2018 Tanglewood Season Tickets Go On Sale This Sunday, 1/28

The 2018 Tanglewood Season, June 15-September 2, is dedicated to the spirit of Leonard Bernstein on the centennial of his birth, with programs celebrating his iconic stature as one of the great artistic figures of the 20th century and his immeasurable contribution to the Tanglewood festival from 1940 to 1990

2018 Tanglewood season, entitled Bernstein Centennial Summer-Celebrating Lenny at Tanglewood!, to spotlight Bernstein's inspiring talents as a composer, conductor, and educator, and as a supreme innovator and cultural influencer of the 20th century

As the culmination of a year-long worldwide celebration of the centennial of Leonard Bernstein's birth, the 2018 Tanglewood season, entitled Bernstein Centennial Summer-Celebrating Lenny at Tanglewood!, will pay tribute to Bernstein's legacy as a consummate artistic figure of the 20th century and his incomparable contribution to the Tanglewood festival from 1940 to 1990.

As one of the places most closely associated with Leonard Bernstein, Tanglewood, June 15-September 2, will honor this towering musical figure with concerts showcasing his singular contributions as a multifaceted composer for orchestra, Broadway, and film; a brilliant programmer and conductor of the world's great orchestras; and an innovative and provocative educator through his widely popular Young People's Concerts and lectures. Bernstein's close relationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra spanned a half-century, from the time he became a protégé of legendary BSO conductor and Tanglewood founder Serge Koussevitzky as a member of the first Tanglewood Music Center class in 1940, until the final concerts he ever conducted with the BSO and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra at Tanglewood in 1990. For a detailed history of Bernstein's relationship with the BSO and Tanglewood, click here.

From "The Leonard Bernstein Letters": excerpt from a letter of September 1940, following Bernstein's summer as a Conducting Fellow studying with Serge Koussevitzky in the inaugural year of the Tanglewood Music Center:
"This summer to me was beauty-beauty in work, and strength of purpose, and cooperation. I am full of humility and gratitude for having shared so richly in it. These last six weeks have been the happiest and most productive of my life. I have been able, for the first time, to concentrate completely on my main purpose..."

Leonard Bernstein Works Being Performed as Part of the 2018 Tanglewood Season
The Bernstein Centennial Summer-Celebrating Lenny at Tanglewood! will feature the following works by Leonard Bernstein throughout the 2018 Tanglewood season: Fancy Free (1944); On the Town (1944); Facsimile, Choreographic Essay for Orchestra (1946); Trouble in Tahiti (1951); Serenade (after Plato's "Symposium"), for violin and orchestra (1954); Candide (1956); West Side Story (1957); Chichester Psalms (1965); Songfest (1977); Three Meditations from Mass, for cello and orchestra (1977); Divertimento for Orchestra (1980); ?alil, Nocturne for flute and orchestra (1981); A Quiet Place (1983); Opening Prayer (Benediction) (1986); Variations on an Octatonic Scale, for flute and cello (1989); and selected chamber, vocal, and choral works. In addition, there will also be performances of many works central to Bernstein's life as a conductor and pianist, including Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, Copland Symphony No. 3, Mahler Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3, Britten's Four Sea Interludes, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, and music by Mozart, Haydn, and Sibelius.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE 2018 TANGLEWOOD SEASON:

FRIDAY, JUNE 15 - Roger Daltrey PERFORMS THE WHO'S TOMMY WITH THE BOSTON POPS
Roger Daltrey, the legendary founder and lead singer of The Who, will perform the group's iconic rock opera TOMMY, with the Boston Pops on Friday, June 15 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. First released in 1969, TOMMY tells the story of a boy who becomes deaf, dumb, and blind after witnessing the murder of his mother's lover. The experimental rock opera follows his emotional journey through an unwelcoming world with powerful songs such as "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me." Roger Daltrey last performed at Tanglewood with The Who in 1969 and 1970. Tickets for the performance, ranging from $40 to $170, go on sale on Friday, January 26.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22 - ANDY GRAMMER
Multi-platinum pop star Andy Grammer joins the 2018 Tanglewood Season on Friday, June 22 at 7 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. Since releasing "Keep Your Head Up" and "Fine By Me" in 2011, Andy Grammer has taken the music world by storm with a succession of anthemic pop hits. The artist performed with the Boston Pops on the orchestra's 2017 July 4th Fireworks Spectacular, which was telecast nationally on Bloomberg TV. Grammer will perform such songs as "Honey, I'm Good" and "Good to be Alive," as well as tracks from his introspective 2017 album The Good Parts including "Smoke Clears," and "Fresh Eyes" during his Tanglewood debut. Tickets for the June 22 performance, ranging from $26 to $119, will go on sale on Friday, January 26.

MONDAY, JULY 2 - THE Steve Miller BAND AND Peter Frampton
The Steve Miller Band and Peter Frampton will join the 2018 Tanglewood season for a double-header concert on Monday, July 2, at 7 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. British rocker Peter Frampton will open the set. Since the beginning of his solo career in the early 1970's, Frampton has entertained audiences with his signature classic rock sound. He'll perform such hits as "Show me the Way," "Do You Feel Like We Do," and "Baby, I Love Your Way" and delight Tanglewood crowds with his blazing guitar solos and Talkbox riffs. In the '70s, Steve Miller crafted a brand of rock 'n' roll music that has dominated radio through today including such hits as "The Joker," "Livin' in the USA," "Take the Money and Run," "Rock 'n Me," "Fly Like an Eagle," "Jet Airliner," "Jungle Love," and "Abracadabra." The Steve Miller Band has played to more than 20 million people in the last 20 years. The Steve Miller Band last performed at Tanglewood in 2013 and Peter Frampton will be making his Tanglewood debut. About touring and the upcoming performance, Steve Miller says "2017 was an amazingly beautiful, creative and rewarding music experience for our band and our audience. The band and production crew are working on creating an even better concert experience for 2018 and plan on wading even deeper into the musical waters. Peter Frampton and I enjoyed last summer. There is so much to explore and we are really looking forward." Peter Frampton adds, "Having had such a fantastic tour together last summer, Steve and I decided to keep going this year! Jamming together each night during Steve's set is one of my favorite moments of the evening. Can't wait to get back out there." Tickets for the July 2 performance, ranging from $33 to $109, go on sale on Sunday, January 28.

In addition to Roger Daltrey (6/15), Andy Grammer (6/22), and The Steve Miller Band and Peter Frampton (7/2), the opening night concert of the Andris Nelsons and BSO's 2018 season will feature Lang Lang performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491 (replacing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1). The opening night program on Friday, July 6, will also include the overture to Mozart's The Magic Flute, as well Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, as previously scheduled. Boy soprano Raphael Bellamy Plaice will make his BSO debut on Sunday, July 15, performing Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with Andris Nelsons and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Ken-David Masur leads the BSO in works by Glinka, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky on Friday, August 3. Conductor Dima Slobodeniouk makes his BSO debut on Sunday, August 5, in a program featuring Joshua Bell in Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2. On Wednesday, July 11, Jeremy Denk performs Mozart's Rondo in A minor, K.511, in addition to his previously scheduled program of music by Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Schumann.

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