<p>Hi does anyone know much about studying piano performance at Bard? </p>
<p>Is the audition really hard? Is prescreening hard to pass? </p>
<p>What do you think of the program? Are the academics well-integrated? Is it more stressful than places like Oberlin? </p>
<p>Thanks!
Prestofaust</p>
<p>I don’t know a great deal about Bard on piano, I do know that they have put together a top notch faculty in the conservatory (which is still relatively new) and that the program is very competitive to get into. Bard is also unique in that when you get in there, you have to get a BA as well as a BM, it is a 5 year program. Bard the college is one of the so called "well respected’ liberal arts colleges (so much so, they were the subject of an Onion investigative report about excess dinner party culture at the school (in case you don’t know the Onion, it is satirical) and as such is pretty academically rigorous. </p>
<p>I think you will find from what I know of it that Bard is going to be very competitive, which with Piano is generally the rule anyhow, but it won’t be easy.</p>
<p>Wish you luck.</p>
<p>I’ve just returned from a visit to Bard to witness the performance of my son’s senior project which combined both disciplines of his two degrees. We also heard the conservatory orchestra, which is top-notch. Better than many smaller city orchestras I’ve heard in my time. Yes, it is a very competitive program for piano, with some of the best known pianists in the world on the faculty - although some teach less than others, and have many fewer students, because of their performing schedules.</p>
<p>There is a separate music program in the college, and many students who apply to the conservatory, while not admitted to the conservatory, are admitted to the college itself. Vice versa, though, is not possible.</p>
<p>Yes, pre-screening is very selective. Most accepted pianists are of international caliber (as are most of the musicians.) As for the academics, if you are a serious student and are interested in a rigorous liberal arts education - Bard has everything you need, and will be fully supportive of your academic path, as well as your musical path. I can’t say enough good things about the academics at Bard - the professors, the course offerings, and the other students. My son has had an extraordinary experience.</p>
<p>Remember that Bard Conservatory is very small - on all instruments and in composition they only admit a combined 15-20 students in any given year and they are pulling from the global community not just the US. For instance they’ve never admitted more than two composition students in one year. (Although in this case the majority of the students, rather than international, seem to be from California. Not sure what’s in the water here! 
)</p>
<p>Oh goodness that’s a bit intimidating…I think I’ll redo some of my prescreening tapes then… </p>
<p>Do you know if you are accepted into the school but not the conservatory can you go there as an academic student, take lessons, and re-audition in the spring?</p>
<p>You can take lessons in the College but they will be from different faculty - not the Conservatory teachers. You can re-audtion, however. I’m not sure how it would work for the double degree track - though they do take transfers into the conservatory - even in spring semester. Here is a list of the music faculty in the College, as opposed to the Conservatory. There are three classical piano professors listed, and additional jazz/classical/improv pianists.[The</a> Music Program at Bard](<a href=“http://music.bard.edu/faculty/]The”>Faculty of the Music Program)</p>
<p>When I mentioned that Bard only admitted a combined 15-20 students in the conservatory - I should have stated they only enroll a combined 15-20 students. The yield rate - how many students enroll who’ve been admitted varies by instrument, I’m sure. I know the most about composition: in my son’s year, for instance, they only admitted one student on composition and he enrolled. 
However, subsequent years they’ve admitted 2-3 students on composition, and 1-2 usually enroll. (The other choices for the admitted composition students the last few years have been Harvard/NEC, Princeton and Yale.) They sometimes have a waiting list of 1-2 students. And sometimes don’t, preferring to take no one if not of the caliber they’re seeking.</p>
<p>There are currently 8 piano students in the undergrad program in the conservatory. Of those, 6 are international students.</p>