Victoria Bond facts for kids

Victoria Ellen Bond (born May 6, 1945) is an American conductor and composer. She is known for leading orchestras and writing music, especially operas. Victoria Bond lives and works in New York City.

Early Life and Family

Victoria Bond was born in Los Angeles, California. Her family was very musical. Her father, Philip Bond, was an opera singer with the New York City Opera and also a doctor. Her mother, Jane Courtland, was a concert pianist who studied with the famous composer Bela Bartok. Victoria's grandfather, Samuel Epstein, was also a composer, conductor, and musician.

Education and Learning

Victoria Bond studied at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. She learned to sing and to compose music there.

Later, she earned her highest degree, a doctorate, from the Juilliard School of Music. At Juilliard, she studied how to compose music with Roger Sessions and how to conduct an orchestra with Jean Morel and Sixten Ehrling. She also took special classes with famous conductors like Herbert von Karajan. While she was a student, she helped important musicians like Pierre Boulez and Aaron Copland. In 1977, Victoria Bond made history by becoming the first woman to earn a doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from Juilliard.

Awards and Honors

Victoria Bond has received many important awards for her work in music. These include the Victor Herbert Award and the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has also been given special honorary doctorates from Hollins, Roanoke College, and Washington and Lee University.

Leading Orchestras

Victoria Bond has led many orchestras and opera companies. From 1986 to 1995, she was the music director for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. She also led Opera Roanoke during those years.

She held other important conducting jobs, including:

• Pittsburgh Symphony: A special conductor role (1978-1980)
• Pittsburgh Youth Symphony: Music director (1978-1980)
• Albany Symphony: Guest conductor (1980-1985)
• Empire State Youth Orchestra: Music director (1980-1985)
• New York City Opera: Assistant conductor (1985)
• Ray Charles orchestral concerts: She conducted his national and international tours (1986-2003)

Victoria Bond was the first American woman to conduct and record music in China. She worked with the Shanghai Symphony in 1994. She was also the first woman to be a music advisor for the Wuhan Symphony in China.

Composer and Performer

Victoria Bond started her music career as a soprano, which is a high-pitched female singing voice. She was a featured singer in the first performance and recording of Harry Partch's opera Delusion of the Fury.

She has written many operas herself. Some of her famous operas include:

• Mrs. President: This opera is about Victoria Woodhull, an important woman in American history. It was first performed in 2012.
• Clara: This opera tells the story of Clara Schumann, a famous pianist and composer. It premiered in 2019 at a festival in Berlin.

Other operas she has composed include The Adventures of Gulliver and The Miracle of Light. She also helped create music for movies, working on film scores for Universal Pictures.

Today, Ms. Bond is the Artistic Director of the Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival in New York, which she started in 1998. She often gives talks about music at places like the Metropolitan Opera Guild and for the New York Philharmonic.

Selected Musical Works

Victoria Bond has composed a wide variety of musical pieces. Some of her selected works include:

• Blue and Green Music (string quartet, 2019)
• Sirens (opera, 2017)
• The Adventures of Gulliver (opera, 2016)
• Clara (opera, 2015)
• Soul of a Nation (Concerto for Violin and String Ensemble, 2015)
• The Miracle of Light (Hanukkah opera, 2011)
• Mrs. President (chamber opera, 2001)
• Ancient Keys (concerto for piano and orchestra, 2002)
• Urban Bird (concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra, 1993)
• The Frog Prince (for piano and orchestra, 1984)