Cynthia Erivo at Tanglewood

GRAMMY, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning and three-time Academy Award-nominated actress, singer, author, and producer Cynthia Erivo joins the Boston Pops in the 2026 Tanglewood Popular Artist Series schedule, performing at the renowned summer music festival on Friday, August 21 at 8 p.m. Joined by conductor Anthony Parnther leading the Pops and her Music Director Mark G. Meadows, the powerhouse vocalist makes her Tanglewood debut in a program showcasing music from a range of genres and composers. Tickets go on sale Monday, January 26 at 10 a.m. 

Bursting onto the Broadway scene in the 2015 revival of The Color Purple, Erivo recently drew widespread acclaim for her performance as Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande’s Glinda in the two-part film adaptation of Wicked, which has since become the highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office based on a Broadway musical.  This February, she premieres a one-woman show Dracula in the West End. Erivo also recently released her second studio album I Forgive You, published her book Simply More: A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much, and wrapped production on several feature films. Her Tanglewood performance follows a sold-out performance with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in May 2025. 

A full schedule of the 2026 Tanglewood summer season, including concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and other Popular Artist Series guests, will be announced on January 29, and tickets will be available in early March.  

About Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo is a GRAMMY, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning and three-time Academy Award-nominated actress, singer, author and producer. She stars as Elphaba in Universal’s record-breaking film adaptation of the hit musical Wicked from director Jon M. Chu. Wicked Part One opened on November 22, 2024 and has since become the highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office based on a Broadway musical. Erivo has received widespread critical acclaim and rave reviews for her performance as Elphaba including Golden Globe, SAG, Critics’ Choice, NAACP, BAFTA, and Academy Award nominations. The second part of the film, Wicked: For Good opened on November 21, 2025.  

Erivo will next be seen making her West End return in the one-woman show Dracula, from the creative team behind The Picture of Dorian Gray. She will be playing all 23 characters in the show, which begins previews in February before opening later that month. It will make a limited run through May 2026. 

She released her second studio album, I Forgive You, on June 6, 2025 with Republic Records. She received a 2026 GRAMMY nomination for her single “Be Okay” off the album in the category of Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella. She was also nominated for a 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Ariana Grande for their version of “Defying Gravity” from Universal’s Wicked. 

Erivo also published her book Simply More: A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They’re Too Much via Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, on November 18, 2025, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. 

She recently wrapped production on the film adaptation of the Broadway sensation, Prima Facie, which she also executive produced under her Edith’s Daughter banner. She also recently wrapped production on Paramount’s Children of Blood and Bone, where she will star alongside an incredible ensemble cast including Viola Davis, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Amandla Stenberg, Damson Idris, Regina King, Lashana Lynch and more, as well as Lionsgate’s Karoshi. 

About Anthony Parnther

Making his Tanglewood debut with this performance, American conductor Anthony Parnther is in his sixth season as Music Director of California’s San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra. As conductor of the Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, whose members hail from leading orchestras nationwide, Parnther led the ensemble’s sold-out Carnegie Hall debut, showcasing the world premiere of I Can by five-time GRAMMY-winner Jon Batiste. 

A master of multiple genres, Parnther has conducted many of the world’s preeminent artists, from Joshua Bell, Lynn Harrell, Jessye Norman, and Frederica von Stade to Imagine Dragons, John Legend, Avenged Sevenfold, Wu-Tang Clan, and Rihanna. Upcoming highlights include guest appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Chineke! Orchestra, with which Parnther recently made his BBC Proms debut in London.

Dedicated to amplifying traditionally underrepresented voices, Parnther has reconstructed and performed orchestral works by Margaret Bonds, Duke Ellington, Zenobia Powell Perry, Florence Price, William Grant Still and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and has premiered and recorded works by Kris Bowers, Chanda Dancy, Adolphus Hailstork, and other composers of color. For his extensive championing of works by Black, Latino, and women composers, Parnther was profiled in 2015 as a “Local Hero” by Los Angeles’s PBS SoCal/KCET. 

As one of today’s foremost film conductors, Parnther helms recording sessions for many of the world’s top international feature films and television series. Recent projects include Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Encanto, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Nope, Creed III, Oppenheimer, Turning Red, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Star Wars: Book of Boba Fett, and League of Legends. 

About Mark G. Meadows

Mark G. Meadows is an award-winning pianist, music director, vocalist and composer/arranger. With jazz as his foundation, Meadows seamlessly blends R&B, soul, pop, jazz and folk to create a distinct, celebratory sound and sense of freedom amongst his collaborators. He recently served as Associate Music Director, conductor, and pianist for The Outsiders, which received 12 nominations and 4 Tony Award wins, including “Best Musical” in the 2024 season. 

Meadows is a celebrated composer and arranger, praised for his mastery of blending styles in an organic, timeless way, evidenced by his self-produced albums, Only Time (2023), Be the Change (2019), To the People (2016), Somethin’ Good (2014), and A Child is Born (2008). 

Meadows serves as Musical Director for the incomparable Cynthia Erivo, supporting her on a sold-out amphitheater tour with symphony orchestras across the country in 2025.   

A gracious performer, he has also collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Renée Fleming, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bobby McFerrin, Terence Blanchard, Kurt Elling, and Warren Wolf. 

Meadows continues to use his artistry to bring forth a positive message of love, joy, and hope to his audiences. 

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How to Purchase Tickets

Tanglewood.org is the official site for all Tanglewood tickets. Tickets for Cynthia Erivo’s performance go on sale Monday, January 26 at 10 a.m. The Tanglewood Box Office at the Linde Center will open specially on Jan. 26 for this sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be a limit of 6 tickets per purchaser. 

Tickets may also be purchased by calling 888-266-1200 on Monday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 12:30–4:30 p.m. or at the Symphony Hall Box Office during regular Box Office hours. 

All tickets for this concert will be Mobile Delivery or Hold at Box Office. We have adopted this industry standard in order to better protect consumers from price gouging, hidden fees, and other deceptive practices by some third-party ticket resellers. 

Tickets for the following previously announced Popular Artist Series concerts are on sale now at tanglewood.org: James Taylor and his All-Star Band (July 3 & 4), “Weird Al” Yankovic (July 21), Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (July 28), and Carrie Underwood (Aug. 29).