The Orchestra Now
Joseph Young, Lara Downes & Florence Price’s Piano Concerto
Estimated run time: 1 hour and 50 minutes
April 23, 2022
TŌN is thrilled to welcome guest conductor Joseph Young, Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony and Resident Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra–USA at Carnegie Hall. He is joined by acclaimed pianist Lara Downes for a performance of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. Also on the program are A Short Piece for Orchestra by Julia Perry, and Rachmaninoff’s rhythmically expressive Symphony No. 3.
Joseph Young conductor
Lara Downes piano
Julia Perry A Short Piece for Orchestra
Florence Price Piano Concerto in One Movement
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3
Concert Quick Guide
Program
Joseph Young
Joseph Young is Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony, Artistic Director of Ensembles for the Peabody Conservatory, and Resident Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra–USA at Carnegie Hall. In recent years, he has made appearances with the Saint Louis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Bamberger Symphoniker, New World Symphony, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, and the Orquesta Sinfonica y Coro de RTVE (Madrid), among others in the U.S. and Europe.
In his most recent role, Mr. Young served as the Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, where he conducted more than 50 concerts per season. He also served as the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he was the driving force behind the ensemble’s artistic growth. Previous appointments have included Resident Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, and the League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony.
Mr. Young is a recipient of the 2015 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award for young conductors, an award he also won in 2008 and 2014. In 2013, he was a semi-finalist in the Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition (Bamberg, Germany). In 2011, he was one of six conductors featured in the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview.
Mr. Young completed graduate studies with Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar at the Peabody Conservatory in 2009, earning an artist’s diploma in conducting. He has been mentored by many world-renowned conductors, including Jorma Panula, Robert Spano, and Marin Alsop, with whom he continues to maintain a close relationship.
Lara Downes
Pianist Lara Downes is a Billboard chart-topping recording artist, a producer, curator, activist, and arts advocate. She has performed on major stages including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, the Ravinia Festival, Tanglewood, and Washington Performing Arts, and in clubs and intimate venues including Joe’s Pub, National Sawdust, Yoshi’s, and Le Poisson Rouge.
Ms. Downes’ series of recordings includes Florence Price: PIano Discoveries, a collection of world-premiere recordings of recently discovered piano works by the groundbreaking African American composer, and Some of These Days,comprising freedom songs and spirituals that reflect on social justice, progress, and equality. Her Sony Masterworks recording Holes in the Sky, a celebration of the contributions of phenomenal women to the past, present, and future of American music, was released in March 2019, debuting at the top of the Billboard charts. Her recording For Love Of You marks her concerto recording debut, and celebrates the 200th birthday of the pianist and composer Clara Schumann. Her Sony Classical debut release For Lenny debuted in the Billboard Top 20 and was awarded the 2017 Classical Recording Foundation Award, and America Again was selected by NPR as one of “10 Albums that Saved 2016.”
Ms. Downes enjoys creative collaborations with a range of leading artists, including folk icon Judy Collins, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, multi-instrumentalist/composer/singer Rhiannon Giddens, writer Adam Gopnik, baritone Thomas Hampson, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Her close partnerships with prominent composers span genres and generations, with premieres and commissions coming from Michael Abels, Clarice Assad, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Paola Prestini, Stephen Schwartz, and many others.
Ms. Downes is the creator and curator of Rising Sun Music, a monthly recording series that sheds light on the music and stories of Black composers over the past 200 years, featuring a wide range of leading instrumentalists and vocalists (including Ms. Downes). She is host of AMPLIFY with Lara Downes, a video series for NPR Music now in its second season, that engages visionary Black musicians and artists in important topics confronting them today; and an evening host and Resident Artist at KDFC. She serves as the inaugural Artist Citizen in Residence for the Manhattan School of Music, as well as a Fellow of the Loghaven Artist Residency. Her work has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sphinx Organization, the Classical Recording Foundation Award, the University of California Innovator of the Year Award, and the Center for Cultural Innovation, among others.
Ms. Downes’ fierce commitment to activism and advocacy has her working with organizations including the ACLU, Feeding America, the Lower Eastside Girls Club, the Sphinx Organization, and Watts Learning Center. She is an Artist Ambassador for Headcount, a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy.
More info at LaraDownes.com.
Plan Your Visit
Eat & Stay
Nearby villages and towns in the Hudson Valley boast a large selection of restaurants, as well as a variety of hotels, motels, inns, and bed & breakfasts—many of which offer discounts for Bard visitors. Please mention Bard when making your reservations.
Dine Near Bard Stay Near BardDirections
Bard College’s main campus is located in Annandale-on-Hudson (a hamlet of Red Hook), New York, on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 90 miles north of New York City and 220 miles southwest of Boston. The Taconic State Parkway and the New York State Thruway provide the most direct routes to our campus. Click the Google map below, or get directions by entering the following address into your GPS: 60 Manor Avenue, Red Hook, NY 12571.
From the East
If you are traveling from east of the Hudson River in New York State, take the Taconic State Parkway to the Red Hook / Route 199 exit, drive west on Route 199 through the village of Red Hook to Route 9G, turn right onto Route 9G, drive north 1.9 miles, turn left onto Annandale Road, then turn right onto Manor Ave.
From the West
If you are traveling from west of the Hudson River, take the New York State Thruway (I-87) to exit 19 (Kingston), take Route 209 (changes to Route 199 at the Hudson River) over the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to Route 9G, turn left onto Route 9G, drive north 3.5 miles, turn left onto Annandale Road, then turn right onto Manor Ave.
About the Venue
Sosnoff Theater
Accessible Seating
Wheelchair-accessible seating is available in all seating areas for patrons in wheelchairs and their companions. There is an elevator to all levels of the Sosnoff Theater and a wheelchair lift is used to access front-row wheelchair seating.
Wheelchair-Accessible Restrooms
Restrooms at all locations are wheelchair accessible. Single-use restrooms are available at most locations.
All-Gender Restrooms
Bard College and the Fisher Center support guests of any gender identity/expression in using the restroom of their choice. Additionally, all-gender restrooms are available at all venues.
More Info
Health and Safety Protocols
- Face masks are required at all performances.
- We will ask for proof of vaccination as you enter the theater. Audience members 5–11 years old must provide proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. Audience members ages 12 and above are required to provide proof of full vaccination. In general, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, or two weeks after the second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
- Guests may display proof of their Vaccination Record Card on a smartphone or present a physical copy. New York State residents, or anyone who received a COVID-19 vaccine in New York State, may present proof through the use of the Excelsior Pass (for more details, visit: https://epass.ny.gov).
- Bard is a fully vaccinated campus. The CDC defines a fully vaccinated campus as an institution of higher education where all students, faculty, and staff have completed their vaccination series to protect against COVID-19 before returning to campus—except those people who are unable to get the COVID-19 vaccine due to medical or other reasons—which, at Bard, is less than 1% of our community.
- Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of all areas and surfaces.
