COMMENCEMENT
Bard College Undergraduate Student Soloists and Composers in Concert with The Orchestra Now (TŌN) Leon Botstein, Conductor Friday
the twenty-second of May two thousand twenty-six 9:30 p.m.
Sosnoff Theater
The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Bard College Undergraduate Student Soloists and Composers in Concert with The Orchestra Now (TŌN)
Leon Botstein, Conductor
PROGRAM
Pomp and Circumstance
Edward Elgar March in D Major, Op. 39, No. 1 (1857–1934)
“Deh vieni non tardar” Wolfgang Amadé Mozart from Le nozze di Figaro (1756–91)
Danni Fu ’26, soprano
Now and Then Olivia Marhevka (b. 2004)
“O, wie will ich triumphieren” Wolfgang Amadé Mozart from Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Miles O’Rourke ’26, bass
Oboe Concerto H353
Bohuslav Martinů
3. Poco allegro (1890–1959)
Kai O’Donnell ’26, oboe
“Non mi dir, bell’idol mio” Wolfgang Amadé Mozart from Don Giovanni
CLAC ’26, soprano
To Be Resilient Santiago Mieres Rausseo (b. 2001)
“Ice Cream Sextet” from Street Scene Kurt Weill (1900–50)
Anthony D’Amore ’26, tenor, as Lippo Fiorentino
Hanna Okalava ’28, soprano, as Greta Fiorentino
Miles O’Rourke ’26, bass, as Carl Olsen
Grace Trenouth ’28, soprano, as Olga Olsen
Alex Cunningham ’28, tenor, as Henry Davis
Javy Polanco ’28, bass-baritone, as George Jones
CLAC ’26, soprano, as Emma Jones
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Danni Fu ’26
“Deh vieni non tardar” from Le nozze di Figaro
“Deh vieni non tardar” is sung by Susanna in act 4 of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. The scene takes place in a moonlit garden at night, where a complex disguise plot is unfolding. In order to expose the Count’s infidelity, Susanna and the Countess have exchanged clothes, and Susanna—disguised as the Countess— has arranged to meet the Count in secret. While waiting alone in the garden, Susanna sings this aria, describing the peaceful night and inviting her “beloved” to come to her. On the surface, the song appears to be meant for the Count. In reality, however, Susanna knows that her fiancé Figaro may be hiding nearby and listening. The aria therefore carries a playful double meaning, blending sincere lyric beauty with gentle theatrical irony.
—Danni Fu ’26
Olivia Marhevka ’26
Now and Then Now and Then is a piece that I’ve worked on throughout my last year at Bard. This piece has seen me through every high and every low of the past eight months. It has become a canvas for all the anger I’ve felt, all the love I’ve experienced, all the happiness that the people around me have brought, and all the complexities of my relationships and friendships, and it has showcased my growth as not only a composer but also a person. I feel as though this year has been one of the most confusing times of my life. I’ve dealt with personal struggles, fallen in love, experienced loss, and spent every day thinking about what will come next for me. This piece was a constant that I returned to and worked on every day, and I wrote all of my emotions into it. I feel lucky to forever be able to look back on it and experience these emotions again. I feel beyond grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve created with the world, and I must thank all the people in my life who have helped me get here. Most importantly, I want to thank Joan Tower for making sure this composition got written. Joan has done more than teach me music—she has constantly pushed me to go beyond what I thought I could be, she has been there for me when I needed someone, and she has shown me how to deal with life through music.
—Olivia Marhevka ’26
Miles O’Rourke ’26
“O, wie will ich triumphieren” from Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Overconfidence and pride often precipitate a dizzying downfall. While such an assertion could describe the fate of many prominent figures, past and present, in this case it refers to the delightfully devilish Osmin of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s Singspiel—a German opera with spoken dialogue leading into musical numbers, similar to modern musical theater—Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio). Osmin is the violent servant of the Pasha Selim, and the “O, wie will ich triumphieren” aria is his final declaration of victory after capturing the heroes. His success is short-lived, making this a comically fraught last grasp at success. Throughout the piece, he expresses glee in the vision of the executions of the heroes, celebrating every grisly detail. Osmin, being a brutish enforcer intent on protecting his master’s harem, is an obvious Orientalist stereotype. While it is impossible to perform this aria without acknowledging the exotic view of the Ottoman Empire and Islamic religion and culture, there is still enormous value in absorbing the wonderful music despite the stereotypes depicted in the piece.
—Miles O’Rourke ’26
Kai O’Donnell ’26
Oboe Concerto H353, 3. Poco allegro
Bohuslav Martinů was a Czech composer who emigrated to Paris during the Second World War. His Oboe Concerto is full of extensive melodic lines and fantasy but has a foundation of Czech folk music. When the oboe plays alone in this piece, it often sounds troubled and anxious; when the orchestra joins, however, it seems to represent a Bohemian polka. Originally written for Jiři Tancibudek, this remains Martinů’s lone concerto written for a solo woodwind instrument. This piece premiered in Sydney, Australia, in 1956.
—Kai O’Donnell
’26
CLAC ’26
“Non mi dir, bell’idol mio” from Don Giovanni
“Non mi dir, bell’idol mio” comes from Wolfgang Amadé Mozart’s beloved opera Don Giovanni, composed in 1787 to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The opera, a retelling of the Don Juan legend, centers the notorious philanderer who travels around Spain seducing women. This aria is sung by Donna Anna—a noblewoman who spends the majority of the opera attempting to avenge Don Giovanni’s murder of her father and is aided in this pursuit by her fiancé, Don Ottavio. “Non mi dir . . . ” occurs partway through the second act, after Ottavio calls Anna cruel for rejecting his suggestion that they get married the next day (which is also just one day after her father died). In response, Donna Anna sings this aria, rebuking Ottavio for doubting her love and not respecting her time of mourning.
—CLAC ’26
Santiago Mieres Rausseo ’26
To Be Resilient
The main melody of To Be Resilient is based on my own musical signature which is a common technique used by composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich with his famous DSCH motif. This technique utilizes how we label the musical notes in the musical notation system to spell the initials of the composer’s name. As a consequence, throughout the piece, the melody and its variations are composed of the following four notes: B-flat, A, E-flat, D. These notes correspond to Sib, A, Mib, Re, encoding my name.
—Santiago Mieres Rausseo ’26
Kurt Weill
“Ice Cream Sextet” from Street Scene
There’s a record-breaking heat wave and it’s the hottest day of the year—residents of Manhattan’s East Side are fanning themselves on the sidewalk, commiserating and sharing in the local gossip, and trying not to think about the heat. The only thing that could possibly provide relief is . . . ice cream! Street Scene’s “Ice Cream Sextet” is an infectious joy from start to finish, a celebration of finding sweet respite from the scorching temperatures. In many ways, this number is an idyllic representation of the American dream: a community of all different backgrounds and generations living under one roof, coming together to celebrate a small but treasured luxury in a difficult world. The promise of abundant food in the United States, even in the 1940s, was enough to draw hundreds of thousands from all over the world, and this sextet captures the delight of that vision perfectly. Kurt Weill himself was an immigrant, settling in New York in 1935 following the rise of Nazi Germany. Street Scene was his first attempt at an “American opera,” and it was inspired by the uniquely American art forms of jazz and musical theater. Elmer Rice, the author of the play of the same name on which Weill’s Street Scene is based, wrote the libretto, and the lyrics were penned by the inimitable Langston Hughes.