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Tanglewood 2009 News Updates

Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, Tony Bennett Featured

By: - Mar 20, 2009

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      The 2009 Tanglewood season, June 22-September 6, offers weekly concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by James Levine and favorite guest conductors, a Boston Pops concert led by Keith Lockhart, Film Night led by John Williams, a special July 4 concert featuring Diana Krall, appearances by popular artists Tony Bennett and James Taylor, recital and chamber music recitals by some of the most preeminent artists of our time, and the annual Labor Day Jazz Festival, featuring Paquito d'Rivera, Regina Carter, and John Pizzarelli. Now in its 73rd season, Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, located in the Berkshire Hills in Lenox , Massachusetts.

      The Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood season opens on July 3 with BSO Music Director James Levine leading the orchestra in a blockbuster all-Tchaikovsky program. Over the course of the season, Maestro Levine and the orchestra perform Mahler's Symphony No. 6 (July 17) and Brahms's A German Requiem (July 25), reprising two performances that received extraordinary acclaim at Symphony Hall last fall. Maestro Levine's deep commitment to opera is reflected in a concert performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Act III (July 11), and two fully-staged performances with the Tanglewood Music Center fellows of Mozart's Don Giovanni (July 26 & 27). 

Tanglewood and the Clark Arts Institute Connect with Special Offer

      Tanglewood and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, two of the Berkshires' premier arts organizations, are coming together this summer to offer a ticket package for patrons making the 45-minute drive between the two institutions. The $45 package includes two lawn tickets to Tanglewood classical concerts and two tickets for admission to the Clark. This special ticket promotion represents their first major collaboration.  .

      Only two hours from Boston and three hours from New York, western Massachusetts is a region rich with museums and cultural events, abundant outdoor recreation, and world-renowned summer festivals, along with award-winning restaurants, spas and relaxation, shopping, and antiquing. This summer's 45/45 ticket package is designed to make it easy and affordable for visitors to take in a variety of experiences.

      The Clark features an outstanding collection of Impressionist, American, and Old Master paintings, set among 140 scenic acres with hiking and walking trails. On view this summer will be Dove/O'Keeffe: Circles of Influence an exciting, vibrant exhibition delving into the relatively unexplored relationship between two figureheads of American modernism—Arthur Dove and Georgia O'Keeffe, and Through the Seasons: Japanese Art in Nature.

Tanglewood lawn tickets available for this special promotion include all classical concerts, as well as Pops and Tanglewood on Parade. Blackout dates include Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor (June 27), Diana Krall (July 4), James Taylor (August 27-30), and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival (September 4-6). Clark admission tickets are valid June 7 through September 7.

            Tickets for the 45/45 promotion may be purchased through the Boston Symphony Orchestra online through the BSO's website at www.tanglewood.org or by calling SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200. Tickets are also available in person through the Symphony Hall box office, at 301 Massachusetts Avenue , in Boston , MA . The Tanglewood Box Office at Tanglewood's Main Gate on West Street in Lenox, Mass., will open to the public on Friday, June 19 at 10 a.m. Tickets can also be purchased through The Clark through it's website at www.clarkart.edu or by calling 413-458-0524. Tickets will be available in person at the Clark beginning June 1.

Festival Guest Artists

The 2009 season includes guest appearances by some of the classical music world's most renowned artists, including bass-baritone James Morris (July 11), cellist Yo-Yo Ma (August 5, 6, & 9), pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet (August 15), Garrick Ohlsson (August 16), and Leon Fleisher (July 17), and violinists Joshua Bell (July 12), Vadim Repin (July 31), and Gil Shaham (August 22). Christian Teztlaff performs the complete cycle of Beethoven Violin Sonatas (July 5, 7, & 9). Sir James Galway celebrates his 70th birthday with a special music bash (August 1) and recital (July 30). Celebrated ensembles include Jordi Savall's period-instrument ensemble Le Concert des Nations (July 14 & 15) and the Juilliard Quartet's all-Haydn program (June 28) marking the farewell performance of first violinist Joel Smirnoff.
 
The season's stellar slate of guest conductors includes Herbert Blomstedt (June 29, July 10 & 12), Kurt Masur (August 16, 21 & 22) and Michael Tilson Thomas (August 14 & 23), who also brings his special multi-media program The Thomashevskys: Music and Memories of a Life In the Yiddish Theater (August 19 & 20.) Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (July 31, August 3 & 8) and André Previn (August 12, 15 & 16) celebrate landmark birthdays at the festival. 
 
