Alumni/ae

What are you doing now? I am currently the tenured piccolo player of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, I am also adjunct professor of flute at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Why TŌN? I applied for TŌN after I got my master’s degree because I was seeking a program that would help me become equipped to transition from being a student to being a professional musician.

How did TŌN help to further your career goals? TŌN was my first taste of the full-time orchestra lifestyle, so it helped me discover how to manage my time and efficiently practice through busy programming cycles. These skills have definitely come in handy as I apply them to my current professional life.

Describe a favorite concert, class, or other special memory from your time in TŌN. My most special memories from TŌN involve forming lasting friendships with fellow musicians, and being inspired by the music they made.

What does it mean to be a classical musician in the 21st century? Being a classical musician in the 21st century means being innovative and adaptable to connect with ever-changing audiences.

What does TŌN mean to the world of classical music? By fostering today’s student musicians, TŌN is helping to create tomorrow’s orchestral professionals, therefore shaping the future of classical music.

What would you say to other young musicians who are considering TŌN? Apply! There are very few pre-professional orchestral training programs, and of them, TŌN is incredibly unique. Between the exposure to outstanding musicianship from your colleagues, the full-time orchestra schedule, and the wide assortment of repertoire experience, TŌN is sure to help prepare you for wherever your musical journey may lead.

What are you doing now? I teach cello, chamber music, and music theory at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. I’m principal cellist of the Arkansas Philharmonic and play regularly with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.

What did TŌN offer you that differed from your undergraduate and/or other degrees? The two most interesting parts of TŌN for me were the Sight and Sound concerts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the annual Bard Music Festival.

Being involved in performances curated around fine art exhibitions at a world-class museum was a great experience, and the audience loved it. As musicians, finding new entry points into the music is so important for building audiences, and these concerts offered a great behind-the-scenes look at how it can be done.

Playing in the annual Bard Music Festival with TŌN gave me a taste of the multifaceted requirements of a modern classical musician. Through the publishing of a book every year, producing programs with lesser-known works, and offering pre-concert talks and detailed program notes, the Festival exemplifies the full picture of delivering classical music to modern audiences. I love that it focuses on one composer per year, so you can really dive deeply into their life, their artistic circle, and their music.

Importantly, during TŌN’s regular season of concerts we had the chance to put all of these skills into practice by introducing orchestral pieces verbally from the stage, writing program notes for the pieces on the concerts, and of course performing them for audiences. Finally, going into the lobby during intermission to speak with audience members helped me learn how to meaningfully engage with non-musician music lovers.

How did TŌN help to further your career goals? The academic component of TŌN that focused on curation helped me think about how I choose repertoire for recitals and how to put that music into context. For my Capstone Project I produced an Earth Day concert entitled Environmentalism in Contemporary Art. It involved a collaboration with Bard professors including renowned ecologist Felicia Keesing, Jon Bowermaster from Oceans 8 Films and the One Ocean Media Foundation, conceptual land artist Anne-Katrin Spiess, and climate fiction novelist Jenny Offill. After performing three new string quartets by Zachary Friedland, including a premiere commission, Jenny read an excerpt from her book Weather and we held a panel discussion that brought the audience into the conversation. With the help of other TŌN musicians, we produced a music video of the new commission, which has been a unique addition to my portfolio. This experience gave me a template for developing interesting projects in the future.

What was your most memorable experience in TŌN? The most memorable and enduring experience was participating as a TŌN alumnus in the filming of the Academy-Award nominated film Maestro, the 2023 Leonard Bernstein biopic. Working with actor-director Bradley Cooper and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who was his conducting coach for the film, was super fun and was of course immortalized in the film and the soundtrack, which was released on Deutsche Grammophon. While our scene was filmed at Tanglewood during the height of the pandemic, it was so amazing to have an opportunity to reconnect with other TŌN alumni/ae and meet current students on this project.

TŌN’s touring performances at Carnegie Hall and Bing Concert Hall at Stanford—with the Bard US-China Music Institute’s China Now Music Festival—of Zhou Long and Su Wei’s oratorio Men of Iron and the Golden Spike, and the opportunity to travel to China with conductor Tan Dun to perform his Buddha Passion were also particularly unique. Working with guest artists and conductors Peter Wiley, Eric Bartlett, Orion Weiss, Gil Shaham, Leonard Slatkin, Tan Dun, and Hans Graf, and having a chance to play with Colin Jacobson and Arnaud Sussman provided great learning experiences that I will never forget. My favorite TŌN concert was with Hans Graf playing Egon Wellesz’s Prospero’s Incantations. I had never heard of the piece or composer before, and now they are among my favorites.

