Ensembles in residence are the American Symphony Orchestra — conducted by music director Leon Botstein, who is Bard College's president as well as the festival's artistic director — and the Bard Festival Chorus. Each of the concerts features a variety of performers; among the soloists are pianists Jeremy Denk, Konstantin Scherbakov, Simone Dinerstein, Arnaldo Cohen, Valentina Lisitsa and Piers Lane; violinists Ani Kavafian and Giora Schmidt; and vocalists Nicole Cabell (the 2005 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World), Jill Grove, Olga Makarina, Philippe Castagner, Brandon Jovanovich and Christian Van Horn.
Complete information on the 2006 Bard Music Festival is available at www.bard.edu/bmf/2006.