Boston Pops Film Night, Tanglewood on Paparde. Prairie Home Companion

Popular programming at Tanglewood is led by the incomparable Boston Pops. Trumpeter extraordinaire Chris Botti, known for his sophisticated jazz interpretations of music across a range of genres, joins Keith Lockhart and the orchestra (August 7), and John Williams leads the ever-popular Film Night at Tanglewood (July 18), celebrating the extraordinary legacy of Hollywood's Warner Brothers, including film scores by Williams himself.
 
Tanglewood on Parade (July 28) features a full day of activities for music lovers of all ages, culminating in a special gala concert featuring the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras, led by James Levine, Keith Lockhart, John Williams, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Leonard Slatkin followed by fireworks over Stockbridge Bowl. Garrison Keillor and the gang from Lake Wobegon return for their annual live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion (June 27).    
 
The summer will also feature orchestra, chamber music, and recital programs featuring fellows from the Tanglewood Music Center , the BSO's prestigious summer music academy for young professional musicians.
 
James Taylor Among Friends

America's troubadour, James Taylor, presides over a special weekend (August 26-30) featuring a unique series of concerts, workshops, and master classes.  The weekend will include an intimate and informal evening with the talented members of Taylor 's ensemble on August 27, two evenings of concerts by Taylor and his band, with special guest artists Sheryl Crow and Yo-Yo Ma on August 28 and 29, and a collaboration between Taylor and the Boston Pops with conductor John Williams on August 30.  Three of the four James Taylor concerts, August 27, 28, and 29, are completely sold out, with only lawn tickets available for the August 30 program. 
 
Diana Krall and Tony Bennett

Tanglewood swings big time this summer as two-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/pianist Diana Krall lends her smooth contralto and sophisticated jazz/pop interpretations to Tanglewood's special Fourth of July celebration, and the legendary Tony Bennett, hailed as an "international treasure" and consummate entertainer, makes a rare festival appearance with his band (July 21).

Festival of Contemporary Music August 7 to 11

      For the 2009 Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood, August 7-11, American composer Augusta Read Thomas has curated a series of programs to showcase the depth and variety of the music of our time. The five-day Festival presents seven concerts featuring the music of 38 different composers from around the world, from revered masters to some of today's most talented young musicians. 
  
      Thomas, a former Tanglewood Music Center Fellow and one of this country's most accomplished and poetic composers, is also one of contemporary music's most impassioned and informed advocates. She listened to more than 1500 works before creating the 2009 Festival's programming, guided by the goal to assemble an eclectic selection of works reflecting the best of a broad spectrum of contemporary music. The programs will feature performances by the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and notable guest artists, including conductor Stefan Asbury, soprano Lucy Shelton, and pianist  Nicolas Hodges.
     
      Festival highlights include the world premiere of a new chamber piece by American composer Elliott Carter, whose 100th birthday was celebrated last summer in an unprecedented Festival of Contemporary Music devoted solely to his music. In addition, the 2009 FCM presents world premiere TMC commissions by three dynamic composers in their 20s: 2008 TMC Fellow Helen Grime; 2009 TMC Fellow Cynthia Lee Wong; and Chicago-based Jacob Bancks.
     
      The 2009 Festival of Contemporary Music will also feature two panel discussions.  One will focus on the emerging composers featured in the festival.  The other, moderated by Richard Dyer, is titled "Curating the Present" and explores how unfamiliar new works in a variety of art forms are appraised and placed in context. Further details about these two panel discussions will be announced at a later date.
     
      The 2009 FCM begins on August 7, at 2:30 p.m. with a chamber music concert featuring the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows under the direction of Tanglewood Music Center faculty member Stefan Asbury and TMC conducting fellows in performances of works by Christopher Rouse and David Lang ( U.S. ), Matthias Pintscher ( Germany ), Pierre Boulez (France), Beat Furrer ( Austria ), and Oliver Knussen ( U.K. ). The concert also features the world premiere of a new Tanglewood Music Center commission by Juilliard graduate Cynthia Lee Wong ( U.S. ), an International Zemlinsky Composition Competition prizewinner and 2009 TMC Fellow.

