Classical Beat: Tanglewood Music Festival Concludes Its Classical Season

Tanglewood Music Festival Concludes Its Classical Season 

This week, Tanglewood concludes its magnificently curated, presented and performed 2024 classical music summer festival season with panache by showcasing several performing soloists and a noted Finnish conductor – all making their Tanglewood debut performances. Orchestral masterworks by Brahms, Beethoven, Elgar and Ravel, as well as stellar concerto performances of works by Mozart and Chopin will take center stage in the Shed. These, in addition to several outstanding Ozawa Hall chamber music programs, leading to the traditional Tanglewood Music Festival season- concluding performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ('Choral') will enthrall listeners. Read below for the details, including the end-of-season Popular Artists appearances in the Shed and in Studio E, Linde Center for Music and Learning..

Four Tanglewood Classical Highlights This Week 

A brilliant violin/piano recital program in Ozawa Hall will feature pianist Alessio Bax and violinist James Ehnes in their Tanglewood debuts performing Mozart (Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K.304); Brahms (Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78) and Beethoven (Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47 'Kreutzer') (August 21).

The rising star American conductor Ryan Bancroft makes his BSO debut in the Shed, along with the elegantly expressive pianist Bruce Liu in Chopin's enraptured Piano Concerto No. 1, followed by Elgar's deeply moving Enigma Variations (August 23). 

Conductor Karina Canellakis and the BSO accompany violinist James Ehnes in Chausson's sensitively lyrical "Poème" on a program that features the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in the Shed (Brahms: 'Shicksalslied'); they will also perform works by Beethoven and Ravel (August 24).

Ludovic Marlot will conduct BSOs performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Sunday, August 25 at 2:30 pm in the Shed.

Full Tanglewood Schedule of Concerts, Events

Wednesday, August 21

8 p.m., Seiji Ozawa Hall

Tanglewood Recital Series

James Ehnes, violin

Alessio Bax, piano

MOZART Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K.304

BRAHMS Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78

BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47, ('Kreutzer')

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Thursday, August 22

1 p.m., Tent Club

TLI Talks and Walks

Anthony Fogg, moderator, with conductor Karina

Canellakis

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Friday, August 23

6 p.m., Seiji Ozawa Hall

Prelude Concert

Koussevitzky and the Choral Connection: exploring

choral works by composers who were commissioned

by the Koussevitzky Foundation

Tanglewood Festival Chorus

James Burton, conductor

TIPPETT "Dance, Clarion Air"

POULENC Salve Regina

STRAVINSKY Ave Maria

BRITTEN "A Hymn to the Virgin"

Helen GRIME Telling

MESSIAEN O Sacrum Convivium

WALTON "Set me as a seal upon thine heart"

WALKER "Stars"

Augusta Read THOMAS "The Rewaking"

HARVEY "Come, Holy Ghost"

8 p.m., Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Ryan Bancroft, conductor

Bruce Liu, piano

CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 1

ELGAR 'Enigma' Variations

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Saturday, August 24

10:30 a.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

8 p.m., Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Karina Canellakis, conductor

James Ehnes, violin

Tanglewood Festival Chorus

James Burton, conductor

Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven, Brahms,

Chausson, and Ravel

BEETHOVEN "The Creatures of Prometheus" overture

BRAHMS "Schicksalslied"

CHAUSSON "Poème," for violin and orchestra

RAVEL Tzigane

RAVEL "Daphnis et Chloé," Suite No. 2

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Sunday, August 25

2:30 p.m., Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Ludovic Morlot, conductor

Ambur Braid, soprano

Jess Dandy, contralto

Elgan Llr Thomas, tenor

Davóne Tines, bass-baritone

Tanglewood Festival Chorus

James Burton, conductor

BRUCKNER Ecce sacerdos magnus

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 ('Choral')

THREE TANGLEWOOD POPULAR ARTIST PERFORMANCES

Sunday, August 25

7 p.m., Studio E, Linde Center for Music and Learning

TLI Presents: The Edmar Castaneda Quartet

Edmar Castaneda, harp

Andrea Tierra, vocalist

Shlomi Cohen, sax

Rodrigo Villalon, drums

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Friday, August 30

7 p.m., Shed

Popular Artist Series

Judy Collins, The Indigo Girls, and Rufus Wainwright

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Saturday, August 31

7 p.m., Shed

Popular Artist Series

DISPATCH with the Boston Pops Orchestra

Keith Lockhart, conductor

For tickets to all Tanglewood events, call (888) 266-1200, or go online at tanglewood.org.

Monument Mountain Sophomore Wins Congressional App Challenge

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
12:12PM / Saturday, January 17, 2026

Congressman Neal takes questions from students during his visit. 

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Monument Mountain Regional High School sophomore Jonah Sanabria is the winner of this year's Congressional App Challenge for the 1st Massachusetts District.

 

His Health Advocate application acts as just that in your pocket, Sanabria said, helping resolve one of the biggest problems in health care — miscommunication.

 

"Every day, patients of all ages go to the doctor feeling stressed, confused, scared and uncertain, meaning they often forget what they wanted to say, and they leave without fully understanding what was said or the plan ahead," he said. 

 

"It's not because doctors don't care; it's because the system is set up in a way that makes relaxed communications really hard. Appointments are abbreviated. Patients aren't always sure what they can ask physicians, and nerves often make them forgetful." 

 

The challenge was authorized by Congress in 2015 to promote interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Each representative may host an official computer science competition in their districts. More than 85,000 high school students in all 50 states have since participated, with more than 18,000 in 2025.

 

Jonah beat out nine other submissions in the 1st Mass. His app will be featured on the challenge page and displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. In addition, he will have the opportunity to visit Capitol Hill in the spring at a celebration called #HouseOfCode, where winning teams from across the country hear from lawmakers, interact with sponsors and partners at the STEM Expo, and demonstrate their apps.

 

Before a scheduled doctor's appointment, the program asks the user about their symptoms, health issues, and health goals and organizes and prioritizes questions to ask during the doctor visit.