Tanglewood announces summer 2024 programming - The Boston Globe (2024)

The Russian-born Koussevitzky, who was the first BSO conductor to hold the title of music director, led the BSO between 1924 and 1949. During his 25-year leadership, the BSO rose to worldwide prominence and Koussevitzky founded the Berkshire Music Center, which later became the TMC. The birthday celebration is intended to “give audiences a perspective on how innovative this man really was,” Smith said.

For Koussevitzky, it was “deeply important to bring the BSO out into a summer venue where the listening experience could be much more casual, and where audiences could interact in ways they couldn’t in the concert hall,” Smith said.

During the “Koussevitzky 150″ centerpiece event (July 26-28), Andris Nelsons will conduct the BSO in several pieces that Koussevitzky commissioned or bolstered, including Scriabin’s “Prometheus, Poem of Fire” with pianist Yefim Bronfman and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Aaron Copland’s Piano Concerto with Paul Lewis; and Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms.” The weekend also overlaps with related programming by the Tanglewood Learning Institute, as well as the TMC’s annual Festival of Contemporary Music, which is co-curated this year by composers Tania León and Steven Mackey (July 25-29).

Nelsons will lead several other concerts throughout the month of July, including an all-Beethoven program on opening night featuring violinist Hilary Hahn in the Violin Concerto (July 5); an all-Strauss program with soprano Renée Fleming (July 7); a collaboration with Boston Ballet on Stravinsky’s 1928 ballet “Apollon Musagète” (July 12); and a concert performance of Act III of Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung,” starring soprano Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde (July 20).

This summer marks the first for Nelsons in the newly established role of head of conducting at Tanglewood, a title that Smith said reflects Nelsons’s dedication to mentoring the next generation of conductors through the TMC. Notably, this summer’s two TMC conducting fellows will make their BSO conducting debuts at Symphony Hall in the fall on a program shared with Nelsons.

“It really is about investing in these musicians in a way that really helps launch them,” said Smith.

Conductors Alan Gilbert, Dima Slobodeniouk, Earl Lee, and Karina Canellakis return to the Koussevitzky Music Shed podium, with perennial soloists including pianist Emanuel Ax, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and violinist Joshua Bell, whose trio with pianist Kirill Gerstein and cellist Steven Isserlis appears at Ozawa Hall as well as with the BSO at the Shed.

In August, several new faces make their BSO and/or Tanglewood debuts. They include conductors Dalia Stasevska, James Gaffigan, Ryan Bancroft, and Samy Rachid (BSO assistant conductor), soprano Elena Villalόn, pianist Bruce Liu, and bass-baritone Davόne Tines. Also at the Shed, Gustavo Dudamel makes his first Tanglewood appearance since 2006 with the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela.

At Ozawa Hall, this summer’s attractions include performances by baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants, the Gerald Clayton Trio, the Danish String Quartet, chamber ensemble The Knights with Ax, the duo of violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Daniil Trifonov, and pianist Yuja Wang, as well as plentiful offerings from the fellows of the TMC. The Linde Center for Music and Learning also plays host to a wealth of programming from the TMC and the Tanglewood Learning Institute, including masterclasses, workshops, and cabaret programs.

The Boston Pops present a handful of performances at the Shed; most notably, there will be two presentations of the fan favorite “John Williams’ Film Night” event, with Williams and Ken-David Masur conducting (Aug. 2 and 3). Pops conductor Keith Lockhart also leads the ensemble and a slew of special guests in an opening-weekend celebration of modern Broadway (July 6), and near the end of the summer, Lockhart and the Pops perform Williams’s score to “Jurassic Park” along with a live screening of the film (Aug. 17).

Several more beloved Tanglewood traditions continue this summer. James Taylor celebrates his 50th season at the festival with concerts on July 3 and 4; Additional attractions in the Popular Artists series include a double bill of Kool & the Gang and En Vogue and a triple bill of Judy Collins, Rufus Wainwright, and Indigo Girls. Tanglewood On Parade (Aug. 6) offers a full day of fun for the whole family, culminating in a concert featuring the BSO, the Pops, the TMC Orchestra, Tchaikovsky’s “1812″ Overture,, and fireworks.

Tickets go on sale March 19.

TANGLEWOOD

Late June-Aug. 31. Lenox. www.tanglewood.org

A.Z. Madonna can be reached at az.madonna@globe.com. Follow her @knitandlisten.