Carol H. Miller '51 (BardCorps)

Carol H. Miller '51 (BardCorps)

Carol H. Miller

Interviewee Role

Alumni/ae/x

Significant Quote

“The senior project was horrendous. I did not write very well...it was not exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to sing.”

Class Year

1951

Academic Program

Music

Interviewer

Barbara Crane Wigren '68

Description

Carol Miller (née Kestenbaum) returned to Bard for her 50th reunion in 2001, and recorded this interview with Barbara Crane Wigren ‘68, filmed by David Avallone ‘87.

Carol loved her years at the High School of Music and Art in New York City. She spent a year at a college in New Jersey, before enrolling at Bard. She considered herself to be ‘very straight’ and doesn’t remember there being much free time. Miller recalls not venturing off campus much, other than during field periods as “there was a lot to do.” She recalls being struck by the natural beauty of the campus but was disappointed by the lack of a voice teacher in the music department. Miller consequently took a semester away from Bard to study voice at the New School in Manhattan, transferring all credits back to Bard. To pursue her interest in the opera, Miller spent Field Periods at Columbia University doing research, which culminated in her senior project that focused on contemporary opera. She remembers Bard being a very intellectual place, and particularly remembers Kate Wolff, calling her “an inspiration.” Miller felt excited about the changes happening on campus and looked forward to the opening of the new performing arts center, now the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.

Keywords

Kate Wolff; Senior Project; Opera in New York - 1950: Its Significance and Influence; Field Periods; Bard Hall; South Hall; Larry Wismer; Leon Botstein; Performing Arts Center; Emily Strassner ‘49; Clara Schumann; Yale University; New York City, New York; Middlesex Community College; Boston, Massachusetts; Lexington, Massachusetts; The New School; Columbia University; Bard College; High School of Music and Art; Lesley University

Location

Olin Hall, 3rd floor

Interview Date

5-26-2001

Interview Duration

16:44

Rights Management

The use of any image or audio from the Bard College Archives without permission is prohibited.

Carol H. Miller '51 (BardCorps)

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