Audra McDonald, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett & More Set for Tanglewood's 2015 Season

The 2015 Tanglewood season, June 20-Labor Day Weekend, boasts an abundance of musical riches with concerts by the incomparable Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras, the Tanglewood Music Center, and internationally acclaimed guest artists from the worlds of classical, jazz, the American Songbook, Broadway, pop rock, dance, and film, as well as performances spotlighting special anniversaries, thematic programming, and theatrical presentations.

Unique to the 2015 Tanglewood season will be the celebration of two milestones: the inaugural season of BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons and the 75th anniversary of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO's prestigious summer music academy. In a first for the Tanglewood Festival, Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax will each take on the newly created title of Koussevitzky Artist-an honorary title reflecting the BSO's deep appreciation for their generous performance and teaching commitment to the 2015 Tanglewood season, and for each of their extraordinary 30-plus-year involvement with the BSO at Tanglewood and at Symphony Hall in Boston. In what is sure to be one of the highlights of the 2015 Tanglewood season, the legendary Tony Bennett and megastar songstress Lady Gaga will perform music from their acclaimed new album, Cheek to Cheek, 6/30.

Tickets for the 2015 Tanglewood season, priced from $10 to $124, go on sale Sunday, January 25, at 10 a.m. at 888-266-1200 and www.tanglewood.org., where visitors can also find full details of the 2015 Tanglewood concert schedule. Tanglewood-this country's preeminent summer music festival and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra-is located in the Berkshire Hills between Stockbridge and Lenox, MA.

ANDRIS NELSONS FEATURED IN SIX PROGRAMS IN HIS FIRST SEASON AS BSO MUSIC DIRECTOR

Andris Nelsons leads six Tanglewood performances in his first season as BSO Music Director. For his first BSO concert of the season on August 1, Mr. Nelsons leads Beethoven's Triple Concerto with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, violinist Renaud Capuçon, and cellist Gautier Capuçon, on a program with Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10. On August 2, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and BSO principal viola Steven Ansell join Mr. Nelsons and the BSO for a performance of Strauss's Don Quixote, on a program with Haydn's Symphony No. 90 and Australian composer Brett Dean's Dramatis personae, Music for Trumpet and Orchestra, withHåkan Hardenberger as soloist. Mr. Nelsons will lead the combined forces of the Boston Symphony andTanglewood Music Center orchestras in Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, as part of Tanglewood on Parade, one of the festival's most popular annual traditions (8/4).

On August 8, Mr. Nelsons will join in the 75th TMC festivities by leading Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 8, featuring the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, supplemented by TMC alumni, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, BUTI Chorus, American Boy Choir, and a cast of internationally acclaimed soloists, to include sopranos Erin Wall and Christine Goerke, mezzo-sopranos Lioba Braun and Jane Henschel, tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, and baritone Matthias Goerne.

On August 14, Mr. Nelsons leads the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with soloist Christian Tetzlaff on a program with Mahler's Symphony No. 6. For his final program of the 2015 Tanglewood season on August 15, Mr. Nelsons will be joined by Kristine Opolais for the Willow Song and "Ave Maria" from Act IV of Verdi'sOtello and "L'altra notte in fondo al mare" from Act III of Boito's Mefistofele; the program will also feature the BSO in the Intermezzo from Act III of Puccini's Manon Lesaut, Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra, and Strauss's Ein Heldenleben.

YO-YO MA AND EMANUEL AX GIVEN FIRST-EVER KOUSSEVITZKY ARTIST TITLE IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR IMPORTANCE TO THE BSO AND TANGLEWOOD

The 2015 Tanglewood season will introduce the first ever Koussevitzky Artist honorific, a newly created title that will be given to Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, who will both be featured in four performances, in recognition of their generous artistic contribution to the 2015 Tanglewood season and the pedagogical role they will play as teachers at the TMC during the academy's 75th Anniversary Year. This newly created title also recognizes the extraordinary contributions that both Mr. Ma and Mr. Ax have made as inspirational performers who have appeared annually with the BSO, Mr. Ma since 1983, and Mr. Ax since 1982.

