The Orchestra Now Starts 2021 With Two Concerts

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) will begin its 2021 season with two concerts to be livestreamed from the Fisher Center at Bard on February 7 and 21, led by Leon Botstein and James Bagwell respectively.

Both programs for string orchestra will offer pieces by underrepresented composers, including a new work by composer/percussionist Sarah Hennies written for the Orchestra and the Bard Music Program, where she is on faculty. Her work is concerned with a variety of musical, sociopolitical, and psychological issues including queer and trans identity, love, intimacy, and psychoacoustics. She was recently profiled in The New York Times about her eclectic musical style, "rife with psychological effects and emotional undercurrents."

Additional rarely-heard music will showcase Popcorn Superhet Receiver, a work by English composer Jonny Greenwood, the lead guitarist and keyboard player of the alternative rock band Radiohead; and Serenade for Strings by the Venezuelan composer, pianist, and singer Teresa Carreño, who played for Abraham Lincoln at the White House in 1863.

Upcoming highlights in the 2021 season are a concert led by assistant conductor Andrés Rivas (March 7), a performance with resident conductor Zachary Schwartzman (March 20), and two concerts led by music director Leon Botstein (April 10 and May 1).
Schoenberg & Bach
Sunday February 7 at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Lutosławski: Funeral Music
Teresa Carreño: Serenade for Strings
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)

Access: RSVP at theorchestranow.org starting on January 27 to receive a direct link to the livestream on the day of the concert. This concert will be available for delayed streaming on TŌN's digital portal STAY TŌNED, starting on February 11.

New & Classic Works for Strings
Sunday February 21 at 2 pm
James Bagwell, conductor
Sarah Hennies: New Work (World Premiere)
Jonny Greenwood: Popcorn Superhet Receiver
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Grieg: Holberg Suite

Access: RSVP at theorchestranow.org starting on January 27 to receive a direct link to the livestream on the day of the concert. This concert will be available for delayed streaming on STAY TŌNED starting on February 25.

Since March 2020, TŌN has presented more than 100 audio and video streams on STAY TŌNED, its new portal regrouping of all digital initiatives. Audio content is offered every Tuesday and videos every Thursday. The events feature weekly new and archived audio and video recordings that comprise recitals, chamber music, and symphonic programs, including collaborations with the Bard Music Festival that are also available on the Fisher Center at Bard's virtual stage, UPSTREAMING. Much of the content is also available on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

To adapt to current circumstances, Bard College created detailed protocols for testing and screening, daily monitoring of symptoms, contact tracing, quarantine practices, and physical distancing in the classroom and across the Bard campus. This includes specific protocols for musicians campus-wide in both its undergraduate and graduate programs.