Boston Symphony Orchestra announces the 2023 Tanglewood summer season, opening June 22

Tickets go on sale to the public at 10am on march 9 at Tanglewood.org or 888-266-1200

The 85th Tanglewood season offers audiences a wide range of programs and events tha spotlight favorite guest artists and repertoire, while introducing dynamic new performers,conductors, and composers, with 48 artists in their Tanglewood or BSO debuts, and works by 28 living composers, including world premieres and five BSO commissions.

One of the country’s premier summer music festivals—with dance, jazz, drama, and opera joining the mix in this year’s line-up—Tanglewood welcomes all to its iconic grounds surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts Free lawn tickets for those under age 18 for BSO, Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center performances and discounted lawn ticket programs for students and Berkshire residents are among the many offerings that make Tanglewood a place for music lovers of all ages to enjoy throughout the summer.

Shed Highlights

Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Music Centerorchestras in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Orff’s Carmina burana, Mahler 4, Prokofiev 5, and works of Iman Habibi, Wynton Marsalis, Jessie Montgomery, Carlos Simon, and John Williams; Nelsons welcomes soloists Nicole Cabell, Hilary Hahn, Leonidas Kavakos, Kate Lindsey, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Daniil Trifonov.

Keith Lockhart leads five Boston Pops programs, including a new symphonic version of Ragtime, a concert film presentation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert, Star Wars: The Story in Music, a showcase for music from the movie franchise; John Williams and David Newman conduct John Williams' Film Night .

James Taylor and his All-Star Band present performances on July 3 and 4, as part of the festival’s Popular Artist Series; additional Popular Artist performers include Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, the Steve Miller Band, and Train, plus Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!

Xian Zhang and Kazuki Yamada make their conducting debuts; Giancarlo Guerrero and Dima Slobodeniouk make welcome returns; Youth and Family Concerts Conductor Thomas Wilkins leads a Family Program and a BSO concert; and Anna Rakitina returns for her final concert as BSO Assistant Conductor.

Ozawa Hall and Linde Center Highlights

Ozawa Hall to feature the Emerson String Quartet with Emanuel Ax; The Knightswith special guest Chris Thile, the Philharmonia Baroque in Handel’s Acis and Galatea; recitals by Julia Bullock, Bruce Liu, and Alisa Weilerstein, and special appearances by the Danish String Quartet, Aaron Diehl Trio, and Kelli O’Hara

Tanglewood Music Center Fellows present weekly orchestra, chamber music, and vocal performances and are featured in this summer’s Festival of Contemporary Music, curated by Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Michael Gandolfi, Tebogo Monnakgotla, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir; among the TMCO’s guest conductors, Susanna Mälkki leads the final orchestra concert of the season, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

Tanglewood Learning Institute’s engaging programs to include a TLI Spotlight Series with Isabel Wilkerson, TLI/TMC Open Workshops with Andris Nelsons and Tai Murray, a TLI Immersion weekend around the Boston Pops’ Ragtimeperformance, a TLI In Conversation with Will Liverman, and a special TLI Presents of Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor.

Program Details and Dates

Andris Nelsons Leads the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestras

Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Shed in July

• Friday, July 7, 8pm: The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert of the season begins with Wynton Marsalis’s Herald, Holler, and Hallelujah, followed by Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, with soloist Daniil Trifonov, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, led by Andris Nelsons
• Sunday, July 9, 2:30pm: A world premiere of Iman Habibi’s Zhiân and Jessie Montgomery’s Freedom Songs, featuring vocalist Julia Bullock, make up the first half of this program; Hilary Hahn joins the BSO and Andris Nelsons for Brahms’s Violin Concerto to complete the program
• Saturday, July 15, 8pm: A Nelsons-led BSO concert performance of Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte, with Nicole Cabell and Kate Lindsey in the lead female roles, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton conductor, will be sung in Italian with English supertitles
• Sunday, July 16, 2:30pm: The BSO and Andris Nelsons, joined by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and children’s choir, perform Orff’s Carmina burana; the program opens with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3

Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Shed in August

• Friday, August 11, 8pm: Anne-Sophie Mutter joins the BSO and Nelsons for John Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2, on a program with works by Strauss and Ravel
• Sunday, August 13, 2:30pm: Julia Adolphe’s Makeshift Castle opens the program, followed by Yo-Yo Ma performing Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1; the program closes with Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1947 version)
• Friday, August 18, 8pm: Andris Nelsons leads the BSO in Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances and Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian, and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, both with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist
• Saturday, August 19, 8pm: Leonidas Kavakos performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on a program with Prokofiev‘s Symphony No. 5

