also regularly serves on the faculties of SICMF, PRIZM, Curtis Institute of Music’s Summerfest, National Youth Orchestra-USA (NYO-USA) and NYO2. 

    He appeared in Ben Niles’ documentary film Some Kind of Spark, which highlights the impact of music education in the lives of students as they attend Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program. Other documentary film credits include A Wayfarer's Journey:Listening to Mahler, and Rittenhouse Square. His thoughts are also quoted in Rhythms of the Game, a book by former New York Yankees star Bernie Williams. He also works with organizations like Play On Philly and Music Kitchen, and has sponsored educational opportunities and solicited instrument donations for disadvantaged students. His philanthropic spirit was recognized in an article by the Wall Street Journal. He is the Board Chair of the Friends of SICMF, a member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble’s Artistsic Advisory Board, and a member of the Avery Fisher Artist Program's Recommendation Board. Weston is an active speaker, writer, and advisor for diversity and inclusion efforts in classical music. 

    Weston Sprott is an artist/clinician for the Antoine Courtois Instrument Company. He designed and performs exclusively on the Courtois Creation New York trombone. Performances and interviews with Mr. Sprott have been seen and heard on PBS' Great Performances, NPR's Performance Today, MSNBC, and Sirius Satellite Radio. 
  • George Tsontakis
    Distinguished Composer in Residence; Composition, Bard College Conservatory of Music

    George Tsontakis

    George Tsontakis has been the recipient of the two richest prizes awarded in all of classical music; the international Grawemeyer Award, in 2005, for his Second Violin Concerto and the 2007 Ives Living, awarded every three years by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He studied with Roger Sessions at Juilliard and, in Rome, with Franco Donatoni. Born in Astoria, New York, into a strongly Cretan heritage, he has, in recent years, become an important figure in the music of Greece, and his music is increasingly performed abroad, with dozens of performances in Europe every season. Most of his music, including eleven major orchestral works and four concertos have been recorded by Hyperion and Koch, leading to two Grammy Nominations for Best Classical Composition, in 2009 and 1999. He is Distinguished Composer in Residence at Bard and artist-faculty emeritus with the Aspen Music Festival, where he was founding director of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble from 1991 to 1999. He served three years as composer in residence with the Oxford (England) Philomusica; was the featured composer in residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for the 2008-09 season; and is continuing a six-year Music Alive residency with the Albany Symphony. He lives in New York State’s Catskill Mountains, in Shokan.
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Bard College
Bard College
Conservatory of Music
30 Campus Road
Annandale-on-Hudson
New York 12504-5000
845-758-7196
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All photos by Karl Rabe unless stated otherwise.