Bard East/West Ensemble
Concerts, Education, Community Outreach
Through music, the Bard East/West Ensemble creates a dialogue between cultures, uniting student musicians from China and the United States in a shared exploration of sound, identity, and connection. Led by conductor Jindong Cai and supported by the Cyrus Tang Foundation, the ensemble celebrates harmony in both art and spirit.
2023
HARMONY IN MOTION
7 Chinese instrumentalists
2 percussionists
1 western string quartet
What inspired you to create the Bard East/West Ensemble, and what do you hope students take away from the experience?
I’ve been a musician all my life, and I was trained as a Western musician. But over the past twenty years, I realized that in my blood there is a Chinese music part. I played Chinese instruments when I was young, and later I returned to learning them again. I came to understand how a very small instrument can produce a beautiful sound, just like any Western instrument.
When we decided to create the U.S.–China Music Institute, the first thing we did was establish a Chinese instrument major within a Western conservatory. I believe it was time to do that. This feels like part of my mission. From there, the idea grew naturally to create the East/West Ensemble, bringing Chinese and Western instruments together
What I hope students gain is collaboration. In any ensemble, you have to listen to each other, coordinate with each other, and bring music to life together. Because the instruments are different and sometimes unfamiliar, students have to listen even more closely and use more creativity to make something new and interesting.
Professor Jindong Cai
What has been the most meaningful or surprising part of watching U.S. and Chinese students collaborate through music?
The most memorable thing for me was seeing the happy faces of the musicians, and also the audience. As a musician, that is the most rewarding thing. You want to create music that inspires people, makes them happy, and makes them think.
Through this music, people can communicate and try to understand each other better. There is nothing more meaningful than seeing the audience accept your music and your performance.
How do you see music helping to bridge cultural understanding in ways that words sometimes cannot?
If you look at the history of music, instruments were added gradually over time. In a Haydn orchestra there was no clarinet. Mozart discovered it, brought it back, and suddenly the orchestra became more colorful.
In the 21st century, as we search for the future of classical music, people are looking toward instruments from different cultures. When I came to America forty years ago, very few people knew Chinese instruments. But today, audiences love hearing them together with Western instruments.
Through music, people don’t need words to communicate. They listen, they feel, and they understand.
Participating in the Bard East/West Ensemble
STUDENT EXPERIENCES
I am so excited to be here. I’m in the East West Ensemble, and this is such an amazing experience. I haven’t had this opportunity before, and I’m just so excited to be here to have this.
I remember the opening night of the conservatory, they had a performance they put on, and I was so in shock and amazed at the colors and the different sounds that I heard. I had never heard this before in my life, and it was amazing. The fact that they offered a spot for me to play, it’s just amazing.
Being part of this ensemble has really opened my mind. I was kind of boxed into this Western classical training that I’ve developed, but Chinese music has a different kind of sound, a different kind of diction, and a different way of approaching melody. It really opens my mind to think of more possibilities. I love it.
Being part of a chamber group like this made me realize there is a real audience for this kind of collaboration. There are many people who are interested in this, and I think I have a lot to gain from being in this ensemble. This collaboration, this is what music is about.
— Mason, Master’s student, Viola (Bard College)
This year we really became a group. We rehearsed together, we performed together, and then we went to China and gave many concerts. It was very tired, because almost every day we had rehearsals and performances, but it was very great. It was like training, not just for performance, but for becoming a musician.
I also made many best friends in this ensemble. There are Chinese students and American students, and we shared culture, shared stories, and shared music. This ensemble is a very good communication team for combining Chinese instruments and Western instruments. It connects people from different places and different cultures.
When we finished the last concert, I was crying. We were together every day, eating together, rehearsing together, performing together, and everyone was so kind. I really loved this team and loved this music.
One of the most special moments for me was returning to my old conservatory in China to perform with my American friends. I could show my friends what I do in America, how we play Chinese instruments together with Western instruments. It felt like coming back home. This experience was a very important highlight for me.
— Mia, Chinese flute (Bard College)
I joined the China tour at the very last minute, and it became a very special experience for me. Everything happened so fast, but every moment feels very clear. The music, the audience, and the conversations with students at each school. Even though I grew up in China, experiencing the tour through the eyes of our American students helped me see my own culture in a new way. I realized how powerful music is. It connects people beyond language and culture.
Watching our students play music with local musicians and experience Chinese hospitality reminded me why cultural exchange is so meaningful.
— Wenrui Shi, Tour Coordinator, China Tour
See how the Bard East/West Ensemble combines music with community education.
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