Tanglewood Music Center

2025 Conducting Program

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.

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra

Each conducting fellow leads the world class Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in at least six works a season, experiencing a minimum 15 hours of independent podium time with the group.

For one work performed with the TMC fellows collaborate with the TMC administration on programming before the season and usually have a chance to lead a piece of their own choosing. Examples of works led by fellows in recent seasons include Bernstein Suite from On the Waterfront, Britten Four Sea Interludes, Kodály Suite from Háry János, Ravel Suite from Mother Goose, and Strauss Don Juan.

In addition to working regularly with Andris Nelsons, fellows also interact with TMCO guest conductors, soloists, and musicians in a variety of formats, including rehearsal observation, classes, score study sessions, and informal discussions.

2025 TMCO conductors and repertoire will include:

• Andris Nelsons leading Brahms Symphony No. 2 and Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
• Herbert Blomstedt leading repertoire TBA
• Esa-Pekka Salonen leading Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
• Dima Slobodeniuok leading Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
• Thomas Wilkins leading the Festival of Contemporary Music

Faculty and Conducting Workshops

Conducting fellows at the TMC participate in several conducting workshops each season, some closed and some open to the public. The 2025 program will include at least:

• Four classes with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons
• One class with Dima Slobodeniouk
• One class with Thomas Wilkins

BSO Appearance and Career Development

Each conducting fellow leads a work on a Boston Symphony Orchestra subscription concert the season following their fellowship. This chance to share the stage with BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons in a high-profile, professional setting allows fellows to gain invaluable experience and deepen their relationship with the BSO.

The subscription concert experience is also the culmination of mentorship from the summer developing fellows’ confidence in engaging with press, media, and development to further their long-term professional credentials.

New Music

Fellows have significant involvement in new music, especially during the Festival of Contemporary Music, led in 2025 by FCM Curator Gabriela Ortiz. Fellows conduct larger chamber projects and often give world premieres of TMC-commissioned works. They also lead the TMC’s alumni ensemble of new music specialists, the Fromm Players, in performances of the Silent Film Project, which features new music composed by TMC composition fellows to accompany silent film from the early 20th century.

Vocal Music

Conducting fellows work on projects that involve fellows from the Vocal Arts Program and its faculty, including Head of the Vocal Arts Program Dawn Upshaw. These opportunities often include larger chamber works with voice and may include concerts of operatic excerpts or orchestrated song. In 2024 fellows conducted a night of opera scenes from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Die Zauberflöte.

Special Projects

Conducting fellows often take on larger chamber works performed by the instrumental fellows for non-orchestral programs, including the Brass and Percussion Ensemble Concert near the beginning of each season. They often lead sectionals for strings, winds, brass, and percussion under the guidance of section representatives from the BSO.

Conducting Seminar

In addition to the conducting fellows, each summer, a small group of applicants are selected to be Conducting Seminarians and invited to attend Tanglewood for a period of up to two weeks, so that they can become familiar with all that Tanglewood has to offer. During their time on campus, seminarians attend conducting classes with reading ensemble, observe the full working process of TMCO and BSO concert sequences, and live in the manner of the TMC Fellows, with room and board provided.