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in the Shed

• Monday, July 10, 8pm: Andris Nelsons leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in Debussy’s La Mer; TMC Conducting Fellows lead works of Ravel and Stravinsky
• Monday, July 17, 8pm: Andris Nelsons leads the TMCO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4; TMC Conducting Fellows conduct music of Bacewicz and Kodály

Popular Artists, Boston Pops, Film Night, and Tanglewood on Parade

Popular Artists

• Thursday, June 22, 8pm, Shed: Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, NPR’s popular weekly news quiz show
• Friday, June 23, 7pm, Shed: Steve Miller Band with Very Special Guest Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
• Sunday, July 2, 7:30pm, Shed: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss with Very Special Guest JD McPherson
• Monday and Tuesday, July 3 and 4, 8pm, Shed: James Taylor, with fireworks to follow the July 4 concert; these two concerts are on sale now in advance of the rest of the season at tanglewood.org
• Thursday, August 24, 7pm, Shed: Train with Very Special Guest Parmalee

Boston Pops and Film Night

• Saturday, July 8, 8pm, Shed: The Boston Pops, Keith Lockhart, and a cast of acclaimed Broadway singers perform a new symphonic arrangement of Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert, prepared by the original creators Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty
• Friday, July 14, 8pm, Shed: The Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart present an All-Gershwin program with artist Michael Feinstein and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joining forces for a celebration of the music of this iconic American composer
• Saturday, August 5, 8pm, Shed: John Williams' Film Night, with conductors John Williams and David Newman, features classic film clips and favorite film score themes from the silver screen
• Saturday, August 26, 8pm, Shed: Keith Lockhart leads Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert, with John Williams’ score performed by the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra while the film is presented on high-definition screens
  
  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone™ in Concert is part of the Harry Potter Film Concert Series presented by CineConcerts.
  
  WIZARDING WORLD and all related trademarks, characters, names, and indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s23)
  
  
• Sunday, August 27, 2:30pm, Shed; Star Wars: The Story in Music features Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops performing the most memorable music from the sprawling saga of all nine Star Wars movies composed by John Williams

Tanglewood on Parade

• Tuesday, August 8, 2pm gates open, 8pm concert: Tanglewood’s annual all-day celebration begins with an opening fanfare and includes performances throughout the day by Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center; the day culminates in a gala concert led by Keith Lockhart, Andris Nelsons, and John Williams, with a grand finale performance of the 1812 Overture followed by a fireworks display over the Stockbridge Bowl

BSO Family Artists and Guest Conductors, Performers, and Composers: Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Concerts

BSO concerts in the Shed in July

• Friday, July 21, 8pm: Xian Zhang, in her BSO debut, leads the BSO and performers of Nimbus Dance in Copland’s Appalachian Spring on a program with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World
• Saturday, July 22, 10:30am: Thomas Wilkins leads members of the BSO in a Family Program entitled May I Have Your Attention Please
• Saturday, July 22, 8pm: David Afkham conducts an all-Mozart program featuring pianist Martin Helmchen
• Sunday, July 23, 2:30pm: Thomas Wilkins returns the next day to lead a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert, with mandolin soloist Jeff Midkiff in his own concerto entitled From the Blue Ridge, on a program with music of Coleridge-Taylor and Ellington
• Friday, July 28, 8pm: Giancarlo Guerrero leads the BSO and Lorelei Ensemble in Julia Wolfe’s Her Story (BSO co-commission); Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 completes the program
• Saturday, July 29, 8pm: Dima Slobodeniouk leads the BSO in a program that opens with Messiaen’s Les Offrandes oubliées, and includes Agata Zubel’s In the Shade of an Unshed Tear and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
• Sunday, July 30, 2:30pm: BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina leads the BSO and Joshua Bell in Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1, on a program with Ellen Reid’s When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist (featuring vocalists Eliza Bagg, Martha Cluver, and Sonja DuToit Tengblad) and a suite from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet

BSO concerts in the Shed in August

• Friday, August 4, 8pm: Emanuel Ax performs Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with Dima Slobodeniouk and the BSO; the program opens with John Adams’ Shaker Loops
• Sunday, August 6, 2:30pm, Kazuki Yamada, in his BSO debut, is joined by Lucas and Arthur Jussen for Mendelssohn’s Concerto in E for two pianos and orchestra; the program also includes Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique
• Saturday, August 12, 8pm: Susanna Mälkki leads the BSO and Seong-Jin Choin Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat on a program with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra

Special Event

• Friday, August 25, 8pm: Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Maperform an all-Beethoven program in the Shed, with the Archduke Trio and a transcription by Shai Wosner of the Fourth Symphony

TMCO concerts in Ozawa Hall and the Shed

• Sunday, July 23, 8pm, Ozawa Hall: Xian Zhang conducts Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6 on a program with works by Strauss and Gabriela Lena Frank led by TMC Conducting Fellows
• Monday, August 7, 8pm, Ozawa Hall: Dima Slobodeniouk conducts Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 on a program with works by Rachmaninoff and Ravel led by TMC Conducting Fellows
• Monday, August 14, 8pm, Ozawa Hall: Dame Jane Glover, in her Tanglewood debut, conducts Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 on program with Britten and Dvořák led by TMC Conducting Fellows
• Sunday, August 20, 2:30pm, Shed: Susanna Mälkki returns to the podium for the final orchestra program of the summer, leading the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and soloists Amanda Majeski, J’Nai Bridges, Stephen Costello, and Ryan Speedo Green in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and spirituals from Tippett’s A Child of Our Time

Chamber music and recital programs presented by the young Fellows of the TMC are free of charge and take place throughout the summer, including world premieres by 2022 TMC Composition Fellows David Evans, Ania Vu, Peter Shin, and David Roche.

Ozawa Hall: Chamber Music, Recitals, Opera, Jazz, Dance, and Special Projects

June

• Wednesday, June 28, 8pm: In its final appearance at Tanglewood, the Emerson String Quartet—joined by Emanuel Ax—performs a new work by Sarah Kirkland Snider, on a program with works by Purcell, Shostakovich, and Dvořák
• Thursday, June 29, 8pm: The Knights, with conductor Eric Jacobsen, perform a new work for voice and orchestra by Chris Thile, who will also be featured as vocal soloist, and Jessie Montgomery’s Source Code for strings, on a program with works of Bartók and Enesco

• Thursday, July 13, 8pm: Vocalist Julia Bullock in strong>Thursday, July 20, 8pm: Philharmonia Baroque, led by Richard Egarr, performs Handel’s Acis and Galatea (Aria Umezawa, stage director) with singers Nicholas Mulroy, Hera Hyesang Park, Dashon Burton, and Isaiah Bell
• Wednesday, July 26, 8pm: The Boston Symphony Chamber Players perform works of Yehudi Wyner, Sofia Gubaidulina, Shulamit Ran, and Schumann

August

• Wednesday, August 2, 8pm: The Danish String Quartet performs works of Schubert and Bent Sørensen
• Sunday, August 6, 8pm: The Aaron Diehl Trio—pianist Aaron Diehl, drummer Aaron Kimmel, and bassist David Wong—presents a jazz program that includes Sir Roland Hanna’s 24 Preludes
• Wednesday, August 9, 8pm: Cellist Alisa Weilerstein, presents FRAGMENTS 2, an immersive, multi-sensory audience experience combining music by contemporary composers with unaccompanied Bach (director Elkhanah Pulitzer, scenic and lighting designer Seth Reiser, and costume designer Carlos Soto)
• Wednesday, August 16, 8pm: Pianist Bruce Liu presents a recital of works by Barber, Chopin, Kapustin, and Rameau
• Sunday, August 20, 8pm: TLI Presents the Gerald Clayton Trio
• Tuesday, August 22, 8pm: Vocalist Kelli O’Hara, joined by pianist Dan Lipton, performs Broadway favorites

Tanglewood Music Center Presents the Festival of Contemporary Music, July 27–31

FCM opens with “In Conversation: Curators of the Festival of Contemporary Music and Michael Gandolfi” on Thursday, July 27, at 1pm in the Linde Center

Mr. Gandolfi to interview Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Tebogo Monnakgotla, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir about how they curated the festival, with each program representative of their individual sound world

