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Message from the President

Dear <<First Name>>,

Technology is our Friend

Classes start next week, and another exciting Bard LLI semester gets underway. I remember the distant past when I was a college freshman. The process of registering for classes was extremely hectic—a day full of rushing to get into courses that (a) were part of the core, and (b) part of a general plan to study what I was interested in. And it was your responsibility to have any prerequisites completed, or you would be dropped from the class.  

Those were the good ole days before schools used computers. Pen and paper were required. Comfortable shoes were recommended. It helped to have a sense of humor too. We had paper course catalogs. Of course, seniors registered first, and freshmen and women were last. By the time “we” got there the pickings were slim. Picture hundreds of underclassmen and women rushing around the cavernous gym. All the courses that were offered and available were written in chalk on dozens of blackboards that lined all four walls. If you were lucky enough to find a course that you needed or wanted, you listed it on a slip of paper, then hurried to the registrar’s table and hoped that the course did not close before your registration was done. Then repeat, four more times.

At LLI we are very fortunate to have amazing software programs, members have their own personal computers, and the ability to register for classes from the comfort of home. It wasn’t that long ago that LLI gave up mailing the catalog to members’ homes, we used pen and paper to register for classes, and paper checks were accepted for the annual fee. 

LLI is very fortunate to have talented, experienced volunteers who work behind the scenes developing curriculum, producing the catalog, maintaining the website and the computer system, and communicating with members and applicants. And so much more. Take a few minutes to explore the LLI website for all the benefits of membership beyond our courses:  Bard Lifetime Learning Institute.
 
Whether you are at home, on Zoom, or in-person on campus, I hope that you have a great semester.

Yours,
Robert Beaury 
president@lli.bard.edu

That Pesky COVID-19

by Felice Gelman

We’ve been wishing all summer that COVID-19 would go away. But so far, no luck, and we don’t know what the fall and winter will bring. Bard has adopted a mask-friendly policy, meaning their indoor mask mandate has been lifted. LLI members are welcome to come to classes on campus. However, LLI wants everyone to feel safe. So because our members are generally in higher risk categories than the typical Bard student, our Council has voted to adopt a somewhat stricter policy. 

Information Needed for Coming on Campus

by Robert Inglish and Fern Fleckman

If you are a new member or a renewing member who has not been on campus, there are important steps to take. You need to register your car, get your parking hangtag, secure your Bard student ID (optional), and be familiar with LLI’s COVID-19 protocol, which is outlined in a separate article. Here are the basics.

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) Tickets
Free For Bard LLI Members

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) is pleased to offer free tickets for our concerts this semester to all who work and study at Bard. The season's opening concerts at the Fisher Center at Bard will be on September 10 at 7:00 p.m. and September 11 at 2:00 p.m. 
 
TŌN begins its eighth season with Mahler's heroic Fifth Symphony. The opening concert will include two works featuring winners of the Bard College Conservatory Concerto Competition: George Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Lilacs, and the virtuosic Concerto for Flute of Joan Tower, who has taught composition at Bard for 50 years and is a longtime LLI supporter and presenter.
 
Leon Botstein will be conducting; Joan Tower will conduct her flute concerto.

Use this link OR enter promo code TONCOMP when ordering. Both performances will also be livestreamed on TŌNtube.

by Deborah Lanser

Every summer, Bard presents SummerScape, a rich eight-week offering of live music, opera, dance, and theater. The culmination of the season is the Bard Music Festival, which this summer was titled Rachmaninoff and His World. And this summer, as with every summer, LLI members were in the enthusiastic audience, ready to enjoy performances of familiar compositions or to discover the power and beauty of less well-known works. Here are the thoughts of a few members about their experience with what the Los Angeles Times calls “the summer’s most stimulating music festival.”

by Kathryn Clark

The Hessel Museum of Art at Bard College brings together a compelling exhibition with the work of 28 artists from across the African diaspora. The exhibition counters the historical perspective on melancholy, which has mostly been told through the experience of White males, and reframes melancholia as a pervasive part of the Black experience, with a specificity that comes from the historical violence experienced by Black people the world over. The works, which date from the 19th century through the present day, are supported by extensive wall texts that are an integral and critical part of the exhibition, providing both an analysis of individual pieces and biographical information about the artist. 