On Sunday, August 9, at 8 p.m., for only the second time in their performance history at Tanglewood, Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax will perform a recital-the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas-in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, with a capacity for 5000 seats, in response to the overwhelming popularity and demand for tickets for their more frequent appearances together in the 1200-seat Ozawa Hall. In another special event with Yo-Yo Ma, the famed cellist is joined by fellow cellists Mike Block, Monika Leskovar, and Giovanni Sollima, and the Boston Cello Quartet, made up of BSO cellists Mihail Jojatu, Alexandre Lecarme, Adam Esbensen, and Blaise Déjardin, for an Ozawa Hall program entitled A Distant Mirror, exploring the musical worlds and contemporary resonances of the 16th and 17th centuries, including the impact of the period's most celebrated literary figures, Shakespeare and Cervantes (8/13). Emanuel Ax will join theTanglewood Music Center Orchestra during the Festival of Contemporary Music on July 20 to perform Robert Zuidam's Piano Concerto, for Emanuel Ax and the TMCO.

For his solo appearance with the BSO, Mr. Ma will join the BSO, Andris Nelsons, and BSO principal violaSteven Ansell for Strauss's Don Quixote on 8/2, as part of Tanglewood's season tribute to the 400th anniversary of the publication of Cervantes' Don Quixote, Part II. For his BSO appearance, Mr. Ax will join the orchestra and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 on 7/25. Mr. Axand Mr. Ma will be joined by violinist Leonidas Kavakos for an all-Brahms program on August 6 in Ozawa Hall.

TANGLEWOOD MUSIC CENTER CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY

The TMC's 75th anniversary celebration will be rich and multifaceted, highlighted by more than 30 newly commissioned works; the annual Festival of Contemporary Music, July 20-27, featuring 15 premiere performances; and a Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performance of Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand," under the direction of BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons. The celebration will also feature two media projects designed to bring the TMC's anniversary celebration to audiences far and wide: a free webcast of the Mahler 8 performance, with supplemental video about the TMC anniversary, and free weekly 75th anniversary music downloads, featuring some of the best of the TMC's 75-year performance history, both to be made available at www.tanglewood.org during summer 2015. The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra-the TMC's most prestigious performing ensemble-will perform in eight concerts throughout the summer, including programs featuring four world premieres and works of Bernstein, Brahms, Britten, Copland, Debussy, Foss, Hindemith, Ives, Mahler, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, under the direction of Andris Nelsons, Asher Fisch, Ludovic Morlot, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Stefan Asbury. Visitors to Tanglewood this summer will have a chance to learn more about the TMC and take in details of its history and mission through commemorative program books and an archival exhibit at Tanglewood's Visitor Center.

The Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's acclaimed summer academy for advanced musical study, will mark its 75th anniversary season in the summer of 2015 with events and programming that will spotlight its past accomplishments and celebrate its standing as one of this country's preeminent places for the creation of new music and opportunities for collaborative music-making in the area of recital, chamber music, vocal, and orchestra performance. Considered among the top academies of its kind in the world, the TMC is the only summer music academy that operates under the auspices of a major symphony orchestra, with the membership of that orchestra, along with other prominent musicians, playing a key teaching role in preparing its Fellows for a future life in music. Many of the world's most renowned classical music figures of the 20th and 21st centuries-including Claudio

Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, Osvaldo Golijov, John Harbison, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Wynton Marsalis, Leontyne Price, Ned Rorem, Bright Sheng, and Dawn Upshaw-have passed through the TMC's programs since the academy's founding in 1940.

