Dave Read

Article updated March 1, 2018 by Dave Read

Maestro Andris Nelsons opens the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood schedule on July 6, with soloist Lang Lang in a program of Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Besides his participation in The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood on Aug. 25, and performances with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (TMCO), Nelsons leads programs with pianists Rudolf Buchbinder for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (7/8), Yuja Wang for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (7/15), and Yefim Bronfman for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 (8/17), and also conducts a complete, semi-staged performance of Puccini’s La bohème with soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Piotr Beczala in the lead roles (7/14).

He also conducts a special Young People’s Concert evoking those led by Bernstein himself, with Bernstein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein as host (8/10); an all-Bernstein program featuring violinist Baiba Skride in the Serenade (after Plato’s “Symposium”) (8/18), and Mahler’s Third Symphony with soloist Susan Graham (8/24).

In addition, Maestro Nelsons leads the TMCO’s annual Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert, this year with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist in Bernstein’s Three Meditations from Mass and the world premiere of a new work by John Williams written especially for the occasion (8/19), and joins John Williams on the podium for John Williams’ Film Night (8/11)

Tanglewood tickets and box office info.

Tickets for the 2018 Tanglewood season now on sale through Tanglewood’s website, www.tanglewood.org, SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA.

Hotels near Tanglewood

Find hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds. This dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds includes photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.

Article posted Feb. 14, 2018 by Dave Read

The 2018 Tanglewood schedule features a season-long celebration of the centennial of the birth, in Lawrence, MA, of Leonard Bernstein, who became the protege of Serge Koussevitsky in 1940 as a member of the first class of what became the Tanglewood Music Center. Bernstein’s last performance was at Tanglewood in 1990, two months before his death.

Photo: Andris Nelsons and Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood (Hilary Scott)

Tanglewood’s August 2018 schedule, highlighted by the August 25 program “The Bernstein Centennial Celebration,” also includes these Bernstein compositions:

• Aug. 4 – Songfest (1977))
• Aug. 9 – A Quiet Place (1983)
• Aug. 18 – Divertimento for Orchestra (1980)
• Aug. 18 – Fancy Free (1944)
• Aug. 19 – Three Meditations from Mass, for cello and orchestra (1977)
• Aug. 22 & 23 – Candide (1956)

Thomas Adès and Kirill Gerstein

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• Thomas Adès, piano
• Kirill Gerstein, piano
• DEBUSSY En blanc et noir, for two pianos
• STRAVINSKY (arr. SHOSTAKOVICH) Symphony of Psalms, for two pianos
• LUTOS?AWSKI Variations on a Theme by Paganini, for two pianos
• DEBUSSY Lindaraja, for two pianos
• Thomas ADÈS Concert paraphrase on Powder Her Face, for two pianos
• RAVEL Rapsodie espagnole, for two pianos

Paul Lewis, piano

Thursday, Aug. 2, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• HAYDN Sonata No. 49 in E-flat
• BEETHOVEN Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119
• BRAHMS Four Pieces, Op. 119
• HAYDN Sonata No. 32 in B minor
• BEETHOVEN Six Bagatelles, Op. 126
• HAYDN Sonata No. 40 in G

This program launches a multi-year survey at Tanglewood featuring Paul Lewis in piano works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Tanglewood Date Night Packages Available – August 3 and 17

Date Night packages are available on July 20 and 27, and August 3 and 17. The package includes a preconcert dinner for two at Highwood and two premium tickets in the Shed for $180, or two lawn tickets and two lawn chairs plus a pre-concert dinner at Highwood for $150. Both packages include a tour of the grounds. Purchase tickets >

Glinka, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky with Kirill Gerstein

Friday, Aug. 3, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• The Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Memorial Concert
• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Ken-David Masur, conductor
• Kirill Gerstein, piano
• GLINKA Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila
• RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2
• STRAVINSKY The Firebird (complete)

UndersScore Friday Concert – Patrons will hear comments about the program directly from an onstage BSO musician.

Yoga on the Lawn at Tanglewood – August 4, 11, 18, and 25

Once again this summer, in collaboration with the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Tanglewood is pleased to offer hour-long yoga classes taught by fully accredited Kripalu teachers from 10:15-11:15am on Saturday mornings (weather permitting). Located on the lawn near the Tanglewood Visitor Center, these weekly classes are available at no additional charge to Saturday-morning BSO Rehearsal ticket holders on August 4, 11, 18, and 25.

