Bard Music Festival Returns With Exploration Of Composer Vaughn Williams

The Bard Music Festival returns for its 33rd season in August, with a two-week dive into the work of “Vaughan Williams and His World.” Eleven themed concert programs aim to examine the great but frequently misunderstood English and Welsh composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, one of the 20th century’s preeminent symphonists, who helped to spearhead a new British renaissance in music. 

The festival is spread across the two weeks, the first weekend runs August 4-6 and aims to contextualize the composer among his fellow Victorians, Edwardians, and Moderns.  The second weekend, which takes place August 10-13, explores Williams’ role in creating what may be considered “A New Elizabethan Age”. 

With two special events in nearby Rhinebeck, the concerts take place at Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on Bard College’s Hudson River campus. Six of these shows will also stream live to home audiences worldwide on Upstreaming, the Fisher Center’s virtual stage. The final show is a centerpiece of the 20th Bard SummerScape festival. The Bard Music Festival represents a highlight of the Fisher Center’s landmark 20th anniversary season, “Breaking Ground.”

Since its inception in 1990, the Bard Music Festival has helped to strengthen the standard concert repertory. This is in part because its founder and co-artistic director, Leon Botstein. Botstein serves as music director of both the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) and The Orchestra Now (TŌN). Both ensembles perform in the festival, along with Festival Chorale, which takes part in all choral works under the direction of James Bagwell. This year’s operatic, chamber, and vocal programs will boast an impressive lineup of guest artists, violinist Bella Hristova, tenor Nicholas Phan, bass-baritone Craig Colclough, pianists Danny Driver and Piers Lane, and the Horszowski Trio among them.

First Weekend (Aug. 4-6)

Program One: “Vaughan Williams: Becoming an English Composer”

Program Two: “Between Two Worlds: London and Berlin”

Program Three: “The Symphony and Composing for the Stage”

Program Four: “Heirs and Rebels: British Art Song”

Program Five: “Entente Cordiale: Britain and France”

Program Six: “London Calling! Fun in Cockaigne!” 

Second Weekend (Aug. 10-13)

Program Seven: “The Lark Ascending: British Music for Chamber Orchestra”

Program Eight: “The Islands and the Continent” 

Program Nine: “A New Elizabethan Age?”

Program Ten: “Vaughan Williams’s Legacy” 

Finale: Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare, “Sir John in Love”