Ten years ago Bard celebrated the opening of the Fisher Center with two performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, a symbolic link to the 2002 Bard Music Festival. This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Center, music director Leon Botstein picked Mahler's Second Symphony as a tribute to all the supporters, the artists, and audiences of the past 10 years.

On Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 at 8 pm, music director Leon Botstein leads members of the American Symphony Orchestra, Bard College Conservatory Orchestra, and Longy Conservatory Orchestra in a special performance of Mahler's masterful "Resurrection" Symphony. A programmatic work that proclaims the composer's belief in life after death, the performance of the Second Symphony features soprano Heather Buck and mezzo-soprano Jamie Van Eyck. Joining them on stage is the 110-member chorus consisting of the Bard Chamber Singers, Bard Festival Chorale, and Cappella Festiva, led by chorus master James Bagwell.

"A monumental piece written for an enormous orchestra,” says Christopher H. Gibbs, James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Music, Bard College, who will give the preconcert talks at 7 pm. “The symphony is capped off by a magnificent chorus that is reserved until the end of the final movement, creating a dramatically compelling and shattering conclusion. A work of this size and ambition must be experienced live to do it justice." .

Individual tickets are $25, $30, $35, and $40. Call 845-758-7900 or visit the Fisher Center website at fishercenter.bard.edu to purchase tickets or for further information.