Tanglewood

Summer Begins with an amazing array of performing arts events to choose from. Both Tanglewood and Jacob's Pillow kick off their busy schedules while the main stages of the Berkshire's four resident professional theatre companies all kick into high gear. Our capsule descriptions and handy links will guide you through the dense array of superb cultural resources. In season world renowned artists perform in the Berkshires.

To mark the launch of the 2009 Tanglewood Season the BSO is organizing a 150 mile cross state relay run starting at Symphony Hall on June 29 and ending at the Lenox campus, hopefully, a day later in time for the first rehearsal on July 1. Literally the season will be off and running.

Yo Yo Ma advances cultural diffusion with his extraordinary mix of East and West The Silk Road Ensemble performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

June is bustin' out all over, and our resident performing arts organizations are pulling out all the stops as the season approaches. Once again we provide our handy guide to upcoming Berkshire events.

The annual Memorial Day concert the New York PHilharmonic performs in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, honors the dead and inaugurates its free summer concert program.

When General Electric moved out in the late 1980s, with 10,000 lost jobs, Pittsfield fell on hard times. The recovery started in 2003 when the new Mayor, James M. Ruberto, mandated that arts and culture would be a focus for economic development. Megan Whilden disussed how she joined the team in 2005 and the remarkable progress since then that has reshaped the city as a cultural destination.

Here's your weekly guide to the top events happening in and around the Berkshires with more than a dozen exciting and fascinating offerings for you to choose from.

At Carnegie Hall in New York, the State Orchestra of Berlin under Daniel Barenboim performed Gustav Mahler's 7th Symphony and the Wayfarer songs, with Thomas Hampson. This was part of the larger series in which all the Mahler symphonies have been performed in order. It wasn't hard to see why this doesn't happen often as the work requires at least 80 musicians.

For the 124th season of the Boston Pops Keith Lockhart performed with guest artists, Maya Beiser, on cello, and the jazz quartet of John Pizzaerlli. While Pizarelli is a frequent peformer with the Pops this was the debut appearance for Beiser whom Lockhart described as the "Queen of Post Modern Cello."

The BSO and Tanglewood are making you an offer you cannot refuse. The season long Grass Pass offers admission to most events. The 45/45 combines two lawn tickets with two tickets to the Clark Art Institute. There are also hotel/ back stage and ticket offers. Check it out.

The complete Beethoven Symphonies will be among the 15 programs that James Levine will lead during the 2009-2010 season of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Renee Flemming performing the Four Last Songs of Strauss there will be premieres by Carter, Harbison, Leiberson and John Williams.

Despite a drastic 20% budget cut Kate Maguire, the artistic director and CEO of Berkshire Theatre Festival is excitied about the coming season and the return of Randy Harrison in Ibsen's "Ghosts." During an upbeat interview she stated that "I'm not a director. I love directors. I'm married to one (Eric Hill). I love directing directors and I wanted to build a director's theatre."

Stuart Chase, the director of the 106 year old Berkshire Mueum in Pittsfield discusses the recently completed $10 million renovation that was "on time and within budget." He also deaccessioned three paintings by the Russian, Grigoriev, that added $7 million for future acquisitions. Not bad during these hard times.

Antonin Dvorak's opera "Rusalka" premiered in Prague in 1901. It took 92 years before its first performance at the Metropolitan Opera. The diva, Renee Fleming performed the lead role in 1997 and 2004. Her recent performance as the water spirit who falls in love with a human was utterly enchanting.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is going all out to make the 2009 season a boffo hit for Tanglewood. Jazz singer Tony Bennett has been added on July 21. Sheryl Crow will join James Taylor. The Clark Art Institute will join Tanglewood for a special twofer ticket promotion. This is just a sample of the exciting news.

For the coming season the ever popular annual appearance by Berkshire native, James Taylor, has been shifted from the Fourth of July weekend to close the season, August 27-30, and anticipate the annual Jazz Festival on Labor Day weekend which falls late this year. The BSO announces that other than lawn tickets the Taylor concerts have sold out.

Shakespeare & Company is a $5.6 million dollar theatrical operation employing more than 200 people each year in the Berkshires. When the economy took its dip, the company and its Board got into action, readying the survival plans and donning the life preservers for the stormy economic seas in the months ahead.

For her final season as Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, Tina Packer has pulled out all the stops for a dense and intense 2009/ 2010 season. Mostly Packer aspired to fully book the first season of the new Evelyn P. Bernstein Theatre. Tony Simotes takes over day to day operation on June 1 and Packer informed the media that "I can't wait." She anticipates a new phase of her career as an actor, writer, teacher and director.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra releases its first major recordings with Music Director James Levine—Ravel's complete Daphnis and Chloé, Brahms's A German Requiem, Mahler's Symphony No. 6, William Bolcom's Eighth Symphony, and Bolcom's Lyric Concerto for flute and orchestra—available on the orchestra's own BSO Classics label through its website at bso.org.

The $50 million for the arts in the $787 billion stimulus bill has been added to the existing budget of $145 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. But that is small change compared to recent appropriations for the arts of $2 billion by Germany and $4 billion in France. There is a prevailing attitude that goverment support for the arts in the U.S. is an agenda of a "cultural elite" and "liberals." But after the disaster of the eight Bush years "liberal" is no longer a dirty word.

Given the poor economy, artistic director, Nicholas Martin, has reduced the number of Nikos Stage productions from five to three plays and shortened the seaon (July 1 through August 23) by two weeks. By making these cuts he has avoided any compromise of the quality of productions for one of the nation's most renowned theatre companies.

Spending money it can ill afford during a time of financial crisis, Jehudah Reinharz, President of Brandeis University hired Rasky Baerlein Stategic Communications, a PR firm than specializes in crisis management, to draft a carefully worded apology for a rash and irresponsible decision to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its renowned collection.

Barbara Cook will kick off the 2009 season of the Boston Pops on May 9. For the 15th year Keith Lockhart will conduct. Overall there is a great Pops tradition which is now 124 years old. The Pops will debut material from its new Red Sox CD. Other higlights include tributes to Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman.

With $4 a gallon gas and a sinking economy 2008 was a challenge for arts and tourism in the Berkshires. But our contibutors covered not only the Berkshires but arts and culture in New York, Boston, London, New Orleans and Shanghai. We reflect on some of the highlights.

In the span of the past few years the Tanglewood Jazz Festival has quickly become established as a Labor Day Weekend tradition in the Berkshires. For 2009 it will come following an extra week of programming featuring James Taylor. So the Second Line will rock and goove home titubating the last gasp of summer.