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Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood

Aug. 7, 2016 Tanglewood concert review by

The Silk Road Ensemble, with Yo-Yo Ma, used the Koussevitsky Music Shed at Tanglewood like a high school during their Aug. 7, 2016 performance, presenting both lessons in social studies and the senior assembly. Eighteen years since being co-founded by Yo-yo Ma at Ozawa Hall, the Ensemble presented a program that displayed their global roots, with segemnts being introduced by various members, each of whom stressed the social while while eschewing the pedantic.

The Silk Road Ensemble, with Yo-yo Ma performed at Tanglewood Aug. 7, 2016; Hilary Scott photo.
The Silk Road Ensemble, with Yo-yo Ma performed at Tanglewood Aug. 7, 2016; Hilary Scott photo.
They talked about being ready now to leave home, after 18 years of growing up; but the effect of the concert was a synthesis of disparate musical traditions, culminating in a glorious global hoedown, to wit: Kinan Azmeh’s composition Wedding, his representation of a Syrian wedding celebration, a public jam session that could last for days. His dedication, to “all the Syriancs who have managed to fall in love in the past five years,” gave the audience an opportunity to express solidarity with those beleaguered people. An extra-musical takeaway from the evening was the opportunity to look at and celebrate the wild differeces among peoples without resorting to polemics. Extra-musical? yes – not beyond, but to the max!

The audience responded to the opening minute or so with tittering and noisy whispers, because of the novelty of a strange instrument on one side of the stage communicating with an equally unfamiliar one on the other side. By the time Fanfare for Gaita and Suona concluded though, the whole house was totally into the world music thing, and the party was on. The gaita is the bagpipe of the Galician people from the northwest part of the Iberian peninsula, the suona is a Chinese horn, and the piece was developed by the players Cristina Pato and Wu Tong, who are as dissimilar to each other in appearance as are their instruments.

Like many of their colleagues, these two were featured several times tonight; Wu Tong especially notable for his singing, including both Manchurian and English verses of Going Home, which may merit a place in World Music lore for being lyrics set to the score of Czech composer Dvorak’s 1893 New World Symphony while in America, and which sounds like a Shaker hymn! When everything is improbable, nothing is, so, another highlight of this show was the Ensemble’s almost cinematic rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s Take the A Train, which took the audience on a raucous, rumbling ride under the streets of Manhattan and Harlem, with images of Ella Fitzgerald and the Duke Ellington Orchestra flashing in their minds.

About Tanglewood: box office, tickets, getting there, nearby hotels

Follow this link for Berkshires travel information, including public transportation within Berkshire county and Amtrak and Peter Pan bus schedules.
Berkshires hotelsFind hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

Getting around the Tanglewood campus

The Tanglewood campus, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center comprises several hundred acres in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge. It is the location of the Koussevitsky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where hundreds of thousands attend concerts and a variety of events, including picnics. We always advise new visitors to arrive early and take their daily walking exercise wandering the beautiful Tanglewood grounds.

Here is a dynamic map of the Tanglewood grounds, with photos and information for such points of interest as Aaron Copland Library, Highwood Manor House, The Glass House, and The Lion’s Gate.

Continue reading Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood

Yo Yo Ma’s Goat Rodeo Show at Tanglewood

August 15, 2013 performance by

Yo Yo Ma's Goat Rodeo Show at Tanglewood; Hilary Scott photoIf Tanglewood were simply Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, its Tanglewood Music Center and eight or nine weeks of classical music performed by the BSO and their various guest soloists and conductors, we Berkshires locals would have plenty to be grateful for. But it is so much more, for so many reasons, not least of which is that Yo Yo Ma claims it as a sort of home for his seemingly boundless musical explorations. Incidentally, he also has an actual home in the Berkshires. (Goat Rodeo Show at Tanglewood photo: Hilary Scott).

His latest musical trip led to the Goat Rodeo Sessions, the 2011 album he recorded with bsssist Edgar Meyer, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and mandolinist Chris Thile, which won Grammys for Best Folk and Best Engineered non-classical. Both the album and tonight’s show featured singer Aoife O’Donovan, of Crooked Still and Sometymes Why. She reprised No One But You, Here and Heaven, from the album and added a stunning rendition of Bob Dylan’s Farewell, Angelina.

