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Tanglewood Online Exhibits

Koussevitzky 150

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Serge Koussevitzky's birth and the 100th anniversary of his appointment as the BSO's first Music Director.

At right: Leonard Bernstein and Lukas Foss stand by Serge Koussevitzky as he cuts his birthday cake at Tanglewood, ca. 1946. Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein, Whitestone Photo.

Leonard Bernstein and Lukas Foss stand on either side of Serge Koussevitzky as he cuts his birthday cake at Tanglewood ca 1946

Upcoming Performances

Learn More About Serge Koussevitzky, Exhibits from the BSO Archives

Interior of Koussevitzky's living room with quilt hanging on the wall behind a couch and between two prints

A Quilt of Connections: Pre-Revolutionary Artistic Circles in Russia

The Koussevitsky Quilt features signatures from elite Russian artists, composers, authors, painters, and important industrialists who supported the arts.
Color postcard of the Music Shed at Tanglewood

Most Thrilling: A Student View of the Inaugural Class of the Tanglewood Music Center

In 1940, Koussevitzky's Music Center welcomed its first class of students to the Tanglewood grounds. Take a unique peek into the day-to-day intensity of practicing, socializing, and soaking in music during that first summer of Koussevitzky's grand experiment.
Newspaper article caption Tanglewood Milestones in the Career of Maestro Serge Koussevitzky

Koussevitzky at Tanglewood

Explore how Serge Koussevitzky's impact on Tanglewood is still felt today.
Painting of Serge Koussevitzky playing the double bass

Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951)

2024 marks the 150th anniversary of Serge Koussevitzky’s birth and the 100th anniversary of his appointment as the BSO's first Music Director.

Koussevitzky @150 Recordings

A celebration of the 150th anniversary of legendary conductor Serge Koussevitzky's birth and the 100th anniversary of his appointment as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During his 25-year tenure at the BSO (1924-1949), Koussevitzky championed nearly every significant living composer and made peerless recordings of Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Debussy, Prokofiev and many more. This series brings together the best of these recordings with the voices of those who knew Koussevitzky best from Leonard Bernstein to Aaron Copland to Nicholas Slonimsky. The series is produced by Tom Godell, a 50-year public radio veteran and founder of the Koussevitzky Recordings Society.

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Koussevitzky Copland Album Cover