The Bard Music Festival returns this August in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY for its two week exploration of the artist Bohuslav Martinů. The festival will last from Aug. 8-17.
The Bard Music Festival, just 30 minutes away from Woodstock, NY, is an in-depth journey of conversation and performance surrounding a selected classical artist of focus. This year’s festival will provide eleven concerts and two panels providing context to the world of Bohuslav Martinů.
Preceding last year’s theme of Hector Berlioz, the Fisher Center has held explorations of artists like Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Debussy, Liszt and Chopin.
Martinů (1890–1959) was considered one of the world’s leading composers, writing over 400 works and teaching at Princeton, Curtis and Tanglewood. The composer took much of his inspiration from the folk traditions of his homeland, Czechoslovakia, but also adapted his later works with neoclassicism and jazz. The Bard Music Festival will take a complete look at his life and the context of his work over the course of two weekends.
The festival will start with an opening night social on Aug. 8 at the Ward Manor House outlooking the Catskill Mountains. Weekend one will take a look at the context of Martinů’s early life with music that surrounded his life during the 20th century.
The second weekend of the festival will feature Martinů’s later works made from his blending of tradition and innovation. On Aug. 16, the Fisher Center will hold a summer soiree between programs 8 and 9 of the festival. The event includes performances, signature cocktails and other refreshments. The festival will close out on Aug. 17 with Martinů’s eighth opera, “Julietta.” For more information about the Bard Music Festival, visit here.
Bard Music Festival Lineup
Aug. 8 — 5 p.m. — Bard Music Festival Opening Night Social
Aug. 8 — 7 p.m. — Program One — A Career Beyond Borders
Aug. 9 — 10 a.m. — Panel One — Why Martinů: Understanding Classical Music, Past and Future
Aug. 9 — 1:30 p.m. — Program Two — The French Connection
Aug. 9 — 7 p.m. — Program Three — Music and Freedom
Aug. 10 — 11 a.m. — Program Four — Martinů’s Distinctive Voice
Aug. 10 — 3 p.m. — Program Five — From Paris to New York
Aug. 14 7 p.m. — Aug. 15 3 p.m. — Program Six —The Spiritual Quest
Aug. 15 — 7 p.m. — Program Seven — Faith and Folklore
Aug. 16 — 10 a.m. — Panel Two — Music and Politics: From the Multinational empire to Contemporary Populism and Autocracy
Aug. 16 — 1:30 p.m. — Program Eight — Tradition and Innovation
Aug. 16 — 3:30 p.m. — Summer Soirée
Aug. 16 — 7 p.m. — Program Nine — The Epic Power of Tradition
Aug. 17 — 11:30 a.m. —Program Ten — Martinů’s Legacy
Aug. 17 — 3 p.m. — Program Eleven — The Opera of Dreams: Martinů’s “Julietta”
Comments are closed.