Festival of Contemporary Music Performances

• Thursday, July 27, 8pm, Ozawa Hall: Music of FCM Co-curator Gabriela Lena Frank (Milagros, Sonata Serrana No. 1, and Las Sombras de los Apus) dominates FCM’s first musical program, which also includes Bartók’s Contrasts
• Friday, July 28, 2:30pm, Ozawa Hall: Works by FCM Co-curator Anna Thorvaldsdottir (Spectra, Reminiscence I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII, Hrim, Aequilibria, and Ró) highlight this program, which also features Kurtág’s 12 Microludes and Six Moments Musicaux.
• Saturday, July 29, 4pm, Linde Center: TLI Presents:A Curated Concert by Reena Esmail (FCM Co-curator), featuring Indian classical vocalist Saili Oak, in an all-Esmail program
• Saturday, July 29, 6pm, Ozawa Hall: Prelude Concert with the Tanglewood Music Center
• Sunday, July 30, 10am, Ozawa Hall: Interspersed with music by FCM Co-curator Tebogo Monnakgotla (It is the Lark that Sings, Five Pieces for String Trio, Le dormeur du val, Toys [or The Wonderful World of Clara], and Companion) are works by Malin Bång (Arching), Andile Khumalo (Schaufe[r]nster II), and Bent Sørensen (The Lady of Shalott)
• Sunday, July 30, 8pm, Linde Center: Experience a silent film screening with a score written by TMC Composition Fellows and performed live by TMC Fellows
• Monday, July 31, 8pm, Ozawa Hall: Works by all four curators are featured in the closing concert, with Stefan Asbury and TMC Conducting Fellows leading the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in Esmail’s RE / Member, Thorvaldsdottir’s METACOSMOS, Monnakgotla’s Un Clin d’oeil, and Frank’s Walkabout: Concerto for Orchestra.

Please Note:

• The Festival of Contemporary Music recitals and many FCM concerts are free of charge
• The opening program and curated concert by Reena Esmail are presented in conjunction with the Tanglewood Learning Institute

Tanglewood Learning Institute

• TLI PRESENTS performances by the Pacifica Quartet and soprano Karen Slack (July 2), composer/performer and media artist Pamela Z (July 9); Indian classical vocalist Saili Oak (concert curated by composer Reena Esmail on July 29); cellist Astrid Schween and pianist Shai Wosner (August 5); the jazz ensemble the Gerald Clayton Trio (August 20), and the two-person play American Moor written by Keith Hamilton Cobb and co-starring Mr. Cobb and Josh Tyson (August 26 and August 27)
• TLI SPOTLIGHT SERIES speakers—Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Saturday, July 22, 5pm) and scholar Dr. Saidiya Hartman, author of Scenes of Subjection (August 5)
• TLI IMMERSION lectures and performances augmenting and enhancing select Tanglewood programs, featuring director/dramaturg Angela M. Farr Schiller(July 7), tenor Nicholas Phan (July 8), Terezín Music Foundation director Mark Ludwig (August 11 and August 12), and more
• TLI OPEN WORKSHOPS with TMC Fellows led by pianist Marc-André Hamelin (July 5), soprano Erin Morley (July 12), BSO assistant timpanist Daniel Bauch (July 19), BSO harpist Jessica Zhou (July 26), BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons (August 9), cellist Yo-Yo Ma (August 10), violinist Tai Murray (August 16)
• TLI IN CONVERSATION informal discussions, including baritone Will Liverman(July 13), conductor Avid Afkham (July 20), composer Michael Gandolfi and Festival of Contemporary Music program Co-curators (July 27), pianist Andreas Haefliger (August 3), conductor Susanna Mälkki (August 10), and more

How to purchase tickets and free and discounted programs

2023 Tanglewood Ticket Purchasing

• Tickets to all Tanglewood events—on sale to the general public Thursday, March 9, at 10am—may be purchased through tanglewood.org, by calling 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office in Boston
• The Tanglewood Box Office will open March 9 through 11, 10am-3pm, to give local residents a chance to purchase tickets at their convenience.