Everybody but Mr. Ma took turns on other instruments; Meyer played piano on Franz and the Eagle, and No One But You; Thile, whose singing blended nicely with Ms. O’Donovan’s, also played fiddle and guitar; Duncan also played banjo. Except that Ma seemed to indicate that Meyer is musical director, the impression from the audience is that these are four musicians equally expert in their own domains and equally excited to be making music with peers, just for the fun of it.

Hotels in the Berkshires

Berkshires hotelsFind hotels near Tanglewood with user reviews, check amenities, nearby attractions, availability and then book your room reservations at these lodging establishments through our partner, International Hotel Solutions (IHS), the leading provider of secure online hotel reservations.

2019 Tanglewood schedule

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has released the schedule for the 2019 season at Tanglewood, which will be remembered for the opening of the Tanglewood Learning Institute, the four buildings overlooking Seiji Ozawa Hall on the Leonard Bernstein camopus.

Music director Andris Nelsons will be present for the month of July, conducting 13 programs, including the world premiere of a new work by Kevin Puts, The Brightness of Light, based on letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz on July 20, and a concert performance of Wagner’s complete Die Walküre on july 27 and 28.

Continue reading Yo Yo Ma’s Goat Rodeo Show at Tanglewood

Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble June 24, 2012 concert review

June 24, 2012 Article by

Yo-Yo Ma with musicians from the Silk Road Ensemble, Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood.
Yo-Yo Ma with musicians from the Silk Road Ensemble, Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood.; photo: Hilary Scott.
Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble got the BSO’s 75th anniversary season at Tanglewood off to a rousing start with a pair of concerts in Ozawa Hall June 22 and 24. Whatever Maestro Koussevitsky had in mind when he established the orchestra’s retreat and training center in the Berkshires, not even a visionary of his stature would have forseen a concert opening with a green haired gaita player wending her way through the audience.

As the musicians assembled on stage and settled into an improvisation called Wandering Winds, Christina Pato, a raven-haired Spaniard (streaked with Kelly green), strolled through the audience on the lawn playing the gaita, the bagpipe of the Galician people of Spain. She is the second Galician bagpiper I’ve seen in concert, after Carlos Nunez, who toured with the Chieftains years ago. He drew references to Jimi Hendrix for the novelty his style and flair bore in comparison to highland pipers.

Galician bagpiper Christina Pato

Although fresh and original to all appearances, Ms. Pato is anything but a novelty act. She has a Doctorate from Rutgers and briefcase full of other academic credentials, leads her own touring band, and is a member of the Silk Road leadership council. The prominence of her role in this report is a function of my predilections; the show was so varied and full of treats that one couldv’ve focused on a dozen other elements.

Such as the finale, Turceasca, from the Romanian gypsy tradition. It allowed all 17 musicians to seem to solo simultaenously, until a duet/duel developed between Wu Tong and (oops!) Ms. Pato. Wu Tong plays the Chinese sheng with the verve and personality one remembers from Dizzy Gillespie.

Besides the role of host/MC, Yo Yo Ma was largely an ensemble player, except on Qasida, premiered on the 22nd. A Silk Road commission by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, from Uzbekistan, it was written for MA to play with Kayhan Kalhor on the ancient Persian kamancheh.

There were 20-30 minutes of encores, which resulted in as upbeat and cheerful an exiting audience as I’ve ever seen. They are sure to regale their friends about this event, a concert by the Silk Road Ensemble, at Ozawa Hall where Yo Yo Ma founded it in 2000. Depending on their predilections, they may focus their reports on the pipa, or the tablas, or the jang-go.

Continue reading Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble June 24, 2012 concert review

Tanglewood schedule June 22-July 5, 2012

Tanglewood schedule June 22-July 5, 2012

Tanglewood schedule for the week before the BSO opens its 75th season, June 22-July 5, 2012 features Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble, June 22 and 24; Diana Krall returns to Tanglewood June 23; Mark Morris Dance Group performs June 28 & 29; A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor broadcasts live from the Shed on June 30; and James Taylor plays concerts on July 2, 3, and 4th.

Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble opens Tanglewood schedule on June 22, 2012
Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble opens Tanglewood schedule on June 22, 2012
Yo-Yo Ma, a beloved Tanglewood fixture who has performed at the festival in all but one summer since 1983, opens the 2012 Tanglewood season with two performances featuring his Silk Road Ensemble in Ozawa Hall Friday, June 22, and Sunday, June 24. With musicians from around the globe, the Ensemble will perform a special program that reflects a diversity of styles and nationalities, combining Western and non-Western instruments from the old and new worlds in ways that transcend cultural boundaries.

Diana Krall performs Saturday, June 23, in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, where she last appeared at the festival in 2009. The double platinum-selling recording artist is known for her distinctive jazz stylings across a range of repertoire, especially tunes from the American songbook.

The Mark Morris Dance Group makes its annual appearance in two highly anticipated concerts Thursday, June 28, and Friday, June 29, collaborating as usual with Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center. The program includes three Morris works: Something Lies Beyond the Scene, set to William Walton’s Façade: An Entertainment and featuring soprano and longtime TMC faculty member Phyllis Curtin in the role of narrator; Rock of Ages, set to the second movement of Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D.897; and Festival Dance, set to Johann Hummel’s Piano Trio No. 5 in E, Op. 83.

A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor and a colorful cast of friends from the shores of Lake Wobegon, has become a favorite Tanglewood tradition and once again broadcasts live from the Shed Saturday, June 30. James Taylor, another beloved and annual guest, appears in three concerts July 2, 3, and 4, in a program called James Taylor at Tanglewood, reflecting the style and the songs that have made him an icon. Tanglewood’s annual Independence Day fireworks display follow the July 4 concert.

The pre-season concludes Thursday, July 5, with the always outstanding Emerson String Quartet. In an Ozawa Hall program juxtaposing the classic and the new, the group performs Mozart’s String Quartet No. 21 in D, K.575, internationally acclaimed British composer Thomas Adès’s Four Quarters, and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat, Op. 130, with the composer’s original Große Fuge finale.

Continue reading Tanglewood schedule June 22-July 5, 2012

Tanglewood schedule week 6 Aug. 10 – 16, 2012

Tanglewood schedule week 6 Aug. 10 – 16, 2012

Pinchas Zukerman scheduled at Tanglewood August 10 as both Conductor and Soloist;
Pinchas Zukerman scheduled at Tanglewood August 10 as both Conductor and Soloist;
On Friday, August 10, Pinchas Zukerman-who first performed at Tanglewood in 1969-acts as both conductor and solo violinist in an all-Bach program-a popular concert format throughout the history of the festival-that highlights some of the exceptional talent within the ranks of the BSO. In addition to Mr. Zukerman and guest harpsichordist John Gibbons, BSO principal flutist Elizabeth Rowe, principal oboist John Ferrillo, and concertmaster Malcolm Lowe take solo turns in an all-Bach program featuring the Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3 and 5, the Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV 1041, the Concerto in D minor for two violins and strings, BWV 1043, and the Concerto in C minor for violin, oboe, and strings, BWV 1060.

Yo-Yo Ma returns to the Shed stage Saturday, August 11, as soloist in Elgar’s cathartic Cello Concerto, with conductor Stéphane Denève, who also leads the orchestra in the world premiere of a BSO-commissioned new work by André Previn and Shostakovich’s riveting Symphony No. 5. Christoph von Dohnányi takes the podium once again Sunday, August 12, for a program spanning almost 200 years of the Germanic music tradition. Widely acclaimed pianist Paul Lewis makes his BSO and Tanglewood debuts as soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488, bracketed by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.

The young and adventurous Ébène String Quartet, which has rocketed to stardom in recent years, brings its fresh approach to string quartet performance to Ozawa Hall on Thursday, August 16. As is typical in Ébène performances, the quartet juxtaposes the classic with the new, first delving into Mozart’s Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K.421, and Tchaikovsky’s Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11, then changing gears with jazz selections arranged by the ensemble members and filled with improvisation.

