Music: Related Content
![Image of musician](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Bennington-music440x300_sfw.jpg?itok=w_k3BKN1)
In Nick Brooke's class, The Five Obstructions, 12 songwriters challenge each other to rewrite their songs in unique ways. Haiku? Disco? Blast beats? Stratocaster? All of that and more.
![Image of grad caps on headband](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/seniorconcert300.jpg?itok=7z3A5ZZY)
In lieu of in-person concerts, Bennington College seniors studying music present Senior MusicFest 2020, a full double album of their divine, diverse senior work.
![Woman on stilts painted gold](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/sunfest-gold300.jpg?itok=u0Ln4RVD)
On Saturday, May 9, Bennington students, alumni, and rising star bands will perform as part of Sunfest, Bennington's annual all-day music festival.
![Photo of students on webcam](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/loveis300.png?itok=q9-JH15E)
Bennington students, faculty, and staff in Kerry Ryer-Parke's Sing course go virtual with this arrangement of Love Is Love Is Love Is Love by Abbie Betinis.
![Photo of jazz musicians](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Jazz-Trio300x225.jpg?itok=Fv0NquRQ)
At the start of Fall term, Bennington College students celebrated with Student Works, an annual showcase of projects done across disciplines—from poetry and play readings, to musical performances, genetics research, oral histories, and more.
![Photo of John Bertles conducting](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/john-bertles-liz-vis300x225.jpg?itok=_AhgHvea)
Educator, composer, and instrument-builder John Bertles ’81 is the 2019 recipient of Bennington College’s Elizabeth Coleman Visionary Leadership Award.
![Album cover with chair on mylar backdrop](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/to-gallery-album-cover300x225.jpg?itok=NojnZsRT)
Ethan Koss-Smith '21 speaks about the process of producing his debut album To Gallery a Cloud Ground.
![Karnatic dancers](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Karnatic300x225.png?itok=E-OzqGB0)
Faculty member Sue Rees served as the technical director for the four-city tour of Karnatic Kattaikkuttu.
![Joan Tower](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Joan-Towers-NYT300x225.jpg?itok=16p8Nzbb)
Composer Joan Tower ’61 celebrated her 80th birthday in September. The New York Times spoke to her about this milestone and her lifelong journey with music.
![Mountain Man](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Mountain-Man300x225.jpg?itok=I2jZGL6l)
Magic Ship, the latest album from the folk trio comprised of Amelia Meath '10, Molly Sarlé '12, and Alex Sauser-Monnig '09, will be the group's first album in eight years.
![Milford Graves](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Milford-Graves300x225.jpg?itok=qYtq6gn6)
The New York Times interviewed former faculty member Milford Graves about his new documentary, Milford Graves Full Mantis.
![Sylvan Esso](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Sylvan%20Esso%20300x225.jpg?itok=A0uP4EgL)
The latest tour of electronic/folk duo Sylvan Esso, featuring vocalist-songwriter Amelia Meath '10, includes a sold-out show at MassMoCA on March 31.
![The Nubian Word for Flowers](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Nubian%20Word%20for%20Flowers%20300x225.jpg?itok=eBKSaQVW)
Carole Ione Lewis '59 recently premiered a major opera work in New York entitled The Nubian Word for Flowers; A Phantom Opera, written and directed by Lewis with music and sound design by her partner, the late Pauline Oliveros, a composer and pioneer in American electronic music.
![Joan Tower](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/joan%20tower%20300x225.jpg?itok=1arck36y)
In honor of composer Joan Tower ’61 and her 80th birthday, New England Conservatory featured her music during the month of February.
![jonathan mann](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/jonathan%20mann.jpg?itok=JYMwFxBP)
This January marks the tenth year running that Jonathan Mann ’04 has written an original daily song—many of which have gone viral—and shared it online.
![Joan Tower](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Joan%20Tower.jpg?itok=9KuSgkLu)
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is celebrating the “trailblazing American composer” Joan Tower ’61 with a concert in February featuring five of her orchestral works.