BOSTON POPS, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF KEITH LOCKHART, JOHN WILLIAMS, AND DAVID NEWMAN, FEATURED IN FOUR PERFORMANCES; POPULAR ARTIST SERIES TO SPOTLIGHT TONY BENNETT AND LADY GAGA, DIANA KRALL, AND HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS

Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra will present the world premiere of a full orchestral arrangement of Sondheim on Sondheim, expanding the original Broadway score for the first time ever for full symphony orchestra (6/20). This new version of Sondheim on Sondheim-anintimate revue of the life and work of Stephen Sondheim told in his own words via film, the live performers, and through his music-will feature a cast of Broadway stars and Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center.

The Boston Pops will bring Cirque de la Symphonie and its magical fusion of circus and classical musicto Tanglewood, following last year's sold-out performances at Symphony Hall in Boston. Aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen are among the talented artists who will take the stage for an evening of circus magic with the one and only Boston Pops Orchestra. Mr. Lockhart will also lead the Boston Pops on July 5 and during Tanglewood on Parade on August 4. One of Tanglewood's most beloved traditions-John Williams' Film Night-will take place on August 22, with David Newman joining Mr. Williams and the Pops for one of the signature events of the summer.

On July 6, in an evening entitled Tanglewood Brass Spectacular!, members of the Boston Pops brass and percussion sections will perform a one-of-a-kind concert with two of the world's most acclaimed drum-and-bugle corps: the Boston Crusaders, the third-oldest drum corps in America, celebrating their 75th anniversary, and the sixteen-time Drum Corps International World Champion Blue Devils from Concord, California.

In addition to the highly anticipated appearance by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in an evening of selections from their new album Cheek to Cheek, 6/30, the 2015 Tanglewood popular artist series will also feature Diana Krall, returning to Tanglewood as part of her Wallflower World Tour, featuring music from her soon-to-be-released album (February 2015), Wallflower, 6/21, and Huey Lewis and the News will make their Tanglewood debut as part of their "While We're Young Tour," 6/28. July 4 program details will be announced at a later date.

OZAWA HALL TO PRESENT THE RETURN OF THE MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP, A PERFORMANCE BY WYNTON MARSALLIS AND THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA, AND RECITAL APPEARANCES BY PAUL LEWIS, AUDRA MCDONALD, BRYN TERFEL, CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF, YO-YO MA, EMANUEL AX, LEONIDAS KAVAKOS, AND MATTHIAS GOERNE

Special events to take place at Ozawa Hall include the return of the Mark Morris Dance Group with a newly commissioned dance piece to Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 (6/25&26); a performance by jazz greatWynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (7/14); The Knights performing Falla's Master Peter's Puppet Show, based on an episode from Cervantes's Don Quixote,* with a puppet theatre production by Basil Twist (7/30); and Matthias Goerne singing Schubert's Winterreise (8/5).

The 2015 Ozawa Hall season will also present chamber music programs by the Emerson String Quartetperforming music of Ives, Liebermann, and Beethoven (7/22); Boston Symphony Chamber Playersperforming music of Hannah Lash, Nielsen, and Brahms (7/1); and Apollo's Fire, with the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra and music director Jeanette Sorrell, in a concert entitled A Night at Bach's Coffee House, with music of Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi, as well as excerpts from Telemann's incidental music to Don Quixote* (7/2); and an all-Brahms program of piano trios with Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Leonidas Kavakos (8/6). Ozawa Hall recital programs will feature Sarah Connolly and Baiba Skride in vocal and chamber music of Schumann and Mozart (7/14); Leon Fleisher with Katherine Jacobson in music of Bach, Perle, Koston, Kirchner, and Ravel (7/8); Paul Lewis in an all-Beethoven program (7/21); Audra McDonaldin an evening of favorite show tunes, popular standards, and original pieces written especially for her (7/19);Bryn Terfel (7/9); and Christian Tetzlaff in music of Ysaÿe, Bach, Kurtág, and Bartók (8/12).