Continue reading Tanglewood schedule week 6 Aug. 10 – 16, 2012

PBS film of Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Tanglewood

PBS film of Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Tanglewood

Article by Dave Conlin Read.

Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble opens Tanglewood schedule on June 22, 2012
Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble opens Tanglewood schedule on June 22, 2012
The June 24, 2012 concert by Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood was great fun, as we reported at the time. We haven’t seen the DVD from the show, but the film that premiered MAy 9 on PBS is a wonderful souvenir of the event. Whereas the concert was over two hours long, the 60 minute TV version, which included perhaps 15 minutes of non-performance material, fully conveyed how brilliant and exciting this ensemble is. Here’s hoping it makes it onto heavy rotation on PBS!

Continue reading PBS film of Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Tanglewood

Tanglewood 75th anniversary Gala concert scheduled for PBS telecast

PBS schedules broadcast of Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary Gala concert

Koussevitsky Music Shed seen from Lawn at Tanglewood
Koussevitsky Music Shed seen from Lawn at Tanglewood
Thanks to the programmers at PBS, the rest of the country will get another opportunity later this year to see what we in the Berkshires are well aware of – The Boston Symphony’s summer home at Tanglewood is the ideal music venue. The PBS television crew will capture the BSO’s season opening gala on July 14 for telecast on its Great Performances program, Friday, August 10, 2012, 9:00 PM ET. The concert will feature the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras, with performances by Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Peter Serkin, longtime Tanglewood friend James Taylor, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and other special guests, led by conductors John Williams, Keith Lockhart, and Andris Nelsons.

The BSO is one of the many great regional arts institutions to be featured on GREAT PERFORMANCES over its four decade history, said David Horn, executive producer, GREAT PERFORMANCES. GP has enjoyed a long association with the BSO and its summertime home at the Tanglewood festival, dating back to our extensive broadcast collaborations with Leonard Bernstein. We are delighted to return to Tanglewood for this 75th anniversary concert, which also represents a wonderful homecoming celebration for us.

Follow this link for an overview of Tanglewood’s 2012 season schedule >>

Continue reading Tanglewood 75th anniversary Gala concert scheduled for PBS telecast

June 2011 events in the Berkshires

Madame Pissarro Sewing beside a Window, by Camille Pissarro
Madame Pissarro Sewing beside a Window, c. 1877, by Camille Pissarro. Oil on canvas, 21 1/4 x 17 3/4 in. (54 x 45 cm). Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Pissarro Family Gift, 1951, WA1951.225.3
By June, the Berkshires are host to an array of events than span the entertainment and performing arts spectrum. Summer theatre, which first put Berkshire county on the nation’s cultural map when the Berkshire Playhouse opened in the Stockbridge Casino on June 4, 1928, is in full swing with productions at Barrington Stage Co. in Pittsfield, Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Shakespeare and Co. in Lenox, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. And all generations of music fans will be able to satisfy their musical appetites, with concerts and appearances by Wilco at MASS MoCA in North Adams, and Earth Wind & Fire, James Taylor, and Yo Yo Ma with Mark Morris Dance Company at Tanglewood in Lenox.

Links to Berkshires venues that are presenting the events listed below: Berkshires theatres & performing arts venues.

Listed first are events outside the regular programming of established performing arts organizations and/or venues:

  • Dewey Hall Folk Concert Series – Mitzi Pillow – Saturday June 4 – 7:30 PM – Sheffield, MA
  • 3rd.Thursday – downtown Pittsfield – Thurs., June 16 – 2:30 – 8:30 PM

June 2011 Aston Magna Festival schedule

Aston Magna schedule and ticket details

  • Bach and Son – Music for violin and harpsichord by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach
    • Slosberg Auditorium, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA – June 16 – 8PM
    • The Olin Auditorium, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – June 17 – 8PM
    • The Daniel Arts Center, Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington, MA – June 18 – 8PM
    • Pre-concert lecture one hour before concert time at all venues
  • Diversions: Mozart and Hummel
    • Slosberg Auditorium, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA – June 23 – 8PM
    • The Olin Auditorium, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – June 24 – 8PM
    • The Daniel Arts Center, Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington, MA – June 25 – 8PM
    • Pre-concert lecture one hour before concert time at all venues
  • England, Be Glad – Music from the cosmopolitan court of Henry VIII
    • Slosberg Auditorium, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA – June 30 – 8PM
    • The Olin Auditorium, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – July 1 – 8PM
    • The Daniel Arts Center, Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington, MA – July 2 – 8PM
    • Pre-concert lecture one hour before concert time at all venues

