The Classical Beat: Tanglewood Defines Summer Music in the Berkshires

By Stephen DankneriBerkshires Staff
01:18PM / Wednesday, June 24, 2015Print Story | Email Story

Tanglewood in Lenox has a variety of opening week events.

For many music lovers, Tanglewood in Lenox virtually defines music in the Berkshires. It is the largest summer presenter, with the most comprehensive schedule of performances across the full spectrum of musical styles and genres.

Before getting into imminent opening events, bookmark the Boston Symphony’s websites, bso.org or tanglewood.org for the full summer concert schedule, season highlights, tickets and general information.

During the opening week’s events, from Thursday, June 25, through Wednesday, July 1, Tanglewood celebrates the opening of their celebratory 75th Music Festival with a sampling of both popular and classical concerts that are sure to attract audiences. Here’s a preview of these exhilarating and varied musical offerings:

• Thursday and Friday, June 25 and 26, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The Mark Morris Dance Group is joined by Tanglewood Center Music Fellows in the world premiere of Morris’s choreography to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. Darius Milhaud’s 1922 jazz-era pastiche “The Creation of the World” will be a hoot, and breathtaking to see and hear.

• Saturday, June 28, 5:45 p.m. in the Shed: Garrison Keillor’s perennially popular “A Prairie Home Companion” live radio broadcast.

• Sunday, June 28, 10:00 a.m. in Ozawa Hall: A Tanglewood Music Center Chamber Music concert, featuring woodwinds, brass and percussion instrumental Fellows performing music by De Raaff, Dvorak, Gieshoff, Stravinsky, and concluding with Olivier Messiaen’s stupendously thrilling “Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum.”

• Sunday, June 28, 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: Huey Lewis and the News 2015 Tour: Featuring special guest artist Jamie Kent.

• Monday, June 29, 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m.: Tanglewood presents their traditional String Quartet Marathon featuring string TMC Fellows performing a wide-ranging sampling of individual string quartet movements from across the 250-year continuum of the quartet literature. Be sure to catch the 8 p.m. premiere of Derek Bermel’s “Harmonica” - a 75th anniversary TMC commission.

• Tuesday, June 30, 8 p.m. in the Shed: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga performing music from their “Cheek to Cheek” album.

• Wednesday, July 1, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The Boston Symphony Chamber Players joined by pianist Randall Hodgkinson, present a concert of music by Nathan, Nielsen and Brahms.

Tickets for all Tanglewood events can be purchased online at tanglewood.org, via SymphonyCharge, at 888-266-1200 or 888-266-1200, and at the Tanglewood box office located at the main gate, on West Street in Lenox. For further information, call 413-637-1600.

Tags: classical music, Tanglewood,

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Ventfort Hall: Making New England Movies

08:09AM / Wednesday, February 25, 2026

LENOX, Mass. — Jay Craven, American film director, screenwriter, and former film professor at Marlboro College, will present his talk "New England Movies: How and Why" on Sunday, March 1 at Ventfort Hall at 3:30 pm.

Craven will tell the story of his adventures and experiences, developing a sustained filmmaking career in the unlikely settings of Vermont and Massachusetts. A tea will follow his presentation.

He will describe working with a wide range of actors, including Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Kris Kristofferson, Martin Sheen, Ernie Hudson, and Michael J. Fox. He'll share the satisfactions and challenges that come from immersion into place-based narrative filmmaking.

According to a press release:

Craven's work grew out of years of working as a teacher and arts activist whose mission has been the advancement of community and culture in the region. For four decades he has written, produced, and directed character-driven films deeply rooted in Vermont and New England, including five "Vermont Westerns" based on the works of award-winning Northeast Kingdom writer, Howard Frank Mosher. His latest film, Lost Nation, digs into the parallel Revolutionary War era stories of Ethan Allen and the pioneering Black Guilford poet, Lucy Terry Prince. His other films have adapted stories by Jack London, Guy du Maupassant, George Bernard Shaw, Craig Nova and, currently, Henrik Ibsen and Dashiell Hammett. Craven also made the regional Emmy-winning comedy series, Windy Acres, for public television and seven documentaries.

Craven's films have played festivals and special screenings including Sundance, South by Southwest, The American Film Institute, Lincoln Center, Cinematheque Francaise, the Constitutional Court of Johannesburg, and Cinemateca Nacional de Venezuela. Awards include the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Producer's Guild of America's NOVA Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces program. His film Where the Rivers Flow North was a named finalist for Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Tickets are $45. Members receive $5 off with their discount code. Ticket pricing includes access to the mansion throughout the day of this event from 10 am to 4 pm. Reservations are strongly encouraged as seats are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call (413) 637-3206. All tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker St. in Lenox.

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