![Sylvan Esso](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/sylvan_esso_grammy.jpg?itok=ZBC2z7jP)
Sylvan Esso—the electronic-musical duo Amelia Meath ’10 and Nick Sanborn—has been nominated for a Grammy in the category of ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’ for What Now, the band’s sophomore album.
![Tony Lu](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Tony%20Lu.jpg?itok=-hul5bIM)
Award-winning pianist Tony Lu ’19, who overcame his visual impairment to become a virtuosic musician learning to play by ear, led the regional Sage City Symphony in a performance of the third movement of German composer Johannes Brahm's Concerto in D Minor, Op. 15.
![Derrik Jordan](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Derrik%20Jordan.jpg?itok=coSMu7Rj)
A song by world fusion musician Derrik Jordan ’77 is included on the forthcoming album Our Green Earth, which is being released by Big Fuss Records on September 14 to bring awareness to healing the planet.
![Bogdan Awarded Fulbright](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/fulbright_logo300.jpg?itok=bN3cjvGz)
Music faculty member Tom Bogdan was awarded his fourth Fulbright Grant to teach American composer Meredith Monk's A Celebration Service to musicians and dancers abroad.
![Black Spring Usdan Gallery image](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/blackspring_brieedellarocca-12_1200px.jpg?itok=cmGKkLn1)
Two classes, one big assignment: exhibit, catalogue, and archive black lives at Bennington in a multimedia performance exhibition in Usdan Gallery by Briee Della Rocca.
![Theaster Gates Adams-Tillim](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Theaster%20Gates%20Adams-Tillim%20Lecture.jpg?itok=--2-1HVJ)
The artist, curator, urbanist, and facilitator Theaster Gates was in residence at Bennington College in April, speaking to students, faculty, and staff about making place and making change, the two driving forces of his work. The highlight of his time on campus was the Adams–Tillim Lecture, which he delivered on April 25. By Aruna D'Souza
![Sylvan Esso "Keeps Electronic Pop Human"](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Sylvan-esso-nyt.jpg?itok=0okOqU5L)
The New York Times profiled pop duo Sylvan Esso (Amelia Meath '10 and Nick Sanborn) upon the release of their sophomore album, What Now.
![CD Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Allen-Shawn-Piano-Music_300x225.jpg?itok=Omx3Vsgd)
MusicWeb International favorably reviewed Allen Shawn: Piano Works performed by Julia Bartha.
![Deborah Borda](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/deborah%20borda_300x225.jpg?itok=ngIy-54G)
The New York Times praised the down-and-out New York Philharmonic’s appointment of Deborah Borda ’71—“one of the most successful arts administrators in the nation”—as its new president and CEO.
![World Premiere of "Fierce Grace"](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Fierce-Grace_300x225.jpg?itok=IE4vw3ld)
Fierce Grace: Jeanette Rankine, co-composed by Kitty Brazelton, will have its world premiere at the Coolidge Auditorium on Friday, April 7, 2017, at 6:30 PM.
![Susie Ibarra](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/susie_ibarra_300x225.jpg?itok=VBw77S5m)
Music faculty member and percussionist Susie Ibarra sat down with New York-based composer and performer Jeremiah Cymerman for his 5049 Podcast, which features long-form, one-on-one conversations with some of “the most important and distinctive living musicians.”
![Bennington…In the Beginning Opens in Jennings](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Jennings_exhibit_1200x750.jpg?itok=f4qeA3j2)
Bennington…In the Beginning, a collection of photographs and scores by Bennington’s first Music Chair Kurt Schindler, curated by Susan Reiss ’79, is on display in the Jennings lobby now until the end of March.
![op-ed by Deborah Borda '71](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/Los_Angeles_Times_logo_300x225.jpg?itok=oqpqUfUl)
The Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by Deborah Borda '71 in which she advocates for the end of Trump's immigration ban and for the power of the arts to teach compassion.
![Art of Memory](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/art%20of%20memory%20cover.jpg?itok=6ZVrfjMZ)
Kitty Brazelton’s new song-cycle, The Art of Memory, which she hopes to perform on campus in 2017, is very much a Bennington affair.