One of the great pleasures of attending the Bard Music Festival is not only the obvious enjoyment that comes from listening to and learning about the subject at hand (this year, Hector Berlioz), but also the sense of conviviality experienced in the company of likeminded music lovers from all walks of life.

Here I am with my newest friend from Bard. No, not Berlioz. That’s Bill Osborne on the left. Bill is a retired organist who studied at Fontainebleau with the venerable pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. For over 40 years, he served as Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts at Denison University.

In that capacity, he also directed the Denison Singers, which brought him to Princeton a couple of times to perform at Westminster Choir College and Princeton University Chapel. He adds impishly that some of their belongings were stolen at Princeton High School. But Bill, a true gentleman and a lovely raconteur, shares all his stories with a laugh and a twinkle in his eye.

As a student in France, he also encountered legendary organist-composers Marcel Dupré and Olivier Messiaen. During one memorable lesson, he was caught on the bench between Boulanger and André Marchal, the celebrated blind organist of St. Germain des Pres, with their at times conflicting philosophies, trying his best to diplomatically serve two masters.

Boulanger was notorious for her strict instruction and strong opinions. Bill observed that she was a stickler for punctuality in her students, yet she herself was always late for lessons. Once, he too was running behind, and he ran into her in the courtyard. Mademoiselle, as she was affectionately known, demanded to know why he wasn’t already at their lesson.

Back in the United States, during the course of some research he was conducting in New York, he was put up in a penthouse at the Dakota. I probably don’t have to tell you about the Dakota. It’s one of the top-tier apartment buildings on Central Park West. Anyway, he got a big kick out of that. The building is so crammed with celebrities that whenever he peered over a balcony a paparazzo would snap his photo from the street, assuming he must be somebody famous.

Once, he walked out of the building just as a limousine pulled up. Who should spring out of the back seat but Leonard Bernstein. In his classic effusive manner, Lenny walked up to Bill, who was agog, and enfolded him in a warm embrace. Lenny said, “So good to see you again,” assuming that, if he lived at the Dakota, he must have known him; but of course, Bill had never seen him before in his life.

Bill was also responsible for introducing the organ works of Petr Eben to the United States, after receiving the scores from the hand of the composer during a tour of Czechoslovakia. He went on to record an album of Eben’s works for Crystal Records.

What an interesting, affable fellow! I enjoyed chatting with him over several days. You never know who you’re going to meet at Bard.

This year’s Bard Music Festival, “Berlioz and His World,” continues through August 18. For more information, follow the link.

https://fishercenter.bard.edu/whats-on/programs/bard-music-festival/

Fisher Center at Bard