Free Offerings

• Free lawn tickets for those under age 18 for BSO, Pops, and TMCO performances available day of concert at any Box Office location
• Free children’s tickets for the BSO Family Concert on July 22
• Free and Open Seating for Tanglewood Music Center and Festival of Contemporary Music recitals

Discounted Offerings

• Half-price lawn tickets for students age 18 or older for BSO Friday-night concerts, available day of concert at any Box Office location with student ID
• Lawn discounts for 2023 Popular Artist Series for guests ages 2–17 (may be some restrictions)
• A $220 Lawn Pass Book, 11 tickets valid for all standard, special, and premium BSO and Pops concerts in the Koussevitzky Music Shed and performances in Ozawa Hall
• A $100 Season Lawn Pass available for year-round Berkshire County residents with proof of residency
• Saturday-morning rehearsals begin at 10:30am in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, with pre-rehearsal talk at 9:30am
• Tickets for Saturday-morning rehearsals at 10:30am in the Shed, with pre-rehearsal talks, start at $19

Accessibility services

• For information about accessible seats and other accommodations, call 617-638-9431 or email access@bso.org, or visit tanglewood.org/accessibility

Please note

• With the exception of free lawn tickets for those under age 18 and half-price lawn tickets for students age 18 or older for BSO Friday-night concerts, (both available day of at box office) and Tanglewood Music Center and Festival of Contemporary Music recitals (no admission fee, open seating), all other tickets are available through tanglewood.org, by calling 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office.
• Free lawn tickets for those under age 18, Lawn Pass Books, Season Lawn Passes, and Berkshire Passes are not valid for Film Night (August 5), Tanglewood Learning Institute events, or Popular Artist concerts.

Additional details available at tanglewood.org

Press Kith with Downloadable Photos, Videos, Artist Bio, Ticket Prices & Other Season Information

Further Information About the 2023 Tanglewood Season

Quote from Andris Nelsons, Ray and Maria Stata BSO Music Director
“There is nothing like imagining being at Tanglewood and anticipating the abundant musical gifts that await us this summer in the Berkshires. With 44 artists making their debuts and works by 32 living composers, this year’s programs both inspire a sense of discovery and celebrate returning guest artists whose appearances move us so deeply year after year. All of us at the BSO look forward to welcoming our audiences back to the festival and encouraging newcomers to share in the absolute joy of experiencing a place that truly offers an extraordinary atmosphere for music-making.”

Quote from Jeffrey D. Dunn, BSO Interim President and CEO
“It is an honor and a thrill to be taking over as interim President and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as we announce the 85th summer season at Tanglewood. With its combination of natural beauty and artistic excellence, Tanglewood inspires both treasured memories and hopes of new experiences yet to be discovered. I look forward to joining Andris Nelson, Keith Lockhart, John Williams, the BSO’s musicians, staff, board members, and volunteers, and the Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center in welcoming visitors to performances and events throughout the summer. We are proud to play an important role, along with our sister cultural organizations across the region, in making the beautiful Berkshires one of this country’s most popular summertime destinations.

Formal titles for BSO conductors and guest composers

Andris Nelsons is the Ray and Maria Stata BSO Music Director; Keith Lockhart is the Julian and Eunice Cohen Boston Pops Conductor; John Williams is the George and Roberta Berry Boston Pops Conductor Laureate; Thomas Wilkins is the BSO Artistic Advisor, Education and Community Engagement and Germeshausen BSO Youth and Family Concerts Conductor; James Burton is the BSO Choral Director and Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Alan J. and Suzanne W. Dworsky chair, and Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Tebogo Monnakgotla, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir are the Merwin Geffen, M.D., and Norman Solomon, M.D., Festival of Contemporary Music Directors and Co-curators of the 2023 festival.

Tanglewood

Tanglewood, one of the country’s premier summer music festivals and summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937, is located in the Berkshire Hills of Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Tanglewood is also the home of the Tanglewood Music Center, the acclaimed summer music academy founded by Serge Koussevitzky in 1940. The Tanglewood Learning Institute, housed in the new Linde Center for Music and Learning (2019), is the Festival’s newest programming, offering dynamic and leading-edge performances and events connecting patrons with musicians, artists, students, academics, and cultural leaders through wide-ranging activities. Tanglewood also presents an annual Popular Artist series in the Koussevitzky Music Shed (1938) and recital and chamber music concerts in Ozawa Hall (1997). Tanglewood is a driver of more than $103 million in economic impact in the Berkshires each year, based on a 2018 third-party study by Stephen Sheppard, Professor of Economics at Williams College.

Tanglewood Season Sponsors

The BSO is proud to welcome Genesis as the Official Vehicle of Tanglewood and Berkshire Health Systems as the Official Health System of Tanglewood.

https://www.genesis.com/
https://www.berkshirehealthsystems.org