June 2011 Barrington Stage Co. schedule

Barrington Stage Co. 2011 schedule details and links

  • ONGOINGGuys and Dolls at Barrington Stage Co., June 15 – July 16, 2011 – Mainstage – Pittsfield
    • press opening June 19 at 5:00pm
    • Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm
    • Thursday-Saturday at 8pm
    • Sunday at 5pm
    • Select Wednesday and Friday matinees at 2pm
  • ONGOINGZero Hour – Written by and Starring Jim Brochu – May 18, 2011 – June 5, 2011 – BSC Stage2 – Pittsfield
    • NB – 5 performances added: June 7-10 at 7:30pm and June 9 at 3pm
    • Tuesday-Friday 7:30pm
    • Saturday 4pm and 8pm
    • Sunday 3pm
    • Additional matinee on Friday, May 20 at 3pm
  • ONGOINGGoing to St. Ives – By Lee Blessing, Directed by Tyler Marchant – June 22, 2011 – July 9, 2011 – BSC Stage2 – Pittsfield
    • Tuesday-Friday 7:30pm
    • Saturday 4pm and 8pm
    • Sunday 3pm
    • Additional matinee: Thursday, July 7 at 3pm

June 2011 Berkshire Theatre Festival schedule

Berkshire Theatre Festival 2011 schedule details and links

  • ONGOINGMoonchildren by Michael Weller, Directed by Karen Allen – June 22, 2011 – July 9, 2011 – BTF Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge
    • Opening Night/Press Night July 2 at 8pm
    • Previews June 28, 29, 30, July 1, 2 at 2pm
    • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm
    • Wednesday at 7pm,
    • Thursday and Saturday at 2pm
    • Closes July 16

June 2011 Clark Art Institute schedule

Clark Art Institute details and links

  • ONGOINGPissarro’s People – Clark Art Institute – Williamstown – June 12, 2011 – Oct. 2, 2011
  • ONGOINGRomantic Nature: British and French Landscapes – Clark Art Institute – Williamstown – through Sep. 20, 2011
  • ONGOINGEl Anatsui sculpture exhibition – Stone Hill Center – Williamstown
    • June 12 through October 16, 2011 – Related events:
    • Ghanaian storyteller will present weekly tales – Stone Hill Center balcony
    • Susan Vogel documentary and talk – “Fold Crumple Crush: The Art of El Anatsui” – July 24
  • ONGOINGSpaces: Photographs by Candida Höfer and Thomas Struth – Clark Art Institute – Williamstown
    • June 12 through September 5
    • Gallery talks with: Jay A. Clarke, Robin Kelsey, Michael Fried, J. R. Herbert Boone
    • Public lecture by Charles W. Haxthausen

June 2011 Colonial Theatre schedule

Colonial Theatre 2011 schedule details and links

  • Sherri Buxton and Friends: Songs From The Great American Songbook – Thursday, June 2, 7pm
  • Ron White – Thursday, June 9, 7:30pm
  • The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats – Saturday, June 11, 2pm & 7pm
  • Bobby Sweet – Saturday, June 18 8pm
  • God’s Trombone’s – Lift Ev’ry Voice – Sunday, June 19, 7pm

June 2011 Guthrie Center schedule

  • Kim & Reggie Harris – Friday, June 3
  • Milton – Sat., June 8
  • Bella’s Bartok – Fri., June 10
  • The Kennedys – Sat., June 11
  • Meg Hutchinson – Fri., June 17
  • Sally Jane Heit – Sat., June 18
  • Jonathan Edwards – Fri., June 24
  • Joel Rafael – Sat., June 25

June 2011 Jacob’s Pillow schedule

Jacob’s Pillow 2011 schedule details and links

  • Jacob’s Pillow Season Opening Gala – Saturday, June 18
  • Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève – Ted Shawn Theatre
    • Wednesday, June 22 – Saturday, June 25, 8pm
    • Saturday, June 25 & Sunday, June 26, 2pm
  • Keigwin + Company – Doris Duke Theatre
    • Wednesday, June 22 – Saturday, June 25, 8:15pm
    • Saturday, June 25 & Sunday, June 26, 2:15pm
  • Carte Blanche – Ted Shawn Theatre
    • Wednesday, June 29 – Saturday, July 2, 8pm
    • Saturday, July 2 & Sunday, July 3, 2pm
  • Jane Comfort and Company – Doris Duke Theatre
    • Wednesday, June 29 – Saturday, July 2, 8:15pm
    • Saturday, July 2 & Sunday, July 3, 2:15pm

June 2011 Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center schedule

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center 2011 schedule details and links

  • Berkshire International Film Festival
    • Thursday, June 2 at 7:30pm – Opening Night
    • Saturday, June 4 at 7:30pm – Tribute Night
    • Sunday, June 5 at times TBA – Free Screenings of Family Films
  • The Importance of Being Earnest “Live in HD” –Thursday, June 9 at 7pm
  • Berkshire Playwrights Lab – Wednesday, June 15 at 7:30pm
  • Symphony Space’s Selected Shorts – Readings on Fatherhood – Saturday June 11 at 8PM
  • Boston Early Music Festival Presents Steffani’s Niobe, Queen of Thebes – Friday, June 24 at 7pm and Saturday, June 25 at 7pm
  • Boston Early Music Festival Presents Handel’s Acis and Galatea – Sunday, June 26 at 2:30pm and Monday, June 27 at 7pm
  • The Cherry Orchard –Thursday, June 30 at 2pm

June 2011 MASS MoCA schedule

MASS MoCA 2011 details and links

June 2011 Shakespeare and Co. schedule

Shakespeare and Co. 2011 schedule details and links

  • ONGOINGAs You Like It, By William Shakespeare – June 24 – Sep. 4, 2011 – Founders’ Theatre, Lenox
    • Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat. at 7:30pm
    • Sun. at 2pm
  • ONGOINGWomen of Will: The Complete Journey (Parts I-V), By Tina Packer – May 27— July 10, 2011 – Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox
    • June 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30 – 8PM
    • June 4, 5, 12, 18, 19, 25 – 3PM
  • ONGOINGThe Memory of Water, By Shelagh Stephenson – June 16—Sept. 4, 2011 – Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox
    • June 16, 17, 18, 22, 25, 28, 29 – 8PM
    • June 26 – 3PM

June 2011 Tanglewood schedule

Williamstown Theatre Festival 2011 schedule details and links

  • Saturday June 25, 7 p.m. – Koussevitsky Music Shed – Earth Wind & Fire
  • Tuesday and Wednesday June 28 & 29, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. – Theatre – String Quartet Marathon
  • Tuesday and Wednesday, June 28 & 29, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall – Mark Morris Dance Group, Tanglewood Music Center Fellows, Yo Yo Ma
  • Thursday, June 30, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall – James Taylor and guests

Tanglewood 2011 schedule details and links

June 2011 Williamstown Theatre Festival schedule

  • ONGOINGA Streetcar Named Desire, By Tennessee Williams – June 22 – July 3, 2011 – Nikos Stage, Williamstown
  • ONGOINGThree Hotels, By Jon Robin Baitz – June 29 – July 24, 2011 – Main Stage, Williamstown

May 2011 events in the Berkshires

July 2011 events in the Berkshires

Continue reading June 2011 events in the Berkshires

June 28 – July 7, 2011 Tanglewood schedule

The week leading up to the BSO’s Gala Opening Night July 8 holds some of the most anticipated events on the 2011 Tanglewood schedule. There will be four James Taylor concerts, including one with the Boston Pops and one in Ozawa Hall, two appearances of Mark Morris Dance Group with Yo Yo Ma and the Tanglewood Music Center fellows, and the 12th annual broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor.