      On August 8, at 2:30 p.m., Asbury and the conducting Fellows again lead the TMC Fellows in a concert of works by John Corigliano, David Rakowski, and Judd Greenstein ( U.S. ), George Benjamin ( U.K. ), Zoltán Jeney ( Hungary ), and Unsuk Chin (Korea/Germany). A TMC commission by the young Scottish composer/oboist Helen Grime, a 2008 TMC Fellow, will be given its world premiere.

      On August 9, at 10:30 a.m., the TMC Fellows offer a chamber music concert of works by Paula  Matthusen, Aaron Travers, Aaron Kernis, and Yehudi Wyner ( U.S. ), Robin De Raaff ( Netherlands ), Tania León (Cuba/U.S.), and Pascal Dusapin and Philippe Manoury ( France ). In the evening at 8 p.m., acclaimed American soprano and TMC faculty member Lucy Shelton and BSO clarinetist Tom Martin perform a world premiere of "Poems of Louis Zukofsky" by Elliott Carter, and TMC Fellows perform a world premiere of a work by Chicago-based composer Jacob Bancks.  Both works are TMC commissions. The program also includes works by Bent Sorenson ( Denmark ), Mario Davidovsky (Argentina/U.S.), Ivan Fedele ( Italy ), and Tansy Davies ( U.K. ).

      The Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of BSO Assistant Conductor Julian Kuerti, will participate in the 2009 Festival of Contemporary Music with a performance of George Perle's Sinfonietta No. 2, on Sunday, August 9, at 2:30 p.m. (The program will also include Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 and Faure's Elegie, for cello and orchestra, featuring cellist Yo-Yo MA, and Bizet's Symphony in C.)

      Stefan Asbury and conducting Fellows lead the Tanglewood Music Center  Orchestra in a wide-ranging program on August 10, at 8 p.m. featuring the music of Julian Anderson ( U.K. ), Wolfgang Rihm ( Germany ), John Zorn and Peter Lieberson ( U.S. ), and Enrico Chapela ( Mexico ).
     
      The annual Fromm Concert at Tanglewood, which closes the 2009 Festival, is a recital August 11, at 8 p.m. by acclaimed British pianist Nicolas Hodges. The program features the U.S. premieres of Pierre Boulez's une page d'éphéméride, Hans Thomalla's Piano Counterpart, and Michael Finnissy's Mit Arnold Schoenberg. The program also includes Frederic Rzewski's Nanosonatas – Book I, Boulez's Incises, and Henri Dutilleux's Trois Preludes.
 
Ticket Information

      Tickets for the 2009 Festival of Contemporary Music are priced at $11, with the exception of the August 9, Boston Symphony Orchestra concert, which is priced $19-$99.  Tickets may be purchased online through www.tanglewood.org or by calling SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200.  There is a service charge for each ticket purchased online or by phone.  Tickets are also available in person through the Symphony Hall box office, at 301 Massachusetts Avenue , in Boston , MA
     
      Tanglewood is on the internet at www.tanglewood.org.   For further information, call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492.   All programs and artists are subject to change.
 
FCM Background

            In 1956, Paul Fromm – a German-born wine importer from Chicago and one of this century's most significant patrons of music – offered to underwrite two contemporary music concerts at Tanglewood.  Starting the next summer, the Fromm Foundation provided several fellowships each year specifically for performers who would play new music and work with the composers-in-residence on the preparation of new works.  In 1964, the Tanglewood Music Center expanded its focus on new music under the leadership of then-BSO Music Director Erich Leinsdorf. Every TMC participant performed in concerts of contemporary music – often with the composer present to coach and discuss the performance. In addition, the TMC new music activities were combined for the first time into a single week of intense concert activity.  Most of the concerts were given by the TMC Fellows in varying combinations, ranging from small chamber ensembles to full orchestra.  The veritable festival within a festival – now officially known as the Festival of Contemporary Music – has remained a Tanglewood fixture ever since.

            For nearly 30 years, the Festival of Contemporary Music was commonly called the Fromm Festival in reference to the support of the late Paul Fromm, who founded the Harvard University-based Fromm Music Foundation in 1954.  In 1992, the Foundation instituted an annual Paul Fromm Concert in cooperation with the Tanglewood Music Center , which enables a performance and residency by a visiting soloist or ensemble, or allows the TMC to bring guest artists to Tanglewood to participate with Fellows in a special performance. The 2009 guest artist for the Fromm Concert at Tanglewood is acclaimed British pianist Nicolas Hodges.
 