What does it mean to be a classical musician in the 21st century? With my university students, I stress the importance of being able to play music, speak about music, and write about music. Very few musicians have a career based solely around playing their instruments, and even those who do must speak and write eloquently as well. Given the necessarily esoteric quality of classical music, these additional communication skills allow us to convey the importance and the relevance of our art, and put it into a context that speaks to our audiences’ personal experience. Being a musician today poses many opportunities and challenges. We are often required to be increasingly entrepreneurial, but as artists we also have more powerful tools at our disposal. TŌN provided opportunities to put all of these skills into context.

Why should the public support TŌN with contributions? Performing classical music is not a money-making endeavor. It relies on the generosity of those who believe in music’s intrinsic value. TŌN demonstrates its commitment to the value of this work by offering this program tuition-free and supporting each student with a fellowship stipend. It fosters an environment where musicians can focus exclusively on their art. There’s no other program quite like it!

What would you say to other young musicians who are considering TŌN? TŌN is a great place to gain experience playing with a young orchestra in some amazing venues while exploring eclectic repertoire. Apply!

What are you doing now? I live in Virginia Beach, VA. I just finished my second season as principal viola of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. I also perform as a substitute with the Boston Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Why TŌN? I knew from the start of my viola career that I wanted to be an orchestral principal. TŌN offered a space for me to hone in those skills without the burdens of student debt. Additionally, I spent many summers at the Tanglewood Music Center, and that part of the country—from the Berkshires to the Hudson Valley—might be my favorite place on Earth. When you live somewhere this beautiful, it’s very easy to be inspired to make music.

How did TŌN help to further your career goals? Serving as principal in TŌN gave me the platform I needed to practice how to be a leader in a controlled environment where I didn’t have to worry about receiving tenure. It’s a safe space to learn, make mistakes, and better yourself.

Describe a favorite concert, class, or other special memory from your time in TŌN. Naturally, if it hasn’t been obvious from my previous answers, the concerts that I played principal were particularly meaningful. The one concert I played in Carnegie Hall with TŌN, we had Gil Shaham soloing on a new concerto by Scott Wheeler. Not only did Mr. Shaham play on a violin made by the same luthier who made my viola, but I also got to begin an entire symphony by myself. I believe that symphony, George Bristow’s Symphony No. 4, is the only symphony in the classical canon that begins with a solo viola. That was pretty cool. (I still listen to our recording of it at least once a week).

What does it mean to be a classical musician in the 21st century? This is always a tough question to answer, but I think we have to find the balance between being an ambassador and an entertainer. As I’ve gotten older I realize that (in my opinion) the point of performing classical music is to connect with other people and bring joy to an audience. Doing this while being a representative of yourself, your instrument, your orchestra, and the genre of classical music as a whole is a lot of responsibility!

What does TŌN mean to the world of classical music? I’ve always appreciated that TŌN is forward-thinking and creative with their programming. I’ve seen other orchestras enact things to make them seem more “modern”, and they’ll just be things that TŌN has done from the start.

What would you say to other young musicians who are considering TŌN? Go for it! What’s not to love about making great music, in a fabulous Gehry hall, in one of the most gorgeous parts of the United States?

What are you doing now? I have been appointed the principal harp of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, after winning their harp audition in March 2024. I am very excited to be playing with them.

Why TŌN? Why not TŌN? I had an overwhelmingly positive experience. You get to perform extensively in New York City, learn not only the standard orchestra rep but delve into obscure works, be surrounded by incredibly supportive staff and peers, live in gorgeous upstate New York, perform in a world class hall situated on a stunning campus, and get a full-tuition fellowship and stipend!

How did TŌN help to further your career goals? TŌN allowed me to practice, take auditions, and perform in an orchestra without having to work at, for instance, a coffee shop in order to make ends meet. After my conservatory graduation, it was an incredible gift to be able to focus all my energies on what I wanted to pursue—orchestral playing—instead of worrying about hustling through gig life or a nine-to-five. With mock auditions, coachings, and even guest mentors and speakers, TŌN provided me a wonderful toolkit to achieve my goals.

