Tanglewood Program 2019

Preseason Starts June 15

By: BSO - Nov 15, 2018

 

The 2019 Tanglewood season, June 15 through Labor Day weekend, will be a summer of major events and game-changing milestones, alongside the kind of musical offerings that have been at the heart of the festival’s storied history of presenting concerts since 1937. One of the premier summer music festivals in the world and summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937, Tanglewood is located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills, between Stockbridge and Lenox, Massachusetts. Tickets for the 2019 Tanglewood season go on sale on February 10 at www.tanglewood.org and 888-266-1200. 

Brief Overview of 2019 Tanglewood Season
The 2019 Tanglewood season will see Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons in residence throughout the month of July, leading 14 programs, including a first for Tanglewood—a concert performance of Wagner’s complete Die Walküre with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and a star-studded cast, presented in three concerts over a two-day period, July 27 & 28.  Tanglewood will also be the setting for the BSO’s Nelsons-led world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light, a work for voices and orchestra inspired by letters between Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz; it was written especially for Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry, who will be the featured soloists. Ms. Fleming, a favorite guest artist at Tanglewood since her BSO debut there in 1991, has been named the Koussevitzky Artist for the 2019 Tanglewood season. The BSO and Andris Nelsons open the orchestra’s summer season on Friday, July 5, with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22, with Emanuel Ax as soloist—the first of twenty BSO programs taking place throughout July and August. 

Marking a major milestone in the history and life of Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the 2019 Tanglewood season will see the launch of the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI)—offering participants new levels of wide-ranging enrichment and education initiatives, and the opening of a major new four-building Center for Music and Learning—home to the TLI’s summer programming and supporting the activities of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s acclaimed summer music academy since 1940. These new buildings will be Tanglewood’s first year-round facilities available for event and concert use by the BSO, Berkshire community, and beyond, starting in fall 2019. Complete details about the launch of the Tanglewood Learning Institute and opening of the Tanglewood Center for Music and Learning will be announced on February 7, 2019. 

These major events and milestones take place during a season that also honors Tanglewood’s cherished  musical traditions, among them concerts by the one and only Boston Pops, including the annual John Williams’ Film Night; a series of chamber music and recital programs in the acoustically acclaimed Ozawa Hall, celebrating its 25th anniversary season in 2019; frequent performances by the talented Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center; and a Popular Artist series, including two appearances by one of the festival’s most beloved singers, James Taylor, on July 3 and 4. The BSO’s musical leadership, Andris Nelsons, Keith Lockhart, and John Williams, are joined by an extraordinary roster of guest artists, including beloved familiar faces—Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax,  and Joshua Bell; other favorite performers—Yefim Bronfman, Christine Goerke, Hilary Hahn, Paul Lewis, Ryan Speedo Green, Thomas Hampson, Leonidas Kavakos, Ken-David Masur, Anne-Sophie Mutter,  Kristine Opolais, Morris Robinson, Gil Shaham, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet; and exciting debuts—Inon Barnatan, J’Nai Bridges, Yu-An Chang, MILOŠ, Simon O’Neill, and François-Xavier Roth, who make their first appearances at the storied music festival. The 2019 Festival of Contemporary Music, under the direction of BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès, August 8-12, boasts a tremendous array of works by composers of our time and recent history, with nine American premieres, including works by Richard Ahers, Gerald Barry, Erica Fox, György Kurtág, Hilda Paredes, Poul Ruders, and Nathan Shields, as well as a TMC-commissioned world premiere from Andrew Hamilton; there will also be a special concert dedicated to the piano works of the late Oliver Knussen. 