Boston University Tanglewood Institute – Young Artists Chorus – Free Concert

Saturday, Aug. 4, 2:30 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• Katie Woolf, conductor
• Concert of varied works. Repertoire to be announced.

Bramwell Tovey conducts Bernstein and Sibelius

Saturday, Aug. 4, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Bramwell Tovey, conductor
• Nadine Sierra, soprano
• Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano
• Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
• Nicholas Phan, tenor
• Elliot Madore, baritone
• Eric Owens, bass
• BERNSTEIN Songfest
• SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2

Dima Slobodeniouk conducts Borodin, Wieniawski and Prokofiev featuring Joshua Bell

Sunday, Aug. 5, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor
• Joshua Bell, violin
• BORODIN Polovtsian Dances
• WIENIAWSKI Violin Concerto No. 2
• PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5

Tanglewood on Parade

Tuesday, Aug. 7, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Boston Pops Orchestra
• Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
• Bramwell Tovey, Keith Lockhart, and John Williams, conductors
• Kirill Gerstein, piano – 2018 Koussevitzky Artist
• RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
• GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue
• TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture
• Fireworks to follow the concert

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra -BERNSTEIN A Quiet Place

Thursday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
• Stefan Asbury, conductor
• Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows
• Daniel Fish, director
• Terese Wadden, constume designer
• Barbara Samuels, lighting designer
• Jeff Larson, video designer
• BERNSTEIN A Quiet Place

Fully staged performance; sung in English with supertitles (chamber ensemble version by Garth Edwin Sunderland)

Young People’s Concert

Friday, Aug. 10, 7:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Andris Nelsons, conductor
• Jamie Bernstein, host

From 1958 until 1972, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic presented a landmark series of televised Young People’s Concerts™ which introduced classical music to millions of listeners. Inspired by Bernstein’s pioneering work as an educator, the BSO and Andris Nelsons offer a one-time-only hour-long program designed especially for young audiences and their families. Following in the great tradition of her father, Jamie Bernstein will be the evening’s host and presenter.
(Concert duration is approximately 60 minutes without intermission.)

Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Young Artists Orchestra

Saturday, Aug. 11, 2:30 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• Ken-David Masur, conductor
• MENDELSSOHN Overture to Athalia
• DEBUSSY La mer
• PROKOFIEV Selections from Romeo and Juliet, Suite Nos. 1 and 2

John Williams’ Film Night

Saturday, Aug. 11, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Pops Orchestra
• Andris Nelsons and John Williams, conductors

John Williams’ Film Night has long been established as one of the Tanglewood calendar’s most consistently captivating evenings. Join Mr. Williams as he presents this year’s celebration of the music of Hollywood and beyond, featuring the Boston Pops and BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Tilson Thomas, Rachmaninoff and Mahler

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
• Igor Levit, piano
• Michael TILSON THOMAS Agnegram
• RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
• MAHLER Symphony No. 1

TMC Chamber Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, conductor

Monday, Aug. 13, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• TMC Conducting Fellows
• SCHREKER Chamber Symphony for twenty-three instruments (1916)
• HAYDN Symphony No. 97

TMC Vocal Recital

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

Igor Levit and the JACK Quartet

Wednesday, Aug. 15, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• Igor Levit, piano
• JACK Quartet
• BEETHOVEN Variations and Fugue in E-flat, Op. 35, Eroica
• SCHOENBERG Ode to Napoleon, Op. 41
• Frederic RZEWSKI The People United Will Never Be Defeated!

Skride Quartet

Thursday, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• MAHLER Piano Quartet in A minor
• MOZART Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K.478
• BRAHMS Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

Andris Nelsons conducts Beethoven and Shostakovich

Friday, Aug. 17, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

UnderScore Friday Concert – Patrons will hear comments about the program directly from an onstage BSO musician.

