Kayo Iwama coaching Szilvia Mikó, pianist, and Sara LeMesh, mezzo.
Kayo Iwama is the associate director of the Bard College Conservatory of Music graduate vocal arts program, the masters degree program for classical singers. She is a pianist and her CD, The Reckless Heart, performed in collaboration with singer Kendra Colton, has just been released. She, her husband Frank Corliss — who is the associate director of the Bard Conservatory and a pianist as well — moved with their two children to Red Hook in 2006. Here, she talks about how she enjoys the community of Bard and the advantages of living in the country. At Bard I teach in the seminars that form the core of the curriculum, and work with students individually, coaching them in their chamber music and preparing them for opera productions. I also work with the pianists who accompany and collaborate with the singers. And I work with Dawn Upshaw [world famous soprano], the new artistic director, in making ties to the community. In the summer, I am the vocal arts program coordinator and a vocal coach at the Tanglewood Music Center, which is the summer academy for emerging professional musicians and singers. I feel very lucky being involved in these two wonderful programs.
The Bard community is a very interesting one. There’s something special about what we’re trying to do artistically in a place that’s a little removed from an urban area. It’s like a little artistic retreat. The students have a certain freedom to explore who they are without the klieg lights on them. A place where you can really be yourself is the most important thing for a student trying to find his or her artistic self. And [Bard president] Leon Botstein’s idealism trickles down to everybody. My husband is from Detroit and I grew up in New Jersey. We were living in Boston when we got our positions at Bard. I will admit I had some trepidation about moving. It’s very dark here! But we just really love it now. It’s so great that my kids can go outside by themselves. I can’t wait for the farm stands to open. I love driving home from work to stop at Migliorell’s to pick up what we’ll have for dinner. Before we moved here, my son did not like apples. I bought some at Montgomery Place Orchards, and when he tasted one, he said, “This is an apple?" And I had no idea there was such a wealth of great restaurants, like Mercato, Gigi’s and The Local. In Boston, the towns and neighborhoods are divided socioeconomically. Here, there’s so much more diversity, and I really appreciate that.
