Dr. Anna Bard-Schwarz was born in Poznań, Poland to a professional musical family. Her mother Ewa was a violinist, choral and orchestra conductor, and a music critic; her father Bogumił was a trumpet orchestra soloist and a music professor. Ania started playing the violin at the age of 5 and at 8, she performed Henryk Wieniawski's Polish Folk Dance "Obertas" with the Greater Poland Symphony Orchestra. At 13, together with her older sister Joanna, also a violinist, she performed at the Mirror Hall of Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Holland. At 14, Ania became the youngest student at the Maastricht Conservatory of Music, Holland where she studied with the Dutch-Polish violinist Robert Szreder. During that time, she performed the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto with the Eindhoven Philharmonic. At 16, Ania graduated from the "School for Talented Youth" in Poznań, Poland, and subsequently received a full scholarship to study at the University of Kansas with the Lithuanian-Israeli violinist Ben Sayevich. After earning her Bachelor of Music degree in 1997, Ania continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with the Austrian-American violinist Eric Rosenblith, earning Master of Music degree in 1999. After graduation, Ania continued her studies with the renowned Polish-American violinist Roman Totenberg.
Ania won the first Gregor Piatigorsky Foundation Competition in 1999 followed by 25 recitals across Florida, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, culminating with a performance at the Otto Kahn Mansion in New York City. Between 2001–2006, Ania performed extensively across Europe as a freelance member of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish Chamber Philharmonic, and Sinfonietta Cracovia, as well as a full-time member of Camerata Stuttgart and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart. During those years, she also performed recitals at Festivals across Europe and Israel, sponsored by Polish Embassies and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2008, Ania was invited to serve as the first woman Concertmaster of Orquesta Filarmonica de Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile.
In 2014, Ania earned Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas under the tutelage of the Russian-American violinist Julia Bushkova to whom she also served as an Assistant. Between 2010–2021, Dr. Bard served as the Concertmaster of Irving and Plano Symphony Orchestras in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. Dr. Bard was awarded Concertmaster Emerita title of both symphony orchestras in 2020 and 2021, respectively. As a Baroque violinist, Dr. Bard performed as a member of Orchestra of New Spain and Texas Camerata. Dr. Bard served as an Adjunct Violin Faculty at Texas Woman's University (2012–2021) and in the same capacity at the University of North Texas (2018–2021).
Dr. Bard took part in International Courses of Interpretation in Lancut, Poland; Sommerakademie Prague-Vienna-Budapest in Semmering, Austria; Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, Putney, Vermont; International Musical Arts Institute, Freiburg, Maine; Kneisel Hall, Blue Hill, Maine, USA; and Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart Festivalensemble, Stuttgart, Germany. She performed at such venues and halls as: Liederhalle, Stuttgart; Berlin Philharmonic; Acropolis and Megaron Hall, Athens; and National Philharmonic, Warsaw, among others. In 2007, she performed as a recitalist at Boyle and Kinsale Arts Festivals in Ireland. In 2010 and 2011, Dr. Bard joined the Faculty of the International Chamber Music Festival in Positano, Italy. In 2015, Dr. Bard performed as a baroque and classical violinist at Arts Festival "Autmn Melodies" in Vietnam.
Over the years, Dr. Bard has been an avid propagator of music education for underprivileged children being involved in outreach programs in Chile, Poland, and the USA. Dr. Bard's research has focused on child and adolescent cognitive development through learning to play an instrument and listening to music. Her current interest lies in examining the role music plays in bringing people together in order to create a meaningful interaction and conversation with a goal of building relationships that will promote sustained connection, mutual understanding, harmony and peace among communities of varied national, ethnic, race, gender identities and backgrounds.
Dr. Anna Bard is married to Dr. David Schwarz, Professor of Music Theory at the University of North Texas.
February 2023
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