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Andris Nelsons, conductor
• Yefim Bronfman, piano
• BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
• SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4

Andris Nelsons conducts an All-Bernstein Program with the Boston Ballet and featuring violinist Baiba Skride

Saturday, Aug. 18, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Andris Nelsons, conductor

Boston Ballet,

Mikko Nissinen, artistic director

Baiba Skride, violin

ALL-BERNSTEIN PROGRAM

Fancy Free – Fully staged production

Divertimento for Orchestra

Serenade (after Plato’s “Symposium”), for violin and orchestra

When Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins created the hit ballet Fancy Free in 1944, each was just twenty-five years old. As Bernstein’s first ballet score and Robbins’ first full-scale choreographic effort, it catapulted both men to stardom. In what would become his signature style, Robbins combined classical choreography with jazz and popular dance moves. Just months after Fancy Free was premiered at the old Metropolitan Opera House, its scenario had become the basis for Bernstein and Robbins’ hit Broadway musical On the Town (being performed July 7). Fancy Free will be presented here in collaboration with Boston Ballet, using Robbins’ original choreography.

Yo-Yo Ma joins Andris Nelsons for Copland, Bernstein, Williams and Bartók

Sunday, Aug. 19, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• The Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert
• Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
• Andris Nelsons, conductor
• Yo-Yo Ma, cello
• COPLAND An Outdoor Overture
• BERNSTEIN Three Meditations from Mass, for cello and orchestra
• John WILLIAMS New work for cello and orchestra (world premiere)
• BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra

The Knights – Bernstein’s Candide

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

• The Knights
• Eric Jacobsen, conductor
• Miles Mykkanen, tenor (Candide)
• Sharleen Joynt, soprano (Cunegonde)
• Alex Mansoori, tenor (Baron/Governor/Vanderdendur/Ragotski)
• Gabriel Preisser, baritone (Maximilian/Grand Inquisitor)
• Courtney Lopes and John Eirich, dancers
• Alison Moritz, stage director
• John Heginbotham, choreographer
• Aaron Copp, lighting designer
• Amanda Seymour, costume designer
• BERNSTEIN Candide, Fully staged performances

The Knights – Bernstein’s Candide

Thuresday, Aug. 23, 8 p.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

The Knights

Eric Jacobsen, conductor

Miles Mykkanen, tenor (Candide)

Sharleen Joynt, soprano (Cunegonde)

Alex Mansoori, tenor (Baron/Governor/Vanderdendur/Ragotski)

Gabriel Preisser, baritone (Maximilian/Grand Inquisitor)

Courtney Lopes and John Eirich, dancers

Alison Moritz, stage director

John Heginbotham, choreographer

Aaron Copp, lighting designer

Amanda Seymour, costume designer

BERNSTEIN Candide, Fully staged performances

Leonard Bernstein’s delightful 1956 comic operetta Candide is based on the 18th-century philosopher Voltaire’s satirical novel, which follows the title character’s traumatic adventures in imperial Europe and semi-civilized South America. All the while, his teacher’s philosophy of “All’s for the best in this best of all possible worlds” is put to the test. Candide’s vain sweetheart Cunegonde undergoes even worse trials as they’re separated and reunited. Lillian Hellman wrote the original play; the song lyrics were mostly by poet Richard Wilbur. The score includes such familiar numbers as “Glitter and Be Gay” and “Make Our Garden Grow.”

Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler Symphony No. 3 featuring Susan Graham and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Friday, Aug. 24, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Andris Nelsons, conductor
• Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
• Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
• Children’s Choir
• MAHLER Symphony No. 3

The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood

Saturday, Aug. 25, 8:00 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra*
• Andris Nelsons, conductor
• Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
• Keith Lockhart, conductor
• Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
• John Williams, conductor
• Audra McDonald, host and vocalist
• Midori, violin
• Yo-Yo Ma, cello
• Kian Soltani, cello
• Nadine Sierra, soprano
• Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
• Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano
• Thomas Hampson, baritone
• Jessica Vosk and Tony Yazbeck, vocalists
• James Darrah, director
• Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor

Reflecting the season-long theme, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood will spotlight Bernstein’s wide-ranging talents as a composer, his many gifts as a great interpreter and champion of other composers, and his role as an inspirer of a new generation of musicians and music lovers across the country and around the globe. The gala concert will feature a kaleidoscopic array of artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, film, and Broadway. The entire first half of the program is dedicated to selections from such brilliant Bernstein works as Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. Music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein’s heart-selections from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and music by Copland-plus a new work by John Williams, makes up a good portion of the program’s second half; the finale of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony brings the program to a dramatic close.

