Tanglewood

Delighting fans of all ages a packed New York Philharmonic conducted the music of John Williams during a screening of the Stephen Spielberg film "E.T." A screening of the belived film accompanied by the Boston Pops will be presented at Tanglewood this summer.

Mark Morris does not leave not-well-enough alone. He enlivens Benjamin Britten's Curlew River with instruments on stage as they would be in the Noh drama on which this opera is based. He places the singers in the pit for Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. On stage, dancers enact the roles to entrance and also enhance the music. Morris conducts, directs, conceives and pleases along the way.

After a long illness, on March 10, the widely respected publisher and editor of Berkshire on Stage and Screen, Lawrence “Larry” Murray, passed away. He organized the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association. Last November he rallied to attend the First Annual Bertkshire Theatre Awards. He presented the top award, named for him, to Jullian Boyd of Barrington Stage for community service through theatre.

Tanglewood has announced plans for the construction of a new multi-use, multi-season four-building complex designed to support the performance and rehearsal activities of the Tanglewood Music Center and be the focal point of a new initiative, the Tanglewood Learning Institute, offering wide-ranging education and enrichment programs designed to enhance the patron experience.

Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant makes her Tanglewood debut on Sunday, July 2, at 7 p.m.,in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. She began her career with alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981. On Friday, September 1, American folk-rock band The Avett Brothers—named for brothers Scott and Seth Avett—make their Tanglewood debut.

In his most significant commitment yet to Tanglewood, Andris Nelsons will lead both the opening and closing BSO concerts, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, and Beethoven Symphony No. 9; Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Kristine Opolais; an opera gala with Ms. Opolais and Dmitri Hvorostovsky performing excerpts from Simon Boccanegra, La traviata, and Eugene Onegin; the world premiere of John Williams’s Markings with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter; and the first-ever BSO and festival concert performance of the complete Das Rheingold, a tour de force milestone in the history of the festival.

Young (45 years old) hotshot Thomas Ades is a triple threat: composer, conductor and pianist. In his first outing with the BSO as artistic partner he showcased each of those skills. The results were mostly good. Among the highlights was the local premiere of his "Totentanz," a major work by any standard.

Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" is a model of passionate communication via music. The story of the Marschallin who hands over her young lover Octavian to a girl his own age drips with fin-de-siecle melancholy. The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Richard Strauss’s beloved comedy “Der Rosenkavalier” was as close to perfection as I have heard.

The 2016 Tanglewood season come to a close with a long time commitment from Conductor Andris Nelsons to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2017.

John Williams returned to the stage at Tanglewood for 'Film Night', an evening where his scores, especially, 'Star Wars' gets flight from this renowned 84 year old iconic composer/conductor.

Located in the hamlet of Housatonic, is Pleasant & Main, a restaurant with charm, character and wonderful food at reasonable prices.

Eighteen years ago Cellist Yo Yo Ma and a core of global musicians formed Silk Road Ensemble. Yet again their appearance was a musical treat and highlight of the Tanglewood season.

Tanglewood On Parade is the yearly event that brings families and friends together for the day. Traveling musicians, clowns and musical activities lead up to the finale, the '1812 Overture', fireworks and canons being fired.

Now in his 75th year pianist Chick Corea with a trio of jazz masters- bass player, Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade- visited Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. It was amoing the best of the many times we have heard him perform.

The Knights, a Brooklyn based chamber music band, play music from numerous genres and somehow unite the opposing styles into a wonderful evening of entertainment. From Hadyn to Dylan, with a little Schubert thrown in for good measure, The Knights journey begins.

Seth MacFarlane is known for his several tv projects, including the 14th year of the syndicated program, Funny Guy, as well as his skill in writing the movie, 'Ted.' What we didn't know was that he is a professionally trained singer, who could have had a second career if the first didn't work out.

After three weeks of pop concerts drawing an audience of some 100,000 opening night of official Tanglewood 2016 seemed more like mid season.

Since 1974, James Taylor, known as 'JT' performed some 25 times at Tanglewood. He is obviously the most revered popular artist performer to grace the grounds of this historic music center.

Bob Dylan brought his current act, the 'Never Ending Tour' to Tanglewood. His opening act was Mavis Staples, formally one of the Staples Singers.

After 17 seasons at Tanglewood, Garrison Keillor retires from 'Prairie Home Companion.'

When he plays it straight Chris Botti is among the elite trumpet players of his generation. There is no question of his musicianship. But at times his performance at Tanglewood was way to Vegas. It seemed more Wayne Newton than Miles Davis. This jarred with hearing a superb rhythm section which was cut loose only occasionally.

Dolly Parton brought her act to Koussevitzky Hall on June 17th. And what an act it was.

Brian Wilson will perform for the first time at Koussevitzky Hall on the grounds of Tanglewood on Sunday, June 19th at 2:30pm

Legendary country star, Dolly Parton, makes her Tanglewood debut on June 17th at 7pm in the Koussevitzky Music Shed.

The Utah Symphony under Thierry Fischer gave an exciting and moving evening of music in celebration of their 75th anniversary. The Utah Symphony Orchestra was built by promoting 20th century American and European music. This priority was established by Maurice Abravael, the conductor who led the orchestra for 30 years. He retired to work at Tanglewood for another 10 years.