Art on Campus: Chartreuse Sausage

by Dona McLaughlin

These rumpled, ribbon-like loops are an art installation located at the entrance to the Bard College Hessel Museum. Titled "Laube" (which means bower or arbor in German), this lacquered aluminum sculpture is the work of Austrian artist Franz West. It is part of the Bard Center for Curatorial Studies collection, a 2004 gift from the MarieLuise Hessel Foundation.

Like much of West’s work, “Laube” shows the influence of Pop Art and is one of several lacquered aluminum pieces inspired by the forms of Vienna sausages. In spite of (or perhaps because of) the sculpture’s irregular pathwork surface, it invites the viewer’s participation—to walk through it and to sit on it.

Council Notes for August

by Deborah Lanser

The following topics were discussed at the August meeting:

• Michael Weinstock will continue to act as contract tracer for LLI.
• Active shooter training will be available for class managers.
• Checks of member vaccination status will continue through August and at Orientation. 

by Felice Gelman

Apples, Bard student performances, and LLI classes are all on offer in September. New LLI members may not be aware of the many virtual and in-person events Bard schedules that are open to the Bard community at no cost. This column offers a sampling but for more information, keep an eye on the Bard events calendar. 

And a reminder that, although tickets for most Fisher Center for Performing Arts events must be purchased, Bard LLI members receive a 20% discount if they buy their tickets by calling the box office and asking for it.

To see what Bard has planned for September and early October, read on.

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) is pleased to offer free tickets for our concerts this semester to all those who work and study at Bard. For complimentary tickets to our season opener concerts at the Fisher Center at Bard on September 10 & 11, featuring the Flute Concerto of Bard Conservatory faculty member Joan Tower and two soloists who are recent winners of the Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition, use this link OR enter promo code TONCOMP when ordering.

Tuesday, September 13, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., the Hannah Arendt Center (1448 Annandale Road) will host a lunchtime talk "Citizen Strangers: Hannah Arendt, Muslim Europeans and a Sociology of Hope." Elisabeth Becker Topkara, assistant professor at the Max Ernst Institute for Sociology, will discuss how Arendt’s thought can bear upon the experiences of European Muslims—today’s citizen strangers in Europe, facing crises of migration and a rising right wing. 

Tuesday, September 13, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., at the Campus Center Multipurpose Room, Eyal Weizman, founder of  Forensic Architecture, will discuss “Five or Six Doors,” some of the recent cases investigated by its network of activists. Coincidentally, all the cases deal with doors: open when they needed to be closed, locked when they needed to be unlocked. These doors stand for the collapse of the social order that they promised to maintain and point to systemic racism and the ghosts of our colonial past. 

Sunday, September 18, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., at the Bitó Conservatory Building  Performance Space, pianist Wayman Chin will play works for solo piano by Bach, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann. 

Monday, October 3, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., at the Bitó Conservatory Building Performance Space, the Bard Conservatory's Noon Concerts will return. The concerts feature performances of short pieces by Bard Conservatory students. 

Every Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm, on Library Road near Gilson Place, the Bard Farm Stand offers fresh produce for sale. In rainy weather, you will find them in the Campus Center.

Important Dates for LLI Members

September 8: New member orientation and campus tours will start at 9:00 a.m. in Weis Cinema at Bertelsmann Center. Coffee, tea, and pastries will be served. Campus tours follow, with a stop to get student IDs for new members.

September 13: Curriculum Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Curriculum meeting should email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu. 

September 14: Membership Development Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Membership Development meeting should email Robert Inglish at ringlish@lli.bard.edu. 

September 15 - November 11: Fall semester.

September 20: Council meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Council meeting should email Mary McClellan at mmcclellan@lli.bard.edu. 

September 24:  Last day to add a course.

October 11: Curriculum Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom.  Any member interested in observing a Curriculum meeting should email Anne Brueckner at abrueckner@lli.bard.edu.

October 12: Membership Development Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Membership Development meeting should email Robert Inglish at ringlish@lli.bard.edu.

October 13/14: No LLI Classes

October 17: Council meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom. Any member interested in observing a Council meeting should email Mary McClellan at mmcclellan@lli.bard.edu.