*Joined by members of the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

One Day University at Tanglewood

Sunday, Aug. 26, 9 a.m. Seiji Ozawa Hall

One Day University, the acclaimed lifelong learning series, returns to Tanglewood for the eighth year! Join these award-winning professors from three renowned schools, each presenting their best lecture in Ozawa Hall. Then join Christoph Eschenbach and the BSO for the 2018 season finale performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Christoph Eschenbach conducts Beethoven

Sunday, Aug. 26, 2:30 p.m. Koussevitsky Music Shed

• Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
• Hanna-Elisabeth Mu?ller, soprano
• Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano
• Joseph Kaiser, tenor
• Thomas Hampson, baritone
• Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor
• BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

Hotels near Tanglewood

Find hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

Tanglewood tickets and box office information

Tickets for the 2018 Tanglewood season, $12-$160, are available through Tanglewood’s website, www.tanglewood.org, SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA. Download the 2018 Tanglewood season brochure.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds. This dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds includes photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.

Article updated Feb. 21, 2018 by Dave Read

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is Celebrating Lenny at Tanglewood; the Bernstein Centennial Summer has more than a dozen pieces composed by Leonard Bernstein listed in the 2018 Tanglewood schedule. He was born August 25, 1918 in Lawrence, MA, was a member of the first class of the Berkshire Music Center (now Tanglewood Music Center) in 1940 and became the protege of founder Serge Koussevitsky. After a fifty year career, for which there was no template, Maestro Bernstein gave his last performance in the Koussevitsky Music Shed in August 1990, and died two months later. Leonard Bernstein’s artistry spanned ballet, opera, symphony, television, Broadway, and Hollywood – and his politics scared the establishment witless.

“That place [Tanglewood] is very dear to my heart, that is where I grew up and learned so much…in 1940 when I first played and studied there.”
—Leonard Bernstein (November 1989)

Bernstein from Broadway to Hollywood

In addition to concert works including his Chichester Psalms (7/15), alil for flute and orchestra (7/21), Songfest (8/4), the Serenade (after Plato’s “Symposium”) for violin and orchestra (8/18), and the BSO-commissioned Divertimento for Orchestra (also 8/18), performances also include the operas Trouble in Tahiti (7/12) and A Quiet Place (8/9); the Broadway hit On the Town (7/7); Candide (8/22 & 23); the ballet Fancy Free in collaboration with Boston Ballet (8/18), and the Oscar-winning film version of West Side Story with the BSO playing the score live as the movie is shown on large screens in high definition with the original vocals and dialogue intact (7/28). (Photo: Leonard Bernstein conduct rehearsal,

Leonard Bernstein Pieces Being Performed as Part of the 2018 Tanglewood Season

• July 5 – Variations on an Octatonic Scale, for flute and cello (1988-89)
• July 9 – Opening Prayer (Benediction) (1986)
• July 7 – On the Town (1944)
• July 12 – Trouble in Tahiti (1951)
• July 15 – Chichester Psalms (1965)
• July 21 – alil, Nocturne for flute and orchestra (1981)
• July 23 – Facsimile, Choreographic Essay for Orchestra (1946)
• July 28 – West Side Story (1957)
• Aug. 4 – Songfest (1977)
• Aug. 9 – A Quiet Place (1983)
• Aug. 18 – Divertimento for Orchestra (1980)
• Aug. 18 – Serenade (after Plato’s “Symposium”), for violin and orchestra (1954)
• Aug. 18 – Fancy Free (1944)
• Aug. 19 – Three Meditations from Mass, for cello and orchestra (1977)
• Aug. 22 & 23 – Candide (1956)

Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood – Aug. 25

On August 25, Bernstein’s birth-date, The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood, to be conducted by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, Christoph Eschenbach, Keith Lockhart, Michael Tilson Thomas, and John Williams, will feature an extraordinary array of guest artists, among them Audra McDonald, Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Susan Graham, and Thomas Hampson. In addition, the BSO will be joined for this very special occasion by members of numerous other orchestras with which Bernstein maintained close associations, including the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, and Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Hotels near Tanglewood

Find hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

Tanglewood tickets and box office information

Tickets for the 2018 Tanglewood season, $12-$160, are available through Tanglewood’s website, www.tanglewood.org, SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA. Download the 2018 Tanglewood season brochure.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds. This dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds includes photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.