Saturday June 25, 7 p.m. – Shed

  • Earth Wind & Fire

Tuesday and Wednesday June 28 & 29, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. – Theatre

  • String Quartet Marathon
  • Two 2-hour concerts each day

Tanglewood Music Center Instrumental Fellows offer their annual String Quartet Marathon, a series of four 2-hour concerts in the Theater Concert Hall dedicated to the wonderfully intimate chamber music genre.

Tuesday and Wednesday, June 28 & 29, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

  • Mark Morris Dance Group
  • Tanglewood Music Center Fellows
  • Mark Morris, choreographer
  • Yo-Yo Ma, cello
  • Isaac Mizrahi, costume designer
  • Phil Sandstrom and Michael Chybowski, lighting designers
  • Frisson
  • STRAVINSKY Symphonies of Wind Instruments
  • New work (world premiere; BSO commission)
  • STRAVINSKY Renard
  • Falling Down Stairs
  • J.S. BACH Suite No. 3 in C for solo cello, BWV 1009

Mark Morris Dance Group makes its annual appearance in two highly anticipated concerts, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma and the TMC Fellows. The program includes three Morris works: the world premiere of a new work commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra set to Stravinsky’s Renard; Frisson, set to Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments; and Falling Down Stairs, set to Bach’s Suite No. 3 in C for solo cello, BWV 1009.

Thursday, June 30, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

  • James Taylor in Ozawa Hall
  • James Taylor and guests

In the more intimate setting of Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall, James Taylor offers the music that has made him one of the most beloved artists of our day.

Friday, July 1, 8:30 p.m. Shed

  • James Taylor and the Boston Pops
  • Boston Pops
  • James Taylor, soloist

Tanglewood’s favorite singer joins “America’s Orchestra,” the Boston Pops, for a remarkable collaboration.

Saturday, July 2, 5:45 p.m. Shed

  • A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood, with Garrison Keillor
  • Live broadcast

Sunday, July 3, 7 p.m. Shed

  • Monday, July 4, 7 p.m. Shed
  • The Essential James Taylor
  • Fireworks to follow the July 4 concert
  • Proceeds from the July 4 concert to benefit Tanglewood

James Taylor returns to Tanglewood with his extraordinary band of musicians for two spectacular performances.

Tuesday, July 5, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

  • Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
  • Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
  • Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows
  • Program to be announced

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra opens their season with a concert led by Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center will also conduct works on this program.

Thursday, July 7, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

  • Mark O’Connor String Quartet*

Mark O’Connor String Quartetmakes its Tanglewood debut performing Mr. O’Connor’s own music, a fascinating blend of bluegrass, swing, and classical.
*connotes Tanglewood debut
**connotes Tanglewood and BSO debut

Tanglewood contact info.

  • 297 West Street (Rt. 183)
  • Lenox, MA 01240
  • Box Office: 617-266-1200; 888-266-1200
  • Website: tanglewood.org

How to get Tanglewood brochures

Tanglewood brochures are available by sending your request to CustomerService@bso.org.

Tanglewood driving directions

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Hotels, B & B’s, Motels, and Inns near Tanglewood

Continue reading June 28 – July 7, 2011 Tanglewood schedule

August 12-18, 2011 Tanglewood schedule Week 6

The sixth week of the 2011 Tanglewood schedule, August 12-18, features a program of Spanish Music, with Maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos land guitar virtuoso Pepe Romero making his Tanglewood debut; Yo-Yo Ma solos on a program lead by Christoph von Dohnányi, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducts the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (TMCO) in an all-Brahms program, and the Tanglewood debut of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Friday, August 12

  • Friday, August 12, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
  • Prelude Concert
  • Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Friday, August 12, 7:15 p.m. Shed
  • This Week at Tanglewood
  • Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists
  • Friday, August 12, 8:30 p.m. Shed
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
  • Pepe Romero, guitar*
  • BIZET Preludes from Carmen
  • RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez, for guitar and orchestra
  • BOCCHERINI/BERIO Ritirata notturna di Madrid
  • FALLA Interlude and First Dance from La vida breve
  • GRANADOS Intermezzo from Goyescas
  • GIMÉNEZ Intermezzo from La boda de Luís Alonso
  • This concert is performed without intermission.

Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos to conduct TMCO August 12, 2011.Maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos leads a program dedicated to Spanish and Spanish-inspired music, with guitar virtuoso Pepe Romero making his Tanglewood debut; highlights include Bizet’s Preludes from Carmen, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with Mr. Romero as soloist, and Falla’s Interlude and First Dance from La vida breve.

Saturday, August 13

  • Saturday, August 13, 9:30 a.m. Shed
  • Pre-Rehearsal Talk
  • Saturday, August 13, 10:30 a.m. Shed
  • Rehearsal, Saturday program
  • Saturday, August 13, 8:30 p.m. Shed
  • Christoph von Dohnányi, conductor
  • Yo-Yo Ma, cello
  • PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, Classical
  • SCHUMANN Cello Concerto
  • BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

Two of classical music’s most acclaimed artists join the BSO August 13 as the inimitable cellist Yo-Yo Ma and German-Hungarian conductor Christoph von Dohnányi present a program of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, Classical, Schumann’s Cello Concerto, and Brahms’s monumental Symphony No. 1.

Sunday, August 14

  • Sunday, August 14, 2:30 p.m. Shed
  • The Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert
  • Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
  • Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
  • Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano
  • Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor
  • ALL-BRAHMS PROGRAM
  • Nänie, for chorus and orchestra
  • Schicksalslied, for chorus and orchestra
  • Alto Rhapsody, for mezzo-soprano, male chorus, and orchestra
  • Symphony No. 2

The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra pays homage to Brahms with a concert dedicated entirely to his music, including Nänie and Schicksalslied for chorus and orchestra; the Alto Rhapsody, for mezzo-soprano, male chorus, and orchestra; and Symphony No. 2. The student is conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and joined by Stephanie Blythe and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

  • Sunday, August 14, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
  • Emanuel Ax, piano
  • Yo-Yo Ma, cello
  • Anthony McGill, clarinet*
  • BRAHMS Trio in A minor for clarinet, cello, and piano, Op. 114
  • BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 3 in A for cello and piano, Op. 69

Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax renew their longstanding and widely celebrated musical partnership with a recital to include music from two of the all-time masterworks of chamber music: Beethoven’s Sonata No. 3 in A for cello and piano, Op. 69, and Brahms’s Trio in A minor for clarinet, cello, and piano, Op. 114. Mr. Ma and Mr. Ax are joined by the principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera, Anthony McGill, who makes his Tanglewood debut.

Tuesday, August 16

  • Tuesday, August 16, 7:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall
  • Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra*
  • Nicholas McGegan, conductor*
  • Dominique Labelle, soprano (Angelica)
  • Susanne Rydén, soprano (Dorinda) *
  • Diana Moore, mezzo-soprano (Medoro) *
  • Clint van der Linde, countertenor (Orlando) *
  • Wolf Matthias Friedrich, baritone (Zoroastro) *
  • HANDEL Orlando

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra makes its Tanglewood debut in dramatic fashion with a complete performance of Handel’s opera seria Orlando under Music Director Nicholas McGegan. Inhabiting the roles of this Baroque masterpiece are soprano Dominique Labelle, soprano Susanne Rydén (Tanglewood debut), mezzo-soprano Diana Moore (Tanglewood debut), countertenor Clint van der Linde (Tanglewood debut), and baritone Wolf Matthias Friedrich (Tanglewood debut). Handel’s opera brings together far-ranging episodes of one of the great heroes of Western literature, based on the 16th-century Ariosto epic Orlando Furioso. This is an extended concert with two intermissions. Sung in Italian with English supertitles.

Tanglewood contact info.

  • 297 West Street (Rt. 183)
  • Lenox, MA 01240
  • Box Office: 617-266-1200; 888-266-1200
  • Website: tanglewood.org

How to get Tanglewood brochures

Tanglewood brochures are available by sending your request to CustomerService@bso.org.

Tanglewood driving directions

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Hotels, B & B’s, Motels, and Inns near Tanglewood

Continue reading August 12-18, 2011 Tanglewood schedule Week 6