Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program
The Heart of a Woman & American Tapestry
The Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program presents two recitals at PS21 exploring the American experience through art song and American music: The Heart of a Woman on Saturday, December 6th, and American Tapestry on Sunday, December 7th.
Guided by Artistic Director Stephanie Blythe, the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program provides emerging singers with the technical grounding, historical wisdom, and artistic freedom to build careers — and voices — on their own terms. From Bard’s Hudson Valley campus, young artists have the literal and figurative space to push boundaries and explore the limits of the classically trained voice in the 21st century. Graduates of the program, now in its 19th year, go on to appear in recital, opera, and concert as performers and creators on the world’s preeminent stages, receiving awards and accolades for their groundbreaking artistry and creativity onstage and behind the scenes.
The Heart of a Woman (December 6th) centers around the idea of womanhood, specifically through a cultural lens, and follows the thread of feminine wisdom and its conveyance. The artists explore what constitutes being an ‘American woman,’ not just through repertoire, but through each of our incredibly varied experiences.
American Tapestry (December 7th) explores the evolution of American vocal music. From early hymns and folk songs, to 19th-century parlor music and contemporary art song, this recital celebrates the voices, styles, and cultures that have shaped America’s unique musical identity—honoring its past, while imagining its future.
PERFORMERS
Michael Adams, soprano
Sydney Cornett, mezzo-soprano
Chirbee Dy, mezzo-soprano
Lara Saldanha, piano
Members of the Bard Conservatory’s Vocal Arts Program
“First Fig” Shiela Silver (b. 1946)
“Red Dress” Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)
“Dream Variation” Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
“Love After 1950” Libby Larson (b. 1950)
Boys lips
Blonde men
Big sister says, 1967
“Woman Work” Reyna Alston (b. 2001)
“Night Songs” H. Leslie Adams (1932-2024)
The Heart of a Woman
Sence You Went Away
Creole Girl
“Mirabai Songs” John Harbison (b. 1938)
It’s True I Went to the Market
All I Was Doing Was Breathing
Why Mira Can’t Go Back to Her Old House
Where Did You Go?
The Clouds
Don’t Go, Don’t Go
“I Send My Heart Up To Thee” Amy Beach (1867-1944)
“I Know My Mind” Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
“Night” Florence Price (1887-1953)
“A Soft Place to Land” Sara Bereilles (b. 1979)
“Anything Goes” Cole Porter (1891-1964)
PERFORMERS
Madelin Morales, mezzo-soprano
Imani Oluoch, mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Truncale, tenor
Tim Widner, baritone
Kyeongji Koh, piano
Members of the Bard Conservatory’s Vocal Arts Program
“Creation” by William Billings (1746-1800)
“My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free” by Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)
“Io! The Snow!” by Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
“Beautiful Dreamer” by Stephen Foster (1826-1864)
“I Love You Truly” by Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1862-1946)
“A Perfect Day” by Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1862-1946)
“Pineapple Rag” by Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
“Minnie The Moocher” by Cab Calloway (1907-1994)
“Ah, Love, But a Day” by Amy Beach (1867-1944)
“Ecstasy” by Amy Beach (1867-1944)
“Evening Song” by Charles Griffes (1994-1920)
“The Circus Band” by Charles Ives (1874-1954)
“He Is There!” by Charles Ives (1874-1954)
Four Songs for Voice and Piano, Op. 13 by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
III. “Sure On This Shining Night”
IV. “Nocturne”
“I Hear An Army” by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
II. Hyacinth
VI. What Lips My Lips Have Kissed
Old American Songs (Set 2) by Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
I. At The River
IV. The Little Horses
“Indiana Homecoming” by Jack Beeson (1921-2010)
“The Leather-Winged Bat” by Jake Heggie (b. 1961)
American Folk Set by Steven Mark Kohn (b. 1957)
Ten Thousand Miles Away
The Farmer’s Curst Wife
“My People” by Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)
“The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by Ben Moore (b. 1960)
“Cenzóntle” by Reinaldo Moya (b. 1984)
“Dear Gaybashers” by John Berners (b. 1961)
“America the Beautiful” by Samuel A. Ward (1848-1903)
