The 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music
Tanglewood August 12-16
By: Ariel Petrova - Jul 21, 2010
The 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music, August 12-16, will be the culmination of a season-long celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s renowned summer music academy for young professional musicians, with performances of works by the TMC’s distinguished composition faculty over the course of its history. This year’s FCM has been curated by Gunther Schuller (TMC faculty member 63-65; Head of School 66-84, 92), Oliver Knussen (TMC faculty member 80 and 81; Composition Program Director 86-91 and 93, 94-96, 01; Fellow 70, 71, and 73), and John Harbison (TMC faculty member 80, 84, 90, 92, 94, 01, 05; Composition Program Director 06-10)—three of Aaron Copland’s successors as directors of composition activities at Tanglewood. In addition, the theme of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music—presenting works of prominent Tanglewood Music Center faculty members past and present—will extend throughout the summer in TMC chamber, vocal, and orchestra programs.
Since the founding of the music center in 1940, Tanglewood has witnessed the creation and first performances of a great number of masterpieces, including Schuller’s Tre invenzioni, Maderna’s Giardino religioso, and Berio’s circles, as well Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3, which was partly written at Tanglewood. These compositions, along with other important works that were first premiered at Tanglewood, will be featured in the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music.
OVERVIEW OF 2010 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC, AUGUST 12-16
In addition to featuring works by the three directors, the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music includes works by many of the most respected figures of the 20th and early 21st centuries – Aaron Copland, Paul Hindemith, Luciano Berio, Jacob Druckman, Lukas Foss, Olivier Messiaen, George Perle, Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, Michael Gandolfi, Osvaldo Golijov, Bright Sheng, and Charles Wuorinen, among many others. The younger generation is represented by Helen Grime and Andrew McPherson, recent alumni of the composition program.
A highlight of FCM 2010 is the annual Fromm Concert at Tanglewood, with concert performances of John Harbison’s opera A Full Moon in March and Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are, both conducted by Stefan Asbury on August 15. The Festival will conclude with a program featuring the U.S. premieres of Elliott Carter’s What are Years and Colin Matthews’s Turning Point, Jacob Druckman’s Aureole, and Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. on August 16, with Robert Spano conducting the TMC Orchestra. The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s contributions to this year’s festival include FCM co-director Gunther Schuller’s Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee, under the direction of Robert Spano, on Sunday, August 15, in the Shed, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel for cello and orchestra, with Alisa Weilerstein as soloist, under the direction of Miguel Harth-Bedoya, on August 13. All Festival programs, with the exception of the Boston Symphony concerts on August 13 and August 15, will feature the fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center.
Founded in 1940 as the Berkshire Music Center, by legendary BSO music director Serge Koussevitzky (1924-1949), the Tanglewood Music Center was created by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to provide young musicians with a premier academy for advanced music study using the vast resources of the orchestra and visiting guest artists during its summer season at Tanglewood.
“The central role that TMC founder Serge Koussevitzky envisioned for composers and new music at the Tanglewood Music Center is reflected in his appointment of Aaron Copland as the school’s first director, a role he held for 25 years,” said Ellen Highstein, Director of the TMC. “The eminent composers who served on the faculty over the Center’s 70-year history have left us an extraordinary body of work – many of which received their world premieres at Tanglewood, and many that are now considered masterpieces of the 20th century. This summer’s retrospective of legendary composers associated with the TMC gives us a wonderful opportunity to expose our students to works they might not otherwise have the opportunity to study and perform.”
OVERVIEW OF ADDITIONAL TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER PROGRAMS TO FEATURE PROMINENT TMC COMPOSERS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT
The theme of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music extends throughout the Tanglewood Music Center’s entire summer season. Tanglewood Music Center, vocal, chamber music, and orchestral programs throughout the season will include works by such distinguished former TMC faculty members as Henri Dutilleux, Toru Takemitsu, Samuel Barber, Bernard Rands, Luigi Dallapiccola, Leon Kirchner, David Del Tredici, George Benjamin, Peter Lieberson, Gyorgy Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Augusta Read Thomas, Ralph Shapey, Donald Martino and Mario Davidovsky. Performance information about these works, including details about concert dates, times, and locations, appears at the end of the press release.
Of the composers being featured throughout the Festival of Contemporary Music and the Tanglewood Music Center season, many have been former TMC Fellows, including William Bolcom (1966), Jacob Druckman (1949, ‘50), Lukas Foss (1940, ’41, ‘42), Michael Gandolfi (1986), Osvaldo Golijov (1990), Helen Grime (2008), John Harbison (1959), Oliver Knussen (1970 ‘71, ’73), Steven Mackey (1984), Andrew McPherson (2007), Bright Sheng (1985), and Augusta Read Thomas (1989).
2010 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC CONCERT PROGRAMMING, FEATURING FELLOWS OF THE TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
Program I, Thursday, August 12, 8 p.m., Ozawa Hall
The first program of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary of Music will feature performances by large ensembles of Tanglewood Music Center Fellows under the direction of Oliver Knussen (TMC faculty member 80, 81; Program Director 86-91 and 93, 94-96, 01; Fellow 70, 71, and 73) and Fellows of the TMC conducting program. The program will include George Perle’s (TMC faculty member 67, 80, 85-88, 90, 92-97) Concertino, Theodore Antoniou’s (TMC faculty member 74-77, 79-85; Fellow 69) Concertino for Contrabass and Orchestra, with BSO principal bass Ed Barker as soloist, Gunther Schuller’s (TMC faculty member 63-65; Head of School from 66-84, 92) Tre Invenzioni, and Bruno Maderna’s (TMC faculty member 71; Program Director in 72) Giardino religioso. The program will close with Paul Hindemith’s (Head of Composition Program 40-41) Kammermusik No. 2 for piano and ensemble.
Program 2, Friday, August 13, 2:30 p.m., Ozawa Hall
The Festival’s first chamber music concert includes Lukas Foss’ (TMC faculty member 52, 54, 56, 58, 59, 62-64, 71, 89, 90, 94; Fellow in 40-42) Echoi, performed by the New Fromm Players, Milton Babbitt’s (TMC faculty 57, 58, 76, 06, 07) Du, Charles Wuorinen’s (TMC faculty member 70, 71, 01) Fifty Fifty, Roger Sessions’ (Program Director 55, 66, 67, 77) Five Pieces for Piano, and Hans Werner Henze’s (TMC faculty member 83, 88) Being Beauteous for voice, harp, and four cellos.
At 8:30 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Miguel Harth-Bedoya, will perform Osvaldo Golijov’s (TMC faculty member 1997-2004; Fellow in 1990) Mariel for cello and orchestra, featuring Alisa Weilerstein in the solo cello part. The program, entitled Caminos del Inka: A Musical Journey focuses on the Inca empire with specially created videography by the renowned Peruvian photographer Fabiana van Lente.
Program 3, Saturday, August 14, 2:30 p.m., Ozawa Hall
John Harbison (TMC faculty member 80, 84, 90, 92, 94, 01, 05, Program Director 06-10) will lead TMC Fellows in a program including selections from Andrew McPherson’s (Fellow in 07) Secrets of Antikythera for piano, Steven Mackey’s (TMC faculty member 92, 98, 02, 04-06; Fellow in 84) Gaggle and Flock, the U.S. premiere of Betsy Jolas’s (TMC faculty member 76, 77, 06) Quatuor VI “avec clarinette”, Bright Sheng’s (TMC faculty member 97, 01, 02, 04, 05; Fellow 85) Fantasies for Violin and Piano, and Yehudi Wyner’s (TMC composition faculty member 79, 80, 82-85, 95) Passage.
Program 4, Sunday, August 15, 10 a.m., Ozawa Hall
The program will feature Irving Fine’s (TMC faculty member 48-51, 53, 56, 57) Fantasia for String Trio, Luciano Berio’s (TMC faculty member 60, 69; Program Director 82; Fellow 52) circles, Michael Gandolfi’s (TMC faculty member 90, 97-01; Program Coordinator 02-10; Fellow 86) Design School, the U.S. premiere of Helen Grime’s (TMC Fellow 08) Ten Miniatures for solo piano, Olivier Messiaen’s (TMC faculty member 49, 75) Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes, and Alexander Goehr’s (TMC faculty member 69, 87, 93) Since Brass, nor Stone.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Robert Spano will perform Gunther Schuller’s Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee as part of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music. The program will also feature Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Piano Concerto (the latter with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist), and Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs for clarinet and jazz ensemble, featuring BSO clarinetist Thomas Martin.
PROGRAM 5, Sunday, August 15, 8 p.m., Ozawa Hall, Fromm Concert
Led by conductor Stefan Asbury, this year’s Fromm Concert presents concert performances of two short operas: John Harbison’s Full Moon in March and Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are.
PROGRAM 6, Monday, August 16, 8 p.m., Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Robert Spano will lead Aaron Copland’s (Head of school 40-61 and 63-65) Symphony No. 3, on a program with Jacob Druckman’s (TMC faculty member 72, 74, 77, 78, 91, 92; Fellow 49 and 50) Aureole and Colin Matthews’s (TMC faculty member 91, 96, 07, 09) Turning Point, a U.S. premiere. Oliver Knussen will conduct the U.S. premiere of Elliott Carter’s What Are Years, a co-commission of the Tanglewood Music Center, on that same program.
The 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music is made possible by grants from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Fromm Music Foundation, the National endowment for the Arts, and the Helen F. Whitaker Fund, and by the generous support of Dr. Raymond and Hannah H. Schneider.
HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
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.
TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER, BSO’S SUMMER MUSIC ACADEMY
Since its start as the Berkshire Music Center in 1940, the Tanglewood Music Center has been closely tied to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, its players, and its music directors. Serge Koussevitzky, who headed the BSO from 1924 to 1949, founded the school with the aim of creating a premier music academy where young instrumentalists, vocalists, conductors, and composers could sharpen their skills under the tutelage of Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians and other world-class artists, with the resources of a great symphony at their disposal.
To this end, he also enlisted some of the day’s most important composer-teachers as faculty members, a tradition distinguished by the presence of TMC faculty such as Aaron Copland, who was head of faculty for 25 years, and Paul Hindemith, who launched the composition program as its chairman in 1940-41. Koussevitzky helped develop that dream until 1950, a year after his retirement as BSO music director. Charles Munch, his successor in that position, took over the TMC from 1951 through 1962, working with Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland to shape the school’s programs.
In 1963, new BSO Music Director Erich Leinsdorf took over the school’s reins, returning to Koussevitzky’s hands-on leadership approach while restoring a renewed emphasis on contemporary music. In 1970, three years before his appointment as BSO Music Director, Seiji Ozawa became head of the BSO’s programs at Tanglewood, while Gunther Schuller was appointed to lead the TMC and Leonard Bernstein became general advisor. Leon Fleisher served as Artistic Director of the TMC from 1985 to 1997. In November 1997, Ellen Highstein became director of the TMC, a position she holds today. Since becoming BSO Music Director in 2004, James Levine has been significantly involved in the TMC’s summer activities, not only leading a concert opera performance and staged opera production with TMC fellows, but also working with them in classes devoted to orchestra repertoire, Lieder, and opera. |
In addition to Mr. Ozawa, prominent alumni of the TMC include Claudio Abbado, the late Luciano Berio, the late Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, Phyllis Curtin, David Del Tredici, Christoph von Dohnányi, the late Jacob Druckman, the late Lukas Foss, Michael Gandolfi, John Harbison, Oliver Knussen, Lorin Maazel, Wynton Marsalis, Zubin Mehta, Sherrill Milnes, Osvaldo Golijov, Leontyne Price, Ned Rorem, Bright Sheng, Sanford Sylvan, Cheryl Studer, Michael Tilson Thomas, Augusta Read Thomas, Dawn Upshaw, Shirley Verrett, and David Zinman.
The TMC Fellowship programs are aimed at experienced young musicians who have completed the majority of their formal training, with the sole criterion for admission being musical excellence. The program is open to instrumentalists, singers, pianists, composers, conductors, audio engineers, piano technicians, and orchestral librarians. This year, the TMC welcomes 157 Fellows, hailing from 21 different countries and over 30 different states. Among the nations represented are Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Peru, South Korea, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Admission to the TMC is highly competitive, with over 1,500 musicians competing for about 130 open positions (the remaining slots being filled by Fellows re-invited from the previous season). Those accepted into the program receive Fellowships that cover TMC tuition, room, and board.
All programs and artists are subject to change. For further information, call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492 or visit www.tanglewood.org. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is also on the Internet at www.bso.org.
FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music are priced at $11, with exception to the August 16, TMC orchestra concert, which is priced $33-51. Tickets for the August 13 and 15 Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts are priced $9-89. 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. The Tanglewood Box Office at Tanglewood’s Main Gate on West Street in Lenox, Mass., will open to the public on June 18 at 10 a.m.
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.
SPONSORSHIP
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation is proud to support Tanglewood and its education initiatives for Massachusetts students. Opening Night is sponsored by the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation. Commonwealth Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation enters its eighth year as the official chauffeured transportation of the BSO.
2010 Festival of Contemporary Music Programs
Thursday, August 12, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Oliver Knussen, conductor?
(Fellow in 1970, 71, & 73)
TMC Conducting Fellows
Edwin Barker, double bass? (Fellow in 1975)
ANTONIOU? (1974-77, 79-85, Fellow in 69) Concertino for
double bass and chamber orchestra
PERLE (1967, 80, 85-88, 90, 92-97) Concertino for piano,
winds, and timpani
SCHULLER (1963-65; Head of School 1966-84, 92)
Tre invenzioni
MADERNA (1971; Program Director in 1972)
Giardino religioso
HINDEMITH (Head of Composition Program 1940- 41)
Kammermusik No. 2
Friday, August 13, 2:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall
SESSIONS (Program Director 1955, 66, 67, 77)
Five Pieces for Piano
BABBITT (1957, 58, 76, 06, 07) Du
WOURINEN (1970, 71, 01) Fifty Fifty
FOSS? (1952, 54, 56, 58, 59, 62-64, 71, 89, 90, 94;
Fellow in 40-42) Echoi
HENZE (1983, 88) Being Beauteous
Friday, August 13, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Golijov’s Mariel, for cello and orchestra, is part of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor?
