The 2022 Summer Music Festival Season Begins
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The summer concert season is upon us, and how lucky are we music lovers to be living right here, in the Berkshires, at what can only be described as “Music Heaven!”
With performances easily accessible nearby, via a short, pleasant drive, within our contiguous two-state region, concertgoers will have a wide selection of music in a multiplicity of styles to enjoy in venues grand (Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass) or intimate (Taconic Music in southwestern Vermont and Marlboro Music to the east near Brattleboro).
Scanning the upcoming offerings of these and also several other important venues in the region, it looks to be an especially exciting and brilliant summer season of outstanding music making.
Tanglewood
One of the world's premiere summer music festivals and the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) since 1937, Tanglewood presents its first full season of concerts and events since 2019.
Here is a sampling of memorable highlights you'll want to consider attending throughout July and August at the three major venues on the bucolic Tanglewood campus in Lenox.
In The Koussevitsky Music Shed:
Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons leads the BSO's opening night Bernstein/Stravinsky program with guest pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and baritone Jack Canfield (7/8); a concert performance of Mozart's "Don
Giovanni" (7/16); Brahms' "A German Requiem" (7/17); works by Carlos Simon, Helen Grime, and Fazil Say, and a Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performance of Strauss' "Dance of the Seven Veils" from "Salome"
(7/11); Keith Lockhart leads Boston Pops in John Williams' film score to accompany the giant screen viewing of "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" (7/15).
In Ozawa Hall:
Pianist Emanuel Ax presents his second "Pathways from Prague" program, joined by pianist Mackenzie Melemed and the Cantus ensemble (7/14); mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and "Music from Copland House" ensemble
perform music by Pierre Jalbert, Aaron Copland, and Richard Danielpour joined by former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove's "A Standing Witness," with composer and poet featured in a pre-concert discussion in the Linde Center for Music and Learning (7/21).
In The Linde Center:
Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI) and Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) Events TLI In Conversation with soprano Janai Brugger (7/14); TLI Open Vocal Workshop with soprano Dawn Upshaw coaching Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center (7/14), and TLI Presents with pianist Stephen Drury performing Frederic Rzewski's landmark piano masterwork, "The People United Will Never Be Defeated!" (7/17).
Fans of the Boston Pops will want to go online to access the BSO.ORG. NOW concert streaming platform for new videos-on-demand and archival programming beginning June 23.
For tickets to all Tanglewood events, call (888) 266-1200, or go online at tanglewood.org.
Look for weekly Classical Beat previews and recommended concert and related events programming at Tanglewood throughout July and August.
Taconic Music
Based in Manchester, Vt., this vivacious and innovative music festival, led by co-founders Ariel Rudiakov and Joana Genova-Rudiakov have already hit the ground running with stylistically varied and imaginative programming. Taconic's season runs through July 11. Look for the weekly Classical Beat listings. Here are three upcoming special events:
• Master class: Wednesday, June 22, 7:00 p.m.: Master classes allow the audience to experience firsthand how chamber music is refined and brought to a whole new level. A visiting artist, ensemble, or faculty member will work with student groups, offering insights about interpretation and style. Performance venue is at the Riley Center for the Arts at Burr and Burton Academy, 143 Seminary Avenue, Manchester, Vt. Free admission. Reservations are requested.
• Faculty Concert II: Saturday, June 25, 7:30-8:45 p.m.: Haydn: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33, No. 3; Leoš Janáček: "In the Mists" - Miki Aoki, piano; Ernst von Dohnányi: Piano Quintet No. 2 in E-flat Minor, op. 26. Adults: $25. Students/Kids FREE. Reservations are recommended.
• Young Artists' Concert I: Monday, June 27, 7:00-9:15 p.m. Music featured will be by Haydn, Dvořák, Shostakovich and Brahms. Performance venue: the Riley Center for the Arts at Burr and Burton Academy, 143 Seminary Avenue, Manchester, Vt. FREE admission.
For all Taconic Music tickets, concert and related information: (802) 362– 7162. Online: directors@taconicmusic.org . Masks are requested for all indoor events.
Marlboro Music - chamber music heaven in July and August
Just a little over an hour from North Adams is Marlboro Music, this year celebrating its 71st season. Located near Brattleboro, VT., Marlboro is too important a musical destination to ignore; the venue presents the finest in chamber music in the region, and is a necessary stop along the 'via musica' for classical music pilgrims. Located on the campus of the former Marlboro College, the Music Festival and School offers weekend programs from mid-July to mid-August. This summer, 92 students - performers from 20 countries, with 24 first-time participants, will be joining Marlboro's master
artistic directors and senior artists to form one large musical family. For seven weeks, they will live, learn, and play together, exploring and exchanging ideas on approximately 250 instrumental and vocal works amid Marlboro's warm community atmosphere and the natural beauty of southeastern Vermont. These gifted students are young professional concert artists, symphony orchestra members, chamber music artists, and exceptionally gifted conservatory or university students, and are taught by internationally renowned chamber musicians. Programs are only announced a day or two before each concert, but this is incidental to Marlboro aficionados; they come to revel in the music, whatever is offered - it's that good.
Weekend concerts run from July 16-August 14. All programs and open rehearsals take place at Persons Auditorium during the day, beginning the week of July 11. Schedules are announced at the beginning of each week and include works that will be performed on the following weekend's concert programs. Admission to the rehearsals is free, and no tickets or advance signup is required. If you have any questions, or wish to purchase concert tickets, please contact the box office Manager, Patrick LaVecchia- Burke, at (215) 569-4690, or via email at pburke@marlboromusic.org.
Marlboro Music's general website is: marlboromusic.org.
Look for weekly Classical Beat concert previews for these and other regional venues each week on Wednesdays.
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