Musical highlights of the season also include Copland’s Symphony No. 3, Debussy’s La Mer, Dvo?ák’s New World Symphony, Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Betsy Jolas’ A Little Summer Suite, Ravel’s La Valse and Daphnis and Chloé (complete), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 2, Strauss’s “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome, Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1, and an Andris Nelsons-led Verdi Requiem, as well as works by Brahms, Gershwin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Stravinsky, among many other favorite composers.  The traditional season-ending finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with a cast of acclaimed soloists and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor, will be led by Giancarlo Guerrero; the program will open with Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erde (Peace on Earth) for unaccompanied chorus.  In another major highlight of the 2019 season, Yo-Yo Ma, who will be featured in three concerts during the 2019 Tanglewood season, will make a special solo appearance in the Shed, performing Bach’s Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites as part of his own two-year The Bach Project, in which Mr. Ma will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s six suites for solo cello in 36 locations on six continents.  Opening the 2019 season on June 15, American Public Media’s popular Live from Here, with host, vocalist and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, will broadcast from Tanglewood for the second consecutive year.  Additional Popular Artist concerts will be announced in the New Year.

In addition to the programs of the 2019 Festival of Contemporary Music and the new Kevin Puts work, new pieces to be performed during the season include two world premieres—The Lost Words, for children’s choir and orchestra, by BSO Choral Director James Burton, featuring the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir; and André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope, for soprano, string quartet, and soprano, with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet—as well as the American premiere of Avner Dorman’s Double Concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra, with Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth. The performance of Penelope, along with André Previn’s Violin Concerto, Anne-Sophie, written for and featuring Ms. Mutter, will take place in celebration of Sir André Previn’s 90th birthday year.

Beyond the schedule of performances, Tanglewood continues to offer a wide variety of discounted ticket options, among them $20 tickets for attendees under 40 and free lawn tickets to young people age 17 and under—two of the festival’s most popular ticket offerings—as well as a variety of special programs for families and children, including Kids’ Corner, Watch and Play, the annual Family Concert, which will feature the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Wilkins on July 27, and Summer Sundays, an afternoon of entertaining and educational activities planned around the weekly Sunday-afternoon BSO concerts. Tickets for the 2019 season—regular-season ticket prices range from $12-$130—go on sale to the public on Sunday, February 10 at www.tanglewood.org and 888-266-1200. Visit www.tanglewood.org for complete information about concert programming, ticket purchasing, and the many family- and children-centric programs Tanglewood offers each summer.

ANDRIS NELSONS’ JULY 2019 SUMMER RESIDENCY LEADING 14 ORCHESTRA PROGRAMS

A First for Tanglewood—a Concert Performance of Wagner’s Complete Die Walküre
In one of the biggest undertakings in Tanglewood’s 82-year history, Andris Nelsons, the Ray and Maria Stata BSO Music Director, will lead a complete concert performance of Wagner’s Die Walküre, with a cast of superb soloists including Amber Wagner (Sieglinde), Christine Goerke (Brünnhilde), Simon O’Neill (Siegmund), James Rutherford (Wotan), and Ain Anger (Hunding), performing the work with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra over the course of two days and three performances:  Saturday, July 27, at 8 p.m. (Act I) and Sunday, July 28, at 2:30 p.m. (Act II) and 6:30 p.m. (Act III). On July 20, Mr. Nelsons will lead another major event of the summer—the world premiere performance of Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light, inspired by letters of iconic American artist Georgia O’Keeffe and her husband, the photographer and curator Alfred Stieglitz.  This new work, written especially for Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry, will feature the two singers in a Boston Symphony performance also using projections by video artist Wendell Harrington.

Another greatly anticipated event of the 2019 Tanglewood season will be an Andris Nelsons-led BSO performance of the Verdi Requiem on July 13 with soprano Kristine Opolais, mezzo-soprano Oksana Volkova, tenor Jonathan Tetelman, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, along with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor. 

