{"id":144468,"date":"2023-12-19T10:11:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T15:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=144468"},"modified":"2023-12-19T10:11:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T15:11:21","slug":"wright-state-music-graduate-michael-bard-plays-carnegie-hall-helps-veterans-with-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2023\/12\/19\/wright-state-music-graduate-michael-bard-plays-carnegie-hall-helps-veterans-with-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State music graduate Michael Bard plays Carnegie Hall, helps veterans with PTSD"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michael Bard is a Wright State music performance graduate and classical guitarist.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State University alumnus Michael Bard<\/a> recently performed at New York City\u2019s Carnegie Hall, one of the most famous venues in the world. While that by itself is noteworthy, he has another reason to be overjoyed, as do military veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sold out Carnegie Hall!\u201d Bard said from his home in Bethesda, Maryland.<\/p>\n

The 1991 Wright State music performance graduate and classical guitarist said, \u201cAn hour before the concert started the stage manager said we had two tickets left. Fifteen minutes later he said we sold out. That\u2019s a feather in my cap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bard performed on Nov. 4 in Carnegie\u2019s Weill Recital Hall, which seats about 500.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s perfect for the classical guitar,\u201d the Dayton native said. \u201cThe acoustics are absolutely amazing. I didn\u2019t need a microphone.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did this come about? \u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate enough to play all over the world,\u201d he said. \u201cSome friends asked what\u2019s next on my plate. I said, \u2018Carnegie Hall.\u2019 They said, \u2018Let\u2019s make it happen. You\u2019ve already played the Kennedy Center, did State Department tours.\u2019 The opportunity presented itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bard performed works by Bach, Spanish masters Granados and Tarrega, and the world premiere of his composition \u201cMediterranean Beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I looked out in the audience, I saw more faces I didn\u2019t recognize than those I did,\u201d Bard said. \u201cI got two standing ovations. It was a wonderful feeling. I was on cloud nine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was joined on stage by Chilean guitarist Benjamin Schnake, tenor Jesus Daniel Hernandez and soprano Aurora Dainer.<\/p>\n

Apart from their musical bond, the musicians also have an interest in helping military veterans. A portion of the concert\u2019s proceeds went to the Veterans Repertory Theatre, a nonprofit organization that provides creative outlets for veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a tribute to veterans,\u201d Bard said.<\/p>\n

Bard has an ongoing participation with Marlow Guitar International\u2019s Regis Ferruzza Guitars for Veterans, which offers music lessons and performance as therapy for those who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for me to teach vets who have PTSD,\u201d Bard said. \u201cThey get a free guitar, lessons, a method book. It helps them through a creative outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bard\u2019s empathy and creativity were honed at Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped me focus on what I was planning on doing \u2014 making a living as a musician, educator, composer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt prepared me for getting ready to do all of those things, which thankfully I\u2019ve done on a macro level. I can\u2019t believe all the opportunities it helped prepare me for over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

He studied classical guitar at Wright State with Jim McCutcheon, who is now an adjunct professor of classical guitar. McCutcheon recalls Bard well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very attentive student who had come to love the guitar after hearing the rock band Kiss,\u201d McCutcheon said. \u201cHe was always positive about learning about the classical style of guitar playing and how it could be applied to other styles of guitar performance, which he has done so splendidly throughout his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bard returned to Wright State in 2008 for a reunion concert of guitar graduates that McCutcheon produced to help create a guitar scholarship and performed with his wife, Deborah Benner the following year in the Wright State Artist Series. Bard was also selected as an Outstanding Alumnus of the former Department of Music.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis approach to his career has been creative and effective,\u201d McCutcheon said.<\/p>\n

Bard looks forward to returning to Wright State again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to come back and give a hometown concert,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be my pleasure and delight to make that happen. If I can play Carnegie Hall, I can put some people in the seats at the Creative Arts Center.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Bard, a Wright State music performance graduate and classical guitarist, performed a sold-out concert at in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":144476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4859,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144468"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144885,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144468\/revisions\/144885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}