Leon Botstein (born 1946 in Switzerland) is an American conductor and the President of Bard College (since 1975). Botstein currently serves as the music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. He is also co-Artistic Director of the Bard Music Festival.
Botstein is a leading advocate of progressive education. Having graduated at age 16 from the High School of Music and Art in New Yo...
more
Leon Botstein (born 1946 in Switzerland) is an American conductor and the President of Bard College (since 1975). Botstein currently serves as the music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. He is also co-Artistic Director of the Bard Music Festival.
Botstein is a leading advocate of progressive education. Having graduated at age 16 from the High School of Music and Art in New York, and earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He credits David Landis and Howard Farberman as his mentors.
Botstein became the youngest college president in the history of the country at age 23, serving from 1970 to 1975 at the now-defunct Franconia College.
As music director of the American Symphony Orchestra, Botstein emerged as a significant proponent of "thematic programming," which attempts to assemble concert programs having a common theme grounded in literature, music history, or...
less
