Tanglewood

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.

The texture and tones of the orchestra have been honed over decades and by various music directors. Rattle respects composers and his instrumentalists who interpret them. He works in broad strokes and lets performers do their detail work. An harmonious approach.

On October 12 at 3 PM there will be a performance by the Dover String Quartet of new works by Berkshire based composer Stephen Dankner. It was originally scheduled for the Clark but because of construction issues has been moved to Williams College and the Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, 54 Chapin Hall Drive, Williamstown. We met for lunch to dicuss this and other premieres scheduled through March.

Talk about an odd couple. At 88 and 28 there's a sixty year spread between jazz singer Tony Bennett and his neophyte partner the totally gonzo Lady Gaga. There are winners and loosers on this much anticipated CD. For both artists this was an interesting and risky artistic and career move.

The Tanglewood season closed with a near to capacity audience for national treasure Tony Bennett. Closing in on 90 yet again he uniquely rattled the renowned rusty pipes. He proved why Frank Sintra hailed him as the greatest jazz singer of his generation. Keeping forever young he is about to release an album of duets with Lady Gaga.

Humor, wit, charm and good looks equal Josh Groban. Like local favorite, Arlo Guthrie, Groban is a master storyteller.

TRAIN brought down the house at Tanglewood. In a return to the Berkshires classic TRAIN songs were mixed with songs from the upcoming new album, titled ‘Bulletproof Picasso.’ Yet again the middle aged rockers thrilled an audience of teenieboppers.

The Chicago Symphony was red hot when it embarked on the overture to Figaro. They relished the challenge and it paid off for listeners. One of the reasons that you can’t put a B cast to perform familiar music is that the audience knows the music so well. The performance has to be perfect. With Assistant concert master Stephanie Jeong leading, this Mozart was sublime.

The Beach Boys will take over Tanglewood on Monday, August 18th. There will be a dance area on the lawn outside of the shed, volleyball nets near the rear of the lawn, beach balls will be dispersed for play throughout the concert and sand and beach motif will dress up Tanglewood.

On August 15 conductor Stephane Deneve will lead a Beethoven and Prokofiev program featuring pianist and soloist Emanual Ax, followed by mezzo-soprano Elena Manistina. Starting at 5:30, prior to the concert, there will be a tasting of regional microbreweries and snacks.