Describe a favorite concert, class, or other special memory from your time in TŌN. I had numerous memorable concerts with TŌN, but I especially enjoyed playing the score to the 1938 movie The Adventures of Robin Hood during the Korngold summer festival. That movie had been a favorite of mine as a child, and it was an incredibly unique and once-in-a-lifetime experience to play such challenging music alongside the movie.

What does it mean to be a classical musician in the 21st century? It is a privilege to be a classical musician in the 21st century. In a world where live orchestral music is too often inaccessible, or even a luxury, I get to practice and perform it as my job. I think being an artist and performer comes with an obligation to enrich your community and an understanding that art is a necessary and essential building block of society.

What does TŌN mean to the world of classical music? Many organizations take a historical view of classical music, and think of orchestras as living museums dedicated to a past world whose structures and ideas share little with our present one. TŌN understands that classical music has no such definite boundaries. Movie scores are the Wagnerian operas of today, as pop karaoke replaced harpsichord duets in the parlor. Live music is and always has been a shared cultural experience, and there is no reason to believe that the need for such things will disappear. The orchestra is unique and powerful, accessible to anyone, and should be broadened and used as the community builder that it could be. TŌN understands this and strives to make such a vision reality.

What would you say to other young musicians who are considering TŌN? TŌN is an enriching and wonderful place to build your repertoire and hone your skills. It will remain a highlight of my life, and an essential part of my career journey.

What are you doing now? Since 2021, I have served as the manager of digital concerts and broadcasts for the Minnesota Orchestra. In this role, my responsibilities include co-producing and directing public television broadcasts, livestreams, and other digital content. Much of my time is spent translating musical scores into a visual narrative for television and internet audiences, developing a corresponding technical script for our video crew to realize that vision, and overseeing the execution of this plan through rehearsals, performances, and post-production. The goal is to create accessible concert video experiences that follow the story of each piece, share the virtuosity and teamwork of the musicians, and capture the excitement, grandness and intimacy of live orchestral music for audiences across the state of Minnesota and beyond.

Why TŌN? For me, TŌN was the perfect balance of substantial performance experience and exploring the meaning of the orchestra in contemporary society.

How did TŌN help to further your career goals? TŌN provided time to hone orchestral skills, learn a wide range of repertoire, and take auditions, as well as explore the ideas behind programming concerts and the impact of the concert format. While my career path has led more into artistic administration, in my first successful job interview I presented programs that I had developed while a student in TŌN. Additionally, the familiarity with composers and repertoire gained in the program are a large part of what I bring to my current position.

Describe a favorite concert, class, or other special memory from your time in TŌN. There are so many that it is impossible to pick! I have great memories of playing standard repertoire with wonderful colleagues, particularly Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4. I also have wonderful memories of less common repertoire such as Korngold’s opera Die Tote Stadt, Gliere’s Symphony No. 3, and Phillip Glass’ Symphony No. 1. The Bard Music Festival also stands out as a unique artistic experience that couldn’t happen anywhere else.

What does it mean to be a classical musician in the 21st century? Classical musicians in the 21st century balance a commitment to excellence in performance with an interest in what the music means in a contemporary context to their audience and greater community. They present and perform with conviction and commitment to communicating meaning, whether the music has proved itself over time, has been uncovered after being lost, or is being heard by audiences for the first time. Sometimes this may mean custom concert formats to engage with their audience, or drawing connections between the music and a broader theme or narrative.

What does TŌN mean to the world of classical music? I’m in awe of what my fellow alumni/ae have accomplished. Many professional ensembles and orchestras in the U.S. have former TŌN players, and the freelance community has been similarly enriched. These musicians bring what they gained in TŌN and impact the direction of the field with not only their virtuosity but with what they bring to their committees, chamber ensembles, concert programming, and relationships with audiences.

What would you say to other young musicians who are considering TŌN? TŌN is a wonderful opportunity to work hard on your own professional goals alongside like-minded colleagues with the guidance of seasoned industry professionals. Learning by doing is a huge part of the experience, and the environment is perfect for exploring any project you can dream up.

What are you doing now? I perform actively as a freelance bassist on the East Coast and all over the country (and sometimes abroad!), with both orchestral and chamber music ensembles including American Ballet Theatre, New York Classical Players, Musica Sacra, Frisson Ensemble, New York Oratorio Society, and more. I’m also the General Manager of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, an organization that is on the cutting edge of creative community engagement and chamber music. Decoda’s work with incarcerated composers in South Carolina was recently featured in The Washington Post.