Soloists Appearing with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in its Opening Night concert of the season on Friday, July 5, with Tanglewood favorite Emanuel Ax performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22, on a program with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.  The following evening, Saturday, July 6, Andris Nelsons leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a program opening with Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1, followed by the BSO’s first Tanglewood performance of André Previn’s Violin Concerto, Anne-Sophie, featuring the dedicatee of the work, Anne-Sophie Mutter, as soloist; this program ends with Dvo?ák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.  BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs and English horn player Robert Sheena join Mr. Nelsons and the orchestra for the opening work on the July 12 program, Copland’s Quiet City, followed by a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Jan Lisiecki in his Tanglewood debut and ending with Copland’s Symphony No. 3. Andris Nelsons’ close collaborator Håkan Hardenberger will be the featured soloist in HK Gruber’s Aerial, Concerto for trumpet and orchestra, in a July 14 program with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Strauss’s “Dance of the Seven Veils” from Salome.

A July 19 BSO program of Debussy’s La Mer and Ravel’s La Valse opens with Betsy Jolas’ A Little Summer Suite; the program also features Gautier Capuçon in Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1.   On Sunday, July 21, Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the featured soloist for two works by Gershwin—Piano Concerto in F and Variations on “I Got Rhythm,” for piano and orchestra; Mr. Nelsons leads the BSO in a performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushka to complete the program. Mr. Nelsons opens the July 26 program with a performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 2, continuing the orchestra’s Grammy Award-winning cycle of Shostakovich’s symphonies on Deutsche Grammophon, and closes the program with Ravel’s complete Daphnis and Chloé, featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor; in between these two works, Paul Lewis takes center stage to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414.   

Andris Nelsons leads Tanglewood on Parade and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
The 2019 Tanglewood on Parade concert on July 23 will be led by the BSO’s active conductor roster including BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams, BSO Youth and Family Concerts Conductor Thomas Wilkins, and Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky BSO Choral Director and Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus James Burton. This year’s annual extravaganza features the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras in a program to include “The Ride of the Valkyries”  from Die Walküre; the world premiere of a new work, The Lost Words, for children’s choir and orchestra, by TFC Conductor James Burton, featuring the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir in their only 2019 Tanglewood appearance; and the traditional program finale—Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, followed by a spectacular fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl. Mr. Nelsons will also lead the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in a July 8 program at Ozawa Hall including Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1 and the TMC-commissioned world premiere of Detlef Glanert’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, featuring BSO principal trumpet Thomas Rolfs; Tchaikovsky’s fantasy-overture Hamlet and an additional work led by TMC Conducting Fellows will complete the program.

THREE BOSTON POPS CONCERTS CELEBRATE THE ART OF JOHN WILLIAMS
The Boston Pops performs at Tanglewood several times throughout the 2019 Tanglewood season, including three programs celebrating the art of Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams. The first of these programs takes place on Sunday, July 7, with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and guest conductor David Newman featured in a program entitled “Across the Stars: Music of John Williams,” inspired by Ms. Mutter’s recent recording of the same name. The program will showcase the violinist in music from Mr. Williams’ iconic scores in brilliant new arrangements created especially for her, including such familiar themes as Star Wars and Memoirs of a Geisha, as well as the haunting melodies of Schindler’s List. On Friday, August 16, Tanglewood presents Star Wars: A New Hope,a showing of the classic 1977 film, with the Boston Pops Orchestra performing Mr. Williams’ iconic score, under the direction of Keith Lockhart, the Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor. Long established as one of Tanglewood’s most anticipated and beloved evenings, John Williams’ Film Night returns on Saturday, August 24, with George and Roberta Berry Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams introducing the festive evening, which features the Boston Pops and conductor David Newman performing a program celebrating the music of Hollywood and more.

ONE-NIGHT-ONLY PERFORMANCE OF BACH CELLO SUITES BY YO-YO MA IN THE SHED
On Sunday, August 11, at 7:30 p.m., in a special, evening Shed concert, Yo-Yo Ma performs J.S. Bach’s six Suites for unaccompanied cello, music that has given him, in his own words, “sustenance, comfort, and joy during times of stress, celebration, and loss.” Following upon the release of his third and final recording of this music, the concert is part of his two-year global initiative, “The Bach Project,” encompassing performances he will give of the Bach suites across six continents, coupled with what he calls “days of action,” seeking “to put culture in action by bringing people and organizations together to address pressing social issues” and “invite all of us to think differently about the role of culture in society.”

GUEST CONDUCTORS:  NEW AND FAMILIAR FACES ON THE BSO PODIUM
Concerts Led by BSO Family Members: Thomas Adès, Yu-An Chang, Ken-David Masur, and Thomas Wilkins
In addition to Andris Nelsons’ performances with the BSO throughout July, the 2019 Tanglewood season features an array of guest conductors and soloists during the final four weeks of the BSO’s summer season, including programs led by four members of the BSO family. On Sunday, August 11, BSO Deborah and Philip Edmundson Artistic Partner Thomas Adès leads the orchestra in a program including Ives’ Three Places in New England and two works by Beethoven: his Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, and Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring pianist Inon Barnatan in his BSO and Tanglewood debuts. On Friday, August 2, violinist Joshua Bell marks his 30th anniversary performing at Tanglewood (having first performed with the BSO at Tanglewood on July 22, 1989, returning to perform at Tanglewood every summer since), joining BSO Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur and the orchestra for Dvo?ák’s Violin Concerto, on a program with Martin?’s Memorial to Lidice and Dvo?ák’s Symphony No. 8. BSO Assistant Conductor Yu-An Chang makes his BSO debut on Friday, August 23, leading Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Schubert’s Symphony No. 2, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G, featuring Ingrid Fliter. On Saturday, July 27, at 10 a.m., Thomas Wilkins, the BSO’s Germeshausen Youth & Family Concerts Conductor, leads the Boston Symphony in the annual Family Concert in Ozawa Hall.

BSO and Tanglewood Conductor Debuts: Rafael Payare and François-Xavier Roth
The 2019 Tanglewood season will also see the BSO and Tanglewood debut of Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, who leads the orchestra on Saturday, August 10, in Carreño’s Margaritena, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Nikolai Lugansky, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. François-Xavier Roth makes his Tanglewood debut conducting the BSO in two programs featuring music by Schumann and Brahms on August 17 and 18.  On Saturday, August 17, he is joined by pianist Kirill Gerstein for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on a program with Schumann’s Symphony No. 2.  On Sunday, August 18, Mr. Roth is joined by Yo-Yo Ma for Schumann’s Cello Concerto, on a program with Brahms’s Serenade No. 1 and Schumann’s Concert Piece for four horns and orchestra, featuring members of the BSO horn section.

Returning Guest Conductors Asher Fisch, Giancarlo Guerrero, Leonidas Kavakos, and Dima Slobodeniouk
Leonidas Kavakos joins the BSO as conductor and violinist on Friday, August 9, for a program including Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Dvo?ák’s Symphony No. 7. The 2019 Tanglewood season also sees the return on Saturday, August 3, of conductor Asher Fisch, who is joined by violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth for the American premiere Avner Dorman’s BSO-commissioned Double Concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra, written in celebration of Mr. Zukerman’s 70th birthday; the program also includes the overture to Schumann’s Genoveva, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, Scottish, and Beethoven’s Romance No. 1 in G for violin and orchestra, featuring Mr. Zukerman. Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins Russianconductor Dima Slobodeniouk and the BSO on Sunday, August 4, for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a program with Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1.

With vocal soloists Nicole Cabell, J’Nai Bridges, Nicholas Phan, and Morris Robinson and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, returning guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero leads the BSO in the orchestra’s traditional season-ending performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Sunday, August 25. The concert opens with Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erde (Peace on Earth) for unaccompanied chorus, also featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

ESTEEMED VOCALISTS, FREQUENT COLLABORATORS, FAVORITE PIANISTS, GUEST ORCHESTRAS TO BE FEATURED IN 25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON OF OZAWA HALL
Renée Fleming with the Emerson String Quartet and Thomas Hampson with the Beyond Liberty Players
The 2019 Ozawa Hall schedule, celebrating the 25th anniversary season of the highly acclaimed and award-winning Ozawa Hall, features performances by an especially wide-ranging variety of world-class vocalists, instrumentalists, chamber ensembles, and visiting orchestras.  On Wednesday, July 24, the Emerson String Quartet and 2019 Koussevitzky Artist Renée Fleming perform the BSO-commissioned world premiere of André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope, for soprano, string quartet, and piano, as part of the BSO’s celebration of Sir André’s 90th birthday; the program will also include works by Walker, Barber, and Richard Wernick. Thomas Hampson and the Beyond Liberty Players bring the American songbook to Ozawa Hall on Wednesday, July 31, for an evening entitled Song of America: Beyond Liberty, exploring the influential people and monumental events that helped create and define America.

Frequent Collaborators Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma
On Tuesday, August 6, frequent collaborators pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform an all-Beethoven program of trios for piano, violin, and cello in Ozawa Hall.  On Tuesday, August 13, Mr. Ax and Mr. Kavakos perform an all-Beethoven program including Violin Sonatas No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; No. 6 in A, Op. 30, No. 1, and No. 10 in G, Op. 96.

Pianists Yefim Bronfman, Paul Lewis, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet
On Tuesday, July 30, pianist Paul Lewis continues his multi-year survey of the music of Haydn, Brahms, and Beethoven, performing Haydn’s Sonatas 34 in E minor and 52 in E-flat; Brahms’s Three Intermezzi, Op. 117, and Beethoven’s Seven Bagatelles, Op. 33. Pianist Yefim Bronfman returns to Tanglewood on Wednesday, August 7, for an all-Beethoven program including Piano Sonatas 5, 6, 7, and 23 (Appassionata). On Wednesday, July 17, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs in Ozawa Hall with cellist Gautier Capuçon, performing Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73; Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38; Sibelius’ Malinconia, and Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40.

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, The Knights, and
Venice Baroque Orchestra
On Thursday, July 11, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, led by conductor and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon and featuring mandolin player Avi Avital, performs a program of works by Vivaldi, Albinoni, Corelli, and Barbella. Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano and the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America perform Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony and Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in Ozawa Hall on Thursday, August 1. The Knights, led by conductor Eric Jacobsen, return to Tanglewood on Thursday, August 15, performing a program of works by Hungarian composers Ligeti, Kurtág, and Kodály as well as Brahms’s Violin Concerto, featuring Gil Shaham, and four of Brahms’s Hungarian Dances as arranged by Paul Brantley. In one of only two U.S. engagements on the ensemble’s 2019 international tour, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, led by conductor Huichang Yan, closes out the Ozawa Hall schedule on Wednesday, August 21, with a program based on its repertoire of time-honored Chinese music and contemporary works, many composed especially for the orchestra by some of the leading composers of our time. With its roots in the musical heritage of its homeland, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra is a cultural phenomenon—an ensemble of more than 80 players, performing on traditional Chinese instruments placed in a Western orchestral configuration.

Hilary Hahn, Stefan Jackiw, MILOŠ, and Jeremy Denk with Hudson Shad
On Wednesday, July 10, violinist Hilary Hahn performs a solo all-Bach program including Sonatas No. 2 in A minor and No. 3 in C, and the Partita No. 3 in E. Award-winning classical guitarist MILOŠ makes his Tanglewood debut on Tuesday, July 16, with music of Bach, Granados, Albéniz, Villa-Lobos, Duplessy, and the Beatles. On Thursday, July 25, violinist Stefan Jackiw makes his Tanglewood debut in an all-Ives performance also featuring pianist Jeremy Denk and the vocal quartet Hudson Shad; the program includes Ives’s Violin Sonatas 1-4, as well as a selection of hymns, patriotic songs, and marches that inspired the sonatas.

2019 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THOMAS ADÈS  
During the 2019 Tanglewood season, BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Adès curates his second Festival of Contemporary Music, August 8-12. The 2019 Festival of Contemporary Music, featuring performances by Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, will include a world premiere by composer Andrew Hamilton, and nine American premiere performances of works by Richard Ayres, Gerald Barry, Erika Fox, Andrew Hamilton, György Kurtág, Hilda Paredes, Poul Ruders, and Nathan Shields.

Richard Ayres, Andrew Hamilton, and Hilda Paredes
The Festival opens on Thursday, August 8, at 8 p.m., with the American premiere of a concert performance of Richard Ayres’s 2005 chamber opera The Cricket Recovers. Based on an award-winning collection of children’s stories by Dutch author Toon Tellgen and featuring a libretto by Rozalie Hirs, The Cricket Recovers explores human struggles through a series of animal protagonists. On Friday, August 9, at 2:30 p.m., the Festival of Contemporary Music continues with the American premieres of Erika Fox’s Hungarian Rhapsody and Hilda Paredes’s Altazor, and the world premiere and TMC commission of a new work by Irish composer Andrew Hamilton.

Chaya Czernowin, Thea Musgrave, Steven Reich, Poul Ruders, Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Nathan Shields
The TMC prelude concert on Saturday, August 10, at 6 p.m., features The New Fromm Players and other Tanglewood Music Center Fellows in the American premiere of Poul Ruders’s String Quartet No. 3, Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Quartet, and Israeli-American composer Chaya Czernowin’s Anea Crystal for two string quartets. On Sunday, August 11, at 10 a.m., TMC Fellows perform a program of works for larger ensembles, including the American premiere of Andrew Hamilton’s music for people who like art, Steve Reich’s Radio Rewrite, and Thea Musgrave’s Space Play. The program also includes the American premiere of a new work by Nathan Shields (a TMC co-commission with the Mendelssohn Academy Orchestra of the Leipzig Gewandhaus). This year’s Festival will also feature a program of short silent films with original scores by the Composition Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center. The date for this program will be announced in the new year.

Thomas Adès, Gerald Barry, György Kurtág, Oliver Knussen, and Poul Ruders
Closing out the 2019 Festival of Contemporary Music on Monday, August 12, Thomas Adès and TMC Conducting Fellows lead the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in an 8 p.m. performance in Ozawa Hall including three American premieres: Gerald Barry’s Canada, for tenor and orchestra; Poul Ruders’s Symphony No. 5, and György Kurtág’s …concertante…, Op. 42, for violin, viola, and orchestra. The program also includes Oliver Knussen’s Whitman Settings, for soprano and orchestra. The Saturday, August 10 prelude concert at 6 p.m. features the complete piano works of Oliver Knussen, who was involved with Tanglewood for more than 40 years as a Fellow, director of the TMC’s composition program (1986-93), and most recently co-director of the 2015 Festival of Contemporary Music. His works on this summer’s FCM were programmed by Mr. Adès in memoriam of Mr. Knussen, who passed away in July 2018.

Additional performances by the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
In addition to the Andris Nelsons-led complete concert performance of Die Walküre over three concerts on July 27 & 28, Tanglewood on Parade on July 23, and the 2019 Festival of Contemporary Music final program on August 12 (all described above), the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra will be featured in two additional programs. On Monday, July 15, conductor Stefan Asbury—head of the Tanglewood Music Center conducting faculty—and TMC Conducting Fellows lead the orchestra in a program to include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, and the world premiere and TMC commission of a new work for chamber orchestra by former TMC Fellow Helen Grime. Giancarlo Guerrero joins the TMCO on Sunday, August 18, for the orchestra’s final concert of the 2019 season, which will include a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.

Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center are featured in vocal and chamber music performances throughout the summer, with further details to be announced at a later date.

2019 TANGLEWOOD POPULAR ARTIST SERIES
James Taylor and his all-star band return to Tanglewood on Wednesday, July 3, and Thursday, July 4, in Mr. Taylor’s only New England performances this summer. The July 4 concert will be followed by a spectacular fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl in celebration of the Independence Day holiday. Proceeds from the July 4 concert will be donated by Kim and James Taylor to Tanglewood.  For the second season, American Public Media’s popular Live from Here broadcasts from Tanglewood Saturday, June 15, with its host, vocalist and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile. Additional Popular Artist concerts will be announced in the New Year.