Tanglewood

By all accounts from the audience to musicians and critics the BSO has never sounded better than under its young artistic director Andris Nelsons. The BSO has departed Tanglewood earlier than usual to start a European tour on August 22 through September 5. The BSO opens its fall season in October.

Three time Oliver Award winner Mike Bartlett's An Intervention is having its American premiere anchoring the Nikos Stage programming of the Williamstown Theater Festival. The clever and verbose two hander is being staged with two rotating casts. We saw it with Josh Hamilton and Justin Long.

The list of vendors for the 10th Annual Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic is part of the slide show. For foodies this is August 15 event is eagerly anticipated.

While director of the Williams College Museum of Art Tom Krens initiated plans for Mass MoCA. When he left for a 20 year career at the Guggenheim Museum in New York that project moved forward under Joe Thompson. Now Krens, a Williams graduate and Williamstown home owner, is proposing to create a for profit museum on leased land fronting the high traffic corridor between MoCA, Williams College and the newly expanded and renovated Clark Art Institute.

A highlight of the Berkshire season is the annual day long event Tanglewood On Parade culminating in a concert in the Shed. A perennial participant, composer/ conductor John Williams, was unable to travel from his home in LA. His music was heard including a Tanglewood debut of Andris Nelsons as a substitute conductor of the Pops. A good time was had by all.

The week of August 2nd to 6thh is one of the most exciting weeks at Tanglewood,located in Lenox, Massachusetts. If you are a fan of conductor Andris Nelsons and Yo-Yo Ma, this is your week of enjoyment.

Candlelit dining, gourmet food and a historic presence make this unique New England Inn special in every way.

Blantyre in our backyard, is only minutes from Tanglewood and the arts of the Berkshires. Rooms are beautiful and wine and gourmet food is affordable.

Known for her recent role as Billie Holiday, multiple Tony award winning actress and singer, Audra Mcdonald takes center stage at Tanglewood on July 19.

Sample hundreds of wines paired with gourmet food at Tanglewood's 10th Wine & Food Classic on August 13th-16th.

On August 20, 2012 Wynton Marsalis shared an appearance at Tanglewood with bass player Christian McBride. Last night he returned to Ozawa Hall with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. This superb group of New York based musicians presented a program of traditional big band music from the 1930s and 1940s in the first half and works by members of the orchestra, including Marsalis, in the second.

Heavyweight bass-baritone Bryn Terfel wows the audience at Ozawa Hall

Determined to add new audiences to Tanglewood, the BSO has created an All Star lineup of Musical Acts for the Historic 2015 Season.

In 2013 The Blues Project with Dorrance Dance and Toshi Reagon with BIGlovely premiered at the smaller Doris Duke Theatre. With word of mouth and rave reviews it sold out as it did again in 2014. This season the stunning tap ensemble was presented to sold out audiences in the Ted Shawn Theatre of Jacob's Pillow Dance. We were thrilled by every moment of an ecstatic performance,

For the BSO's opening night at Tanglewood guest conductor Jacques Lacombe led the orchestra through a diverse program of Americana that celebrated the Independence Day theme of freedom. Particularly essential was the give and take, call and answer between the traditions and cross pollination of jazz and classical music. A highlight was John Douglas Thompson speaking the words of Abraham Lincoln in a tribute composed by Aaron Copland.

For under $100 you can purchase lawn tickets and see four popular artists at Tanglewood.

The Tanglewood 2015 season opened with Sheryl Crow backed by Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops.

Music salons at Joseph and Christina Rosen's are a treat. Over the course of a season, you can hear up and coming pianists, singers, and contemporary composers. The warhorses of music sound fresh and inviting. Only one of the pleasures of an evening is hearing Joe Rosen perform on the clarinet.

After one of the worst winters on record yet again Spring means six glorious weeks of the Boston Pops. We participated in the gala opening night launch of Keith Lockhart's 20th season. His guest was Broadway star Bernadette Peters. It provided a preview of their appearance together at Tanglewood on July 5.

Now in his final weeks as director of the Clark Art Institute Michael Conforti hosted a media event promoting a blockbuster season for Northern Berkshire County. There were presentations by Joe Thompson for Mass MoCA, Tina Olsen for the Williams College Museum of Art, and Mandy Greenfield for the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Notably absent from the media event were North Adams based arts presenters Downstreet, The Eclipse Mill Gallery, The Rudd Museum of Art and the fall annual Williamstown Film Festival.

The contract with Milliken University was due to arrive when Kate Maguire called and asked Tony Simotes to meet for breakfast. Racing against the clock and making phone calls she offered him a job as second in commend at Berkshire Theatre Group. Then Tony and Lucy faced the tough decision of turning down tenure, benefits and security to take another challenging but risky job in theatre.

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in thirteen extraordinarily wide-ranging programs in the 2015-16 BSO season.

Karol Szymanowski's "King Roger" is the classic hot-house flower of an opera, featuring a huge orchestra and chorus, dominated by shimmering strings. The BSO assembled a dream cast of Eastern European singers, headed by Mariusz Kwiecien, one of the hottest baritones on the world's stages today. You could feel the heat and humidity of a Sicilian evening.

Yet again Tanglewood is committed to finding the balance between traditional classical music and evenings featuring popular artists with enough appeal to balance the books. The BSO base audience will embrace the new and youthful conductor Andris Nelsons in his limited appearances. Popular artists including James Taylor, Dianna Krall, and Sheryl Crow return. Idina Menzel and Huey Lewis will be featured in the Shed. The wild card and most interesting booking of the season will present the gonzo pairing of over the top Lady Gaga and the venerable octogenarian Tony Bennett.

Here is the run down on the 2015 Tanglewood Season. Clip and save.