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About the Bard Conservatory

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Music, like all art, engages the mind and the heart.
It redefines boundaries and questions limits in order to make a meaningful statement about the human condition. The education of the mind is, therefore, as important as the education of the fingers. The greatest musicians not only have the technical mastery to communicate effectively but also are deeply curious, and equally adept at analytical and emotional modes of thought.
OUR STORY

OUR STORY

In 2005, Robert Martin led the founding of Bard College Conservatory, the first (and so far only) conservatory to require all its students to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in a field other than music in addition to their specialized music studies. Bard Conservatory was founded on the principle that the skills and attitudes fostered by an education in the liberal arts and sciences are exactly those that will make the difference between technical excellence and genuine artistry. In a career spanning six decades, Robert Martin was cellist of a string quartet, professor of philosophy, and vice president of a liberal arts college. Since leaving Bard, Martin continues to devote himself to the rethinking of music education, as a consultant and through authorship of Synergy: Music and the Liberal Arts.

READ FOUNDER ROBERT MARTIN'S "ON THE EDUCATION OF MUSICIANS"

ABOUT US

Performance Opportunities

Performance Opportunities

The Bard Conservatory offers unparalleled musical opportunities for its students. The Conservatory Orchestra performs regularly on campus, in New York City, and in semiannual concert tours to Asia or Europe. Students frequently perform alongside faculty in chamber music concerts at Bard, in regional chamber music concert series, and in concerts for the Bard Music Festival. Concerto competition winners from the undergraduate instrumental and graduate Vocal Arts Programs perform with either the Bard Conservatory Orchestra or the American Symphony Orchestra.

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World-Class Faculty

World-Class Faculty

The Bard Conservatory’s undergraduate faculty members are renowned performing musicians whose artistry has been featured in the world’s great concert halls. They are on campus weekly to give lessons, coach chamber ensembles, offer master classes, hold studio classes, and lead sectional rehearsals of the orchestra. Details about the faculties of the graduate Vocal Arts Program and the Graduate Conducting Program can be found at their individual program pages.

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Outstanding Facilities

Outstanding Facilities

The László Z. Bitó ’60 building, completed in 2013, contains general-use classrooms, faculty offices, teaching studios, two percussion studios, a 100-seat recital hall, a student lounge, instrument storage lockers, and administrative offices. The Conservatory’s largest performing venue is the Sosnoff Theater at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Additional performing venues, classrooms, practice rooms, and studios are located throughout campus in the Avery Arts Center, the Olin Humanities Building, and the Bitó Practice Room Building.

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Acknowledging Bard's Origins

Land Acknowledgement + Slavery Acknowledgement

Learn About Bard's History

Discover More

Discover More

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Bard Conservatory
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.