Why TŌN? It was a very special experience to be in the inaugural class of TŌN and a part of something so innovative from the ground up. The program offered something beyond the typical graduate performance degree or training orchestra by inspiring us to think deeply about the role performing arts play in communities while also preparing us for the many demands of a professional orchestral career. TŌN and Maestro Botstein’s approach to programming is singular. I performed so many incredible pieces which I would never have gotten a chance to otherwise.

How did TŌN help to further your career goals? I knew early on in my studies that I wanted to be a professional musician and also understand everything that goes into making a performance possible behind the scenes. I find myself very fortunate to have a dynamic and varied performance career, all the while serving in a leadership role at a world class arts organization. The TŌN program provided the ideal groundwork for my vocation: in addition to orchestral and chamber music performance, it incorporates the full spectrum of professional development—grant writing, curatorial skills, public speaking, and teaching artistry—training us to consider the message our audience is receiving and how a concert program can inspire a deeper connection. I use these skills every day.

Describe a favorite concert, class, or other special memory from your time in TŌN. I had the chance to perform the famous Pulcinella bass solo with Maestro Gerard Schwarz at Town Hall in NYC my first year as part of TŌN’s Free Concert series. I will always remember the opportunity to play it somewhere besides a practice room and get a bow at the end of the concert! Also, the Bard Music Festival every summer is a joy. Each year you get to dive deep into the world of a different composer and the orchestral programs are innovative and eye-opening. (My favorite was Puccini and His World in 2016.)

No doubt, performing with TŌN as the soloist for Tan Dun’s Bass Concerto at Lincoln Center this past Sunday, with Maestro Tan Dun conducting, is also a concert I’ll never forget!

What does it mean to be a classical musician in the 21st century? Being a 21st century classical musician is exciting because more than ever before, you have to be able to create your own opportunities. Being in NYC, the amount of innovation and entrepreneurial drive in the classical music scene is exhilarating. It also means that you can’t just sit in your seat and play the notes, you need to engage with the issues and ideas that are captivating society and then find a way to bridge them to your music. I’m always amazed at how enthusiastic audiences are when a concert or program manages to express ideas beyond the music itself by sheer way of how each piece relates to another, and how they all connect to form a full experience. I think that’s the key.

What does TŌN mean to the world of classical music? A true classical music education means preparing pre-professional musicians not just for the current moment, but the future musical landscape. TŌN is guiding a generation of classical musicians to make a difference and chart new paths in a field that is very much in need of fresh perspectives.

What would you say to other young musicians who are considering TŌN? Apply! It’s an amazing program and I’ve made life-long friends and connections from it. Also, the Hudson Valley is gorgeous!

“TŌN played a pivotal role in my growth and development as a musician.”

Mexican-American clarinetist Elias Rodriguez TŌN ’18 was among the first class to graduate with Bard’s master of music degree in curatorial, critical, and performance studies. A passionate musician and educator, he has performed internationally throughout the Americas and Europe. This season, he joins the acclaimed WindSync, a vibrant chamber ensemble performing wind quintet masterworks, adapting beloved music to their instrumentation, and championing new works by today’s composers, based out of his home state of Texas.

During his final year in TŌN, Elias won the prestigious 2018 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, which granted him a three year artist residency at La Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, where he performed as a clarinet soloist for the U.S. Embassy France, served as a guest artist with Ensemble Calliopée, and studied with Patrick Messina and Jean-Marc Volta of the Orchestre National de France.

A native of Dallas, Elias worked in the area as a public school band director before embarking on his performing career. His training includes a degree in music education from Baylor University School of Music and graduate-level study in clarinet performance at University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris – Alfred Cortot.

“TŌN played a pivotal role in my growth and development as a musician. As a former Jr. High band director with big dreams, TŌN permitted me to perform with and sit alongside graduates of the most distinguished music schools in the country, several of whom won positions in major professional ensembles.. I learned just as much from my colleagues as I did from the incredible Bard faculty, guest artists, and staff. 

“The three years I spent on the Bard College campus represent some of the most inspiring and beautiful years of my life. The opportunities are endless to those who seek them. I am eternally grateful to President Botstein and the Bard faculty, administration, and staff for their personal investment and dedication to The Orchestra Now and its musicians. This program changed my life.”

Keep up with Elias: