On Sale Now • Bard SummerScape 2026

Resident Artists Recital

July 30

Resident Artists Recital
Add to Calendar2026-07-30 7:00 pm2026-07-30 7:00 pmEDTResident Artists RecitalOlin Hall,

In between performances of Richard Strauss’s opera, The Egyptian Helen, and before the start of the 36th Bard Music Festival: Mozart and His World, join us at Olin Hall for an intimate, one-night-only recital, featuring vocalists from the inaugural SummerScape Opera Resident Artists Program.

The Resident Artists will perform in a special Liederabend/salon-style concert, curated and led by Brian Zeger, one of the leading experts in song repertoire and Artistic Director of Vocal Arts at the Juilliard School.

The musical program for the evening showcases a rich tapestry of works by composers featured in this year’s Bard SummerScape festival, including Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and more.

Artists

Brian Zeger

Brian Zeger

Curator & Pianist

Mary Burke Barber

Mary Burke Barber

Soprano

Catherine Creed

Catherine Creed

Soprano

Mary Hoskins

Mary Hoskins

Soprano

Shawn Roth

Shawn Roth

Tenor

Brian Zeger

Recognized as one of today’s leading collaborative pianists, he has performed with many of the world’s greatest singers including Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Piotr Beczala, Bryn Terfel, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves, and Adrianne Pieczonka in an extensive concert career that has taken him to premiere concert halls throughout the U.S. and abroad.

He has numerous recordings available on the EMI, Koch, Naxos and New World labels, his most recent including, on Delos, All Who Wander, a recital disc with Jamie Barton; Preludios—Spanish songs with Isabel Leonard; Strauss and Wagner lieder with Adrianne Pieczonka; Dear Theo: 3 Song Cycles by Ben Moore with Paul Appleby, Susanna Phillips and Brett Polegato; and A Lost World—Schubert Songs and Duets with Susanna Phillips and Shenyang.

Also active as a chamber musician, Zeger has been a regular guest at many summer festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Caramoor, Aldeburgh, and Santa Fe, and has made appearances at the Bard Music Festival, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, and the Frankly Music series in Milwaukee. He has enjoyed collaborations with the Borromeo and Brentano quartets, An die Musik, the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensembles, and with Bernard Greenhouse, Glenn Dicterow, Eugene Drucker, and Paula Robison.

He has taught and given master classes for numerous institutions and served for 10 years as the artistic director of the song program at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival and for eight years as the executive director of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Development Program.

His critical essays and other writings have appeared in publications including Opera News, the Yale Review, and Chamber Music magazine. He has made frequent appearances on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts and has adjudicated many prominent competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Concert Artists Guild auditions, the Walter W. Naumberg Vocal Competition, and Richard Tucker Music Foundation Auditions.

Zeger holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a master’s degree from Juilliard, and a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Morris Borenstein, Sascha Gorodnitzki, and Nina Svetlanova.

Resident Artists Program

The Resident Artists Program is a summer-long professional development and mentorship experience offering valuable training and performance opportunities to emerging opera singers. Beginning this year, a cohort of vocal artists will join the Bard SummerScape artist roster and hold understudy and cast comprimario roles in the opera and perform in Bard Music Festival programs, while receiving regular coaching and masterclasses throughout their residency.

The Fisher Center’s fully-staged operas, produced annually since 2003, offer artists and audiences the opportunity to discover fascinating works outside the standard repertoire. Along with semi-staged productions performed during the annual Bard Music Festival, these selections fulfill a vital mission of excavating rarely-seen works that are almost never performed in the U.S. Selections experienced at the Fisher Center are singular and often once-in-a-lifetime cultural adventures for artists and audiences alike.

Support & Development

Special support for the inaugural year of the SummerScape Opera Resident Artist Program was generously provided by Michael Privitera.

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