Fisher Center at Bard presents
West Point Band
March 29, 2025
Fisher Center at Bard presents
March 29, 2025
The West Point Concert Band returns to Bard!
Comprised of graduates from America’s finest music schools, this versatile ensemble entertains and inspires audiences through innovative programming and world-class performances in concert and ceremonial settings.
Joan Tower
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1
Francis Scott Key & John Stafford Smith
The Star-Spangled Banner
Harmonized by Walter Damrosch
Arr. John Philip Sousa
Morton Gould
Yankee Doodle
Dana Wilson
The Avatar
Briana Hoffman, bassoon
Leonard Bernstein
“Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide
Percy Grainger
Lincolnshire Posy
I. “Lisbon”
II. “Horkstow Grange”
III. “Rufford Park Poachers”
IV. “The Brisk Young Sailor”
V. “Lord Melbourne”
VI. “The Lost Lady Found”
NARRATION
Valerie Colman
Roma
Samuel Barber
Commando March
Noah Taylor, arr.
Armed Forces Suite
Chen Yi
Dragon Rhyme
I. Mysteriously-Harmoniously
II. Energetically
John Philip Sousa
The Stars and Stripes Forever
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Toven serves as the Commander of the West Point Band. A native of Union City, Pennsylvania, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Trombone Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania; a Master of Music in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music; and a Master of Military Art and Science from the Command and General Staff College.
Prior to this assignment, Lt. Col. Toven served as the Deputy Commander and Associate Bandmaster of The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” and Director of The U.S. Army Chorus. Before that, he was the Deputy Commandant at the U.S. Army School of Music in Virginia Beach, Virginia. While assigned to the School of Music, he deployed to Kuwait, where he served as the Theater Music Liaison Officer for U.S. Army Central. In that role, he coordinated Army music support throughout the Middle East and leveraged those capabilities to support the U.S. strategic public diplomacy initiatives in the region. Other previous assignments include Commander of The Army Ground Forces Band (Fort Bragg, North Carolina), Army Forces Command Staff Bands Officer, Director of the U.S. Army Europe Soldiers’ Chorus (Heidelberg, Germany), and Director of the U.S. Army Soldiers’ Chorus (Fort Meade, Maryland).
Before joining the Army, he held a variety of professional music positions throughout the northeastern United States including founder, music director, and conductor of the Plum Creek Chamber Orchestra, and assistant conductor of The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, where he worked with Grammy Award-winning mentor, the late Robert Page. He has also prepared choruses for the Boston Pops Holiday Pops under the direction of Keith Lockhart and for performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops Orchestra under the direction of Marvin Hamlisch. In addition to teaching high school in the Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., areas, Lt. Col. Toven spent the fall of 2001 as Director of Choruses for Colgate University. He continues to be in demand as a clinician and guest conductor and has conducted numerous County, District, Region, and All-State band and chorus festivals in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina.
Lt. Col. Toven has continued his professional development by attending the prestigious Pierre Monteux School for Orchestra Conductors as well as numerous choral and orchestral conducting workshops. As a trombonist, he has recorded with the Keystone Winds, and performed with the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and the St. Vincent Camerata Brass. As a vocalist, he has sung with numerous professional ensembles in the Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., areas, including the Washington National Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, and can be heard on the Cantaloupe Music recording of Steve Reich’s “The Desert Music.”
Lt. Col. Toven is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, the Army Band Captains Career Course, the Adjutant General’s Basic Officer Course (President Benjamin Harrison Award), Officer Candidate School (Distinguished Military Graduate), and has earned the Basic Parachutist’s Badge. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
The ensemble can be heard around the Greater Hudson Valley, New York City, and throughout the United States. Its storied history features performances for U.S. Presidents, heads of state, and foreign dignitaries. The band is regularly invited to participate in high-profile events in the New York metropolitan area at locations such as Yankee Stadium, MetLife Stadium, and the Statue of Liberty.
The Concert Band performs concerts, military ceremonies, and at athletic events for the United States Corps of Cadets. The band regularly supports cadet activities at the United States Military Academy, including Graduation Week, Reception Day, Cadet Summer Training, and coaching the Cadet Spirit Band. Additionally, the band collaborates with the English, Geography, History, and Philosophy departments as useful teaching resources at West Point.
The Concert Band has performed at major venues including David Geffen Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, and the Meyerson Symphony Center. The band has been showcased with the New York Philharmonic, continuing a long-standing collaboration between the United States Army’s oldest band and America’s oldest orchestra. It also maintains a close association with the New York Yankees, utilizing the full performing ensemble and chamber groups for high-profile games. Members of the Concert Band have also been featured on the History Channel, Fox News, CNN, ESPN, and the NBC Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks. As performers and educators, the musicians of the West Point Band continue to present provocative performances while providing the Corps of Cadets with a piece of living history.
Learn MoreNearby 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.
Eat & StayBard 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.
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.
Find answers to some of the most common questions patrons have regarding our venues and performances. If you have a question not answered in our FAQs, please call 845-758-7900 or email boxoffice@bard.edu during regular Box Office hours.
Our “Know Before You Go” guide answers all of your pre-show accessibility and navigation questions for your next performance at the Fisher Center!