(Fellow in 1992)
Elizabeth Rowe, flute? (Fellow in 1996)
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Caminos del Inka: A Musical Journey
Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads a musical journey through the ancient Inca empire with specially created videography by the renowned Peruvian photographer Fabiana van Lente. The breathtaking images of Machu Picchu, floating island villages, and the expanses of the Peruvian plains are matched to stirring and evocative music, from the time of the Conquistadores to the sounds of the first new classical voices of 21st-century Latin America.
Program to include
ROBLES El cóndor pasa
FRANK Illapa, for flute and orchestra
GOLIJOV? (1997-2004, Fellow in 1990) Mariel, for cello and
orchestra
Saturday, August 14, 2:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall
MCPHERSON? (2007 TMC Fellow) Selections from
Secret of Antikythera
MACKEY? (92, 98, 02, 04-06; Fellow in 84) Gaggle and Flock
JOLAS (76, 77, 06) Quatuor VI (U.S. premiere)
SHENG? (97, 01, 02, 04, 05; Fellow in 85) Three Fantasies
for violin and piano
WYNER (1979, 80, 82-85, 95) Passage
Sunday, August 15, 10 a.m. Ozawa Hall
FINE (1948-51, 53, 56, 57) Fantasia for string trio
GOEHR (69, 87, 93) Since Brass, nor Stone…
BERIO (60, 69; Program Director 82; Fellow in 52) circles
GRIME? (2008 TMC Fellow) Ten Miniatures (U.S. premiere)
GANDOLFI? (90, 97-01; Program Coordinator 02-10;
Fellow in 86) Design School
MESSIAEN (49, 75) Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes
Sunday, August 15, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Schuller’s Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee is part of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Thomas Martin, clarinet
GERSHWIN An American in Paris
SCHULLER Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
BERNSTEIN? (1940-42 TMC Fellow) Prelude, Fugue, and
Riffs, for clarinet and jazz ensemble
GERSHWIN Piano Concerto
Sunday, August 15, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
The Fromm Concert at Tanglewood
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows and Orchestra
Stefan Asbury, conductor? (1980 TMC Fellow)
HARBISON? Full Moon in March
KNUSSEN? (80, 81; Program Director 86-91 and 93, 94-96,
01; Fellow 70, 71, 73) Where the Wild Things Are
Concert performances, presented as part of the 2010 Festival of Contemporary Music
Monday, August 16, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows
CARTER (1965, 67, 72, 86, 88, 90, 98, 06, 08) What Are Years (US premiere)
DRUCKMAN? (1972, 74, 77, 78, 91, 92; Fellow in 49, 50)
Aureole
MATTHEWS (1991, 96, 07, 09) Turning Point (US Premiere)
COPLAND (1940-61, 63-65) Symphony No. 3
2010 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC THEME EXTENDED THROUGH OUT THE SEASON
Saturday, July 24, 6 p.m., Ozawa Hall
TMC Prelude Concert
BENJAMIN (1999, 00, 03, 05) Sortilèges
HINDEMITH Kleine Kammermusik
Sunday, July 25, 10 a.m., Ozawa Hall
TMC Chamber Concert
LIEBERSON (1988) String Quartet
LIGETI (1973) wind quintet TBA
Wednesday, July 28, 8 p.m., Ozawa Hall
TMC Vocal Recital
BERIO (1960, 69, 82) Quattro canzoni popolari
Saturday, July 31, 6 p.m. in Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
HARBISON (1980, 84, 90, 92, 94, 01, 05, 06-10)
Quintet for Winds
BARBER Dover Beach
Sunday, August 1, 10 a.m., Ozawa Hall
TMC Chamber Concert
BARBER Summer Music
THOMAS (1997, 02-10, TMC fellow 89)
Traces
Tuesday, August 3, 4 p.m., Ozawa Hall
Tanglewood On Parade:
TMC Chamber Concert
BOLCOM (1989, 90, 96, 07, TMC fellow 66)
Fairy Tales
Tuesday, August 3, 8:30 p.m., Shed
Tanglewood on Parade:
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
WILLIAMS (1997-2010) Selections from
Seven for Luck
Saturday, August 7, 6 p.m., Ozawa Hall
TMC Prelude Concert
SHAPEY (1979, 91) Duo Variations
Sunday, August 8, 10 a.m., Ozawa Hall
TMC Chamber Concert
MARTINO (1965-66, 69, 73, 90) Strata
DAVIDOVSKY (1968, 91, 94) Synchronisms No. 1