Tanglewood's 75th Anniversary Season!
The Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the setting for a wide variety of musical performances each year. There's no better place in all of New England to spread out a picnic blanket, feast on gourmet goodies and listen to live music as the sun sets and the stars unveil themselves. This summer, Tanglewood celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Highlights of the 2012 summer season include:
- The Tanglewood 75th anniversary season officially opens with an all-Beethoven program that replicates the very first Boston Symphony Orchestra performance at Tanglewood on August 5, 1937. (July 6) The BSO will also replicate a second concert from its inaugural Tanglewood season when it performs an all-Wagner program. (July 21)
- Stars from the music world will join in the Tanglewood 75th celebration during a special gala concert featuring the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras, led by conductors John Williams, Keith Lockhart and Andris Nelsons. Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Peter Serkin, James Taylor, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and other special guests will perform. (July 14)
- Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Williams, one of the best-known composers of his generation with credits that include some of the 20th and 21st centuries' most memorable film scores, will be honored on the occasion of his 80th birthday year with a Boston Pops concert featuring luminaries Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, Jessye Norman and Leonard Slatkin. (August 18)
- Minnesota Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" with host Garrison Keillor will broadcast live from the Koussevitzky Music Shed for the 13th consecutive year. (June 30)
- Legendary singer/songwriter and Massachusetts native James Taylor returns to Tanglewood for a series of three concerts with his band and special guests, including a 4th of July concert that will be followed by fireworks. (July 2, 3 and 4)
- The Boston Pops, under the direction of Keith Lockhart, are joined by Broadway star Bernadette Peters (July 8). The Pops will also appear with special guests Maureen McGovern and Brian Stokes Mitchell in a celebration of George Gershwin and the creators of the Great American Songbook. (August 24).
- Continuing the BSO's tradition of marking anniversaries by commissioning new music, the Tanglewood 75th anniversary season will showcase the world premieres of eight new works, many by composers who have a strong connection with Tanglewood and the BSO.
- Tanglewood on Parade will feature a full day of activities, culminating in a gala concert with Williams, Lockhart, Stéphane Denève, Lorin Maazel and Christoph von Dohnányi conducting. The combined forces of the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras will present works including the traditional performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture featuring fireworks. (August 7)
- In a first-ever event at Tanglewood, Bramwell Tovey will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, with Alfred Walker and Marquita Lister performing the title roles. (August 26)
- Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who will appear at Tanglewood four times in 2011, performs Schumann's Cello Concerto. (August 13)
- Acclaimed pianist Gerhard Oppitz plays Brahms' Complete Works for Piano. (July 18, 19, 25 and 26).
- The star-studded lineup of guest artists also includes violinists Joshua Bell (July 7), Anne-Sophie Mutter (July 11 and 13), Dan Zhu (July 20), Pinchas Zukerman and Malcolm Lowe (August 10), Augustin Hadelich (August 17) and Gil Shaham (August 19); guitarist Pablo Sáinz Villegas and Flamenco dancer Núria Pomares Rojas (August 25); and pianists Andre Previn (July 11), Gerhard Oppitz (July 22), Emanuel Ax (July 23, 29 and 30), Nelson Freire (July 27), Yefim Bronfman (August 4), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (August 5), Gloria Cheng (August 10), Paul Lewis (August 12), Peter Serkin (August 13) and Ilya Yakushev (August 24).
- 75 new trees will be planted throughout the Tanglewood property, enhancing what is already one of the most picturesque concert grounds in the U.S.
Check the complete Tanglewood 2012 schedule for other fabulous performances, then purchase your tickets, compare rates at nearby hotels, pack your picnic and head for Tanglewood. While you're anticipating the summer season, learn a bit about the history of Tanglewood and explore my gallery of Tanglewood photos.
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