Tanglewood Jazz Festival

Highlighting this year's jam-packed Tanglewood Jazz Festival (September 4-6) are Paquito d'Rivera, Regina Carter, Nnenna Freelon, Kenny Barron, Mulgrew Miller, John Pizzarelli, Dave Holland, Jon Faddis, and Harolyn Blackwell.  
 
Tanglewood Wine and Food Classic

Tanglewood's seventh annual Food and Wine Classic will take place August 6-8. Festivities include a wine auction and dinner, winemaker reception, and the Grand Tasting on August 8, from 12-4 p.m.  Further details about the Food and Wine Classic will be announced at a later date. 
 
BACKSTAGE PASS FOR "TANGLEWOOD IMMERSION WEEKENDS" AND " ONE DAY UNIVERSITY AT TANGLEWOOD"

 The "Tanglewood Backstage Pass Weekends" July 24-26 and July 31-Aug 2 offer musiclovers an unprecedented backstage pass to experience life behind-the-scenes at Tanglewood. This first-time-ever immersive program affords a memorable insider experience, from private picnics and receptions with BSO musicians to classes, discussions, private and public concerts, and the opportunity to explore Tanglewood's every nook and cranny. Top-quality accommodations to suit every budget are also included. The package includes one concert per day, four meals, and a variety of backstage and workshop activities, as well as two nights hotel and a Tanglewood parking pass. The cost for each of the "Tanglewood Immersion Weekends" ranges from $500 to $882 per person, based on double occupancy. 
 
On Sunday, August 23, One Day University , the acclaimed adult education program, will present three lectures in Ozawa Hall by award-winning professors from Harvard and Yale. Professor Paul Bloom of Yale presents "You Call That Art? Understanding Why We Like What We Like," Harvard University's Shawn Achor explores "Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness," and Harvard Professor of Music Thomas Kelly offers "Beethoven's Ninth – The Story of a Masterpiece." The day concludes with the BSO's final Tanglewood performance of the year: Ives' Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day for chorus and orchestra, followed by Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The cost for the full day's events is $299, which includes all professor presentations, continental breakfast, lunch in the Hawthorne Tent, one section 17-20 Shed ticket, VIP parking, and a 10% discount in the Tanglewood Glass Houses for all registrants. Tickets for One Day University are available only through One Day U at 800-663-3298 or visiting www.onedayu.com/tanglewood.   
 
 
Kid and Family Activities

The Boston Symphony has expanded its free lawn ticket program now to include young people age 17 and under; in the past the age cap was 12. On Sundays at noon and during Saturday morning open rehearsals, the Kids' Corner offers musical and craft-related projects that are supervised and supported by BSO staff. The Sunday Watch and Play program is an interactive educational program designed to engage children in the musical program featured on the program that day. The program will be offered on the following Sundays: July 12 and 26; August 9 and 23, at 1 p.m. in the Chamber Music Hall . These two programs are free to all patrons with tickets to the respective performance. Tanglewood is also pleased to offer a 50% discount on lawn tickets for all BSO Friday-evening concerts for students 18 and over.  
 
In addition to free parking, the BSO offers bus service from Boston to Tanglewood for Friday- and Saturday-night concers for $35 round trip. Meals-to-Go may be ordered in advance online at tanglewood.org or by phone at 413-637-5240. The Tanglewood Café and Tanglewood Grille are also available for lunch and snack items featuring grilled foods and specialty sandwiches, soups, and salads. Lawn chairs are available for $4 at the Grille at the Main Gate entrance for Shed concerts and at the Bernstein Gate for Ozawa Hall concerts. An on-site ATM is located at the Tanglewood Main Gate. Guests who sit on the lawn will again enjoy the convenience of large video screens on Friday and Saturday nights. The Tanglewood Association of Volunteers offers free hour-long walking tours of the grounds and performance spaces and a series of panel discussions called "This Week at Tanglewood."  
 
Ticket Information

Tickets for Tanglewood events and the Backstage Pass Weekends may be purchased online through the Boston Symphony Orchestra's website at www.tanglewood.org or by calling SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200. There is a service charge for each ticket purchased online or by phone. Tickets are also available in person through the Symphony Hall box office, at 301 Massachusetts Avenue , in Boston , MA .  The Tanglewood Box Office at Tanglewood's Main Gate on West Street in Lenox, Mass., will open to the public on Friday, June 19 at 10 a.m. Tickets for One Day University are available only through One Day U at 800-663-3298 or by visiting www.onedayu.com/tanglewood.