Bards Fisher Center Presents Richly Programmed Fall Season of Music, Dance, Theater

Posted on July 18, 2012 by AmateurPianists No Comments

Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (PRWEB) August 05, 2011

This fall the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College presents a series of events featuring world-class dance, music, and theater programs, from September through December. All programs take place in the acousti­cally superb Sosnoff Theater. Addi­tional program infor­mation can be found at fishercenter.bard.edu. Tickets can be ordered online or by calling the box office at 845–758-7900.

The fall season begins the weekend of September 9 with the iconic Merce Cunningham Dance Companys Legacy Tour, September 911. On September 18, The Bard College Conser­vatory of Music kicks off its Conser­vatory Sundays series with a concert featuring its resident percussion ensemble, the acclaimed S Percussion. New Albion Records presents a unique concert of mid-20th-century American music, Works by Lou Harrison, on October 15. The Fisher Centers orchestra-in-residence, the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein, music director, begins its 20112012 series with a program of major orchestral works on October 28 and 29. The incom­pa­rable American Ballet Theatre returns to the Fisher Center for four perfor­mances, November 46. And the John Cage Trust and New Albion Records present James Joyce, Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie: An Alphabet, by John Cage, November 1112.

Merce Cunningham Dance Company Legacy Tour

Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10 at 8 p.m.

Sunday, September 11 at 2 p.m.

Tickets: $ 55, 45, 35, 25

The most historic aspect of 2011 will be the final perfor­mances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company …

Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

The legendary Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) returns to the Hudson Valley one last time before it disbands at the conclusion of its final world tour in December. MCDCs engagement at Bard provides an extra­or­dinary oppor­tunity to see Cunninghams chore­og­raphy performed by the last dancers he personally trained, in a program that illu­mi­nates his ground­breaking collab­o­ra­tions with his life partner, John Cage, and artist Robert Rauschenberg.

The iconic Antic Meet (1958) captures the exuberant spirit that existed between Cunningham, Cage, and Rauschenberg for nearly 60 years. In this comedic work, Rauschen­bergs witty costumesa fur coat, para­chute dresses, and, famously, a chair strapped to Cunninghams backcome back to life with Cunninghams vaudeville-like chore­og­raphy and a playful compo­sition by Cage that makes generous use of multiple forms of notation and different types of music making. Suite for Five (195658), in contrast, is one of the modernist trios most beau­tiful works, remarkable for its sustained solos and serene, sculp­tural quality. The explosive Sound­dance (1975) closes the program, with David Tudors powerful score in perfect accord with the vigorous, fast-paced dance for the full company.

New Albion Records Presents Works by Lou Harrison

Saturday, October 15 at 8 p.m.

Tickets: $ 45, 35, 25, 15

Lou Harrison (19172003) was an American original. Among other artists of the mid 20th century his work was what is now called outsider art, and he lived a life that was clearly outside the halls of the cultural insti­tu­tions of the day. He developed a singular body of work that was inspired by studies of early music and tunings, world music, and the influence of other musical mavericks, such as Henry Cowell, Charles Ives, and John Cage. Even­tually, he began to receive acknowl­edgement and accep­tance from critics and clas­sical audi­ences through increasing exposure on the stage. At his death he was trav­eling to the Midwest to attend a festival in his honor.

The three works on this program offer a generous glimpse of Lou Harrisons musical world. Solo to Anthony Cirone, dedi­cated to the eponymous percus­sionist, is a work for tenor bells that was long lost, then found during a New Albion recording project and realized by William Winant; it has since been performed around the world. Suite for Violin and American Gamelan, written with violinist Richard Dee, incor­po­rates medieval dance rhythms, drones, mesmer­izing gamelan patterns, and melodic vari­a­tions in a series of textures that become progres­sively richer, bringing the work to a grand and solemn conclusion. Finally, La Koro Sutro, a monu­mental work for large-scale chorus, gamelan, harp, and organ, presents in one huge bundle many of Harrisons musical and personal preoc­cu­pa­tions: percussion, the avoidance of func­tional harmony, Buddhism, and univer­salism (the title of the work is in Esperanto, and the piece was premiered at an inter­na­tional Esperanto conference in 1972). Presented by New Albion Records and the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

New Albion Records was founded in San Fran­cisco in 1984, to explore the world of art music. Its current cata­logue includes 138 releases. In recent years, with the onset of the Internet, its focus has moved from recording projects to concert events. This is New Albions fourth such event with the Richard B. Fisher Center at Bard College. New Albion has part­nered with the John Cage Trust and Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

American Symphony Orchestra

Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29

Concerts are at 8 p.m.; preconcert talks at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets: $ 40, 35, 25

This season the Fisher Centers orchestra-in-residence, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director, performs major orchestral works by Gustav Mahler, B