Music: Related Content

Elizabeth Swados ’73, whose groundbreaking work began while still a student at Bennington, is described in an obituary in the New York Times as “a composer, writer and director who fashioned a unique style of socially engaged musical theater."

Joan Tower '61 has been nominated for a Grammy award in Best Contemporary Classical Competition, while Peter Dinklage '91 and Joel Marsh Garland '97 have both been nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Anneliese McCarthy ‘18, another member of Bennington’s Singer/Songwriter Circle, came by to perform three songs on a quiet afternoon in the Barn.

Rokenri, an avant-rock trio, including alumni Ethan Woods ’12, and Trevor Wilson ’09, will present "Tube on the Way Under," at Lincoln Center on Dec. 17th. Dancer Lydia Chrisman ’12, will perform, as well.

Work Songs began when a former content developer and communications intern came by the office to visit. He had a few new songs he wanted to share and we asked this comedian/actor/singer-songwriter if he’d be willing to be the first in our Work Songs series and have the sets recorded. It didn’t take much convincing, and he even played a bonus song for us.

Genevieve Belleveau ’07, Michael Chinworth ’08, and Jo-Anne Hyun ’12 will be performing in faculty member Nick Brooke’s show, Psychic Driving, at the HERE Arts Center on March 10 and 11.

Dana Foote ‘18 tours when she’s not studying at Bennington, and once you play the first track or check out her SoundCloud channel you will probably want to see if she’s in a city near you.

Jack Labbe ‘18 began the singer/songwriter club that most of our Work Song performers regularly participate in. He spoke with us about writing, performing, and of course, Bennington.

NPR recently featured No Small Children, a punk band that was started as a way for the members—including Nicola Berlinsky '91—to create a space for themselves outside their day jobs as teachers. 

The night after Alex Bleeker ’08 performed on Conan with his band Real Estate, Amelia Meath ’10 (of Sylvan Esso, who played Conan the week prior) and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig ’09 sang backup for Hiss Golden Messenger on the Letterman show.

One of the largest gifts in the history of the Los Angeles Philharmonic was made in honor of alumna Deborah Borda ’71 to endow the organization’s top leadership position, which Borda has held since 2000. 

Faculty member Allen Shawn is earning widespread praise for his recently published biography of internationally celebrated composer, conductor, and classical pianist Leonard Bernstein.

Music faculty member Michael Wimberly's class performs every Wednesday for patients in the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center." We often lose sight of the fact that it's not just medicine that keeps you well," SVMC director of planning James Trimarch told the Bennington Banner. "It's this. It's music, love, activities with your friends." See the Bennington Banner for full coverage. 

Sylvan Esso, featuring Amelia Meath ’10, made their network television debut this summer when they performed their hit song “Coffee” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Tom Guralnick '73, founder of Outpost, was interviewed in the online Albuquerque Journal.  

Real Estate, the acclaimed indie rock band featuring Alex Bleeker ’08 on bass, performed their song “Talking Backwards” on the April 9 episode of Late Show with David Letterman.

A public art installation by music faculty member and TED Senior Fellow Susie Ibarra offers a musical pilgrimage through 12 culturally significant locations in lower Manhattan, each featuring an original composition inspired by the history of the site itself.

Sylvan Esso, a new side project of Amelia Meath ’10 (of the hugely popular Bennington trio Mountain Man) is touring this fall with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Collections of Colonies of Bees, who’ve together formed the band Volcano Choir.

Faculty member Kitty Brazelton was awarded the 12th annual Carl von Ossietzky Composition Prize by the University of Oldenburg for her setting of Psalm 104 for mixed choir, percussion, and organ.

Music faculty member Julie Last is the audio engineer behind bestselling chantmaster Krishna Das’ latest album, Live Ananda, which was nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. 

The New Yorker's Ben Greenman showed love for the latest Spinto Band album (featuring Thomas Hughes ‘06 and Sam Hughes ’08), saying: “Some songs are melancholy, some ebullient, some stately, some hyperactive, and others are all at once, like 'What I Love.'"

PopMatters magazine wasn’t short on accolades in a recent profile of singer/songwriter Will Stratton ’09, proclaiming: “this Bennington graduate’s fourth full-length [album], Post-Empire, just so happens to be one of the best albums released so far this year."

Bennington music faculty member Susie Ibarra joined leading musicians from all 204 Olympic nations for a two-day music festival celebrating the opening of the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Mountain Man, the up-and-coming folk trio of Amelia Meath '10, Molly Sarle '12, and Alex Sauser-Monnig '09, continued to impress on their recent summer tour, which included a stop at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival (listen on NPR), and an "engrossing performance," according to The New York Times, at the famed Mercury Lounge.

Longtime Bennington faculty member Gunnar Schonbeck was honored at Mass MoCA's Solid Sound Festival recently when Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche performed using the unique handcrafted instruments for which the late music teacher is known.

A year after forming as Tom Greenberg ‘10's senior project in music, BOBBY, a band made up of current Bennington students and recent grads, has been signed by Partisan Records and will be releasing their self-titled debut album on June 21. The album was featured this week on NPR's First Listen series, which previews select, upcoming albums in their entirety.

Music faculty member and jazz percussionist Milford Graves will perform at a benefit concert for Japan on Friday, April 8, at the Abrons Art Center in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Graves will join an esteemed lineup that includes Thurston Moore, Elliott Sharp, and Matthew Shipp, among other renowned performers.

The famed electric chamber ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars premiered a commission composed by faculty member Nick Brooke this month at the Merkin Concert Hall as part of the inaugural Ecstatic Music Festival—a three-month, 14-concert event showcasing collaborations between songwriters, composers, and performers from classical and popular music traditions.

A recent profile in the New York Press placed singer/songwriter Will Stratton '09 in good company, likening music from his latest album, New Vanguard Blues, to "Nick Drake... suddenly blessed with John Fahey's blues guitar picking skills."

Author and music faculty member Allen Shawn discussed his newly released memoir Twin this week on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.