Tanglewood Music Center
"The Tanglewood Music Center presents a unique opportunity for a summer of living and working in music."
- Serge Koussevitzky, Founder
The Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) is the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer academy for advanced musical training. Every season a new class of TMC Fellows gathers on the Tanglewood campus for a transformative experience immersed in performance and learning. Each class is compromised of the absolute finest young musicians selected through a rigorous application and audition process. For many, TMC represents the final milestone before a professional life in music.
Fellows across the TMC’s six programs (Composition, Conducting, Instrumental, Library, Piano, and Vocal Arts) engage with a summer that emphasizes collaborative performance. This practical method of learning offers Fellows a chance to not only draw on the knowledge and experience of the BSO musicians and guest faculty around them but learn from each other while rehearsing and performing together.
In the same day a violin Fellow may experience a Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (TMCO) rehearsal with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, an excerpt class with a member of the BSO, play in a chamber music project alongside a faculty member, and sit on the Koussevitzky Shed lawn among colleagues enjoying a BSO performance.
This collaboration exists not only within programs but between programs, creating a holistic community of musicians indulging in the release of a creative summer under the backdrop of the Berkshire hills. Vocalists perform with instrumentalists in chamber music and orchestra projects, composers have their works workshopped and performed and conductors lead the TMCO in concert.
It would be impossible to list all the distinguished musicians who have studied at the TMC. They include Claudio Abbado, John Adams, Marin Alsop, Leonard Bernstein, Tania Leon, Seiji Ozawa, and Dawn Upshaw, as well as countless orchestral musicians around the world including over 40 players in the BSO. Alumni of the TMC play a vital role in the musical life of the United States and world as performers and composers. The TMC maintains its commitment to the future as one of the world’s most important training grounds for composers, conductors, instrumentalists, and vocalists.
Fellowship Programs
Composition Fellowships
Composition fellows at the TMC enjoy multiple performances of their work throughout the summer and form enduring relationships with their performer colleagues while immersed in the culture of new music that has suffused Tanglewood since its founding in 1940.
Conducting Fellowships
Conducting fellows experience an unparalleled summer under the guidance of BSO Music Director and Head of Conducting at Tanglewood Andris Nelsons and lead the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in concert.
Instrumental Fellowships
Instrumental fellows experience dedicated mentorship from Boston Symphony musicians and guest faculty, orchestral performances under the batons of BSO Music Director and Head of Conducting at Tanglewood Andris Nelsons and world-renowned guest conductors, chamber music with other Fellows and faculty members, as well as attending weekly classes with BSO members and guest artists.
Library Fellowships
Under the guidance of BSO Assistant Librarian Russel Allyn, Library Fellows work with some of the world's most important conductors, preparing materials for all TMC Orchestra (TMCO) activities, including concerts, rehearsals, and masterclasses.
Piano Fellowships
The TMC encourages a wide range of strengths and interests for all young pianists entering the field, from solo to a significant variety of collaborative work. Pianists at the Tanglewood Music Center participate in both the instrumental and vocal areas, giving the piano program an innovative and uniquely broad focus.
Vocal Arts Fellowships
Under the leadership of soprano Dawn Upshaw, the Vocal Arts Program offers singers diverse and meaningful performance projects in the song, chamber, orchestral, and contemporary repertoire.