*The Knights' performance of Falla's Master Peter's Puppet Show, based on an episode from Cervantes'sDon Quixote (7/30), and the Apollo's Fire performance of excerpts from Telemann's incidental music to Don Quixote, (7/2); along with the BSO performance of Strauss's Don Quixote with Yo-Yo Ma and Steven Ansell, under the direction of Andris Nelsons (8/2), are part of Tanglewood's season tribute to the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' Don Quixote, Part II.

BSO CONCERTS WITH GUEST CONDUCTORS IN THE KOUSSEVITZKY MUSIC SHED

Popular guest conductor Stéphane Denève leads a July 10 program featuring the BSO debut of superstar organist Cameron Carpenter performing Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani and Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, Organ, on a program with Barber's Adagio for Strings. Following his BSO appearance, organist Cameron Carpenter will give a short recital of virtuoso solo works, featuring his Marshall & Ogletree touring organ. The following evening, July 11, Bramwell Tovey will lead an all-Italian program to include a concert performance of Act I from Puccini's Tosca featuringBryn Terfel as Scarpia andSondra Radvonovsky as Tosca. On July 12, Seattle Symphony Music Director and former BSO assistant conductor Ludovic Morlot returns to the BSO podium to lead a program of John Luther Adams' The Light That Fills, Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K.216, with Pinchas Zukerman as soloist, and Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 7.

A BSO weekend, July 17-19, devoted to works of Mozart and Schumann, will feature Christian Zachariasas pianist and conductor for two programs, July 17 and 18. On July 17 Mr. Zacharias will lead the BSO in Schumann's Manfred Overture and Symphony No. 2; the program will also include Mozart's Rondo in C, K.373, and Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, K.219, with Baiba Skride as soloist. On Saturday, July 18, Mr. Zacharias leads an all-Mozart program with Sarah Connolly joining Mr. Zacharias as pianist in "Ch'io mi scordi di te...Non temer, amato bene," concert aria for soprano and orchestra with piano, K.505; Ms. Connolly will also perform "Deh per questo istante solo" from Act II of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, on a program that will also include Mozart's Symphony No. 38, Prague. On Sunday, July 19, Sir Neville Marrinerwill be joined by pianist Paul Lewis for Schumann's Piano Concerto, on a program spotlighting the orchestra in two of Mozart's most beloved symphonies: Symphony No. 35, Haffner, and Symphony No. 36, Linz.

BSO podium favorite Christoph von Dohnányi leads two programs: an all-Beethoven concert on July 24 and an all-Mozart program on July 26. The all-Beethoven program will feature Vadim Gluzman in his BSO debut performing the composer's Violin Concerto on a program with Symphony No. 4. The all-Mozart program will spotlight the composer's last three symphonies: Symphony No. 39, Symphony No. 40, and Symphony No. 41, Jupiter. The third BSO program of the weekend on July 25 will feature Michael Tilson Thomas leading Mahler's Symphony No. 5, on a program with Emanuel Ax performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat, K.449.

On Friday, July 31, Boston Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Ken-David Masur will lead a program opening with the overture to Weber's Der Freischütz, followed bySchubert's Symphony No. 4, Tragic and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, with soloistGarrick Ohlsson. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead the August 1 and 2 BSO programs previously described above.

On August 7, audience favorite Charles Dutoit leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Ravel's Mother Goose Suite and Stravinsky's Petrushka (1911 version), on a program with Sibelius's Violin Concerto, with soloist Leonidas Kavakos. On Sunday, August 9, longtime Tanglewood favorite Joshua Bell joins Mr. Dutoit and the BSO for a performance of the Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2, on a program with one of the BSO's signature works, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra'sperformance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand," under the direction of Andris Nelsons (details described above), fills out the weekend on August 8.

The BSO's final concert of the 2015 Tanglewood season on August 16, under the direction of Asher Fisch, will open with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra playing Copland's Symphonic Ode, as the final performance of the TMC's 75th anniversary celebration. The BSO's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 will feature soprano Julianna Di Giacomo, mezzo-soprano Renée Tatum, and tenor Paul Groves, bass-baritone John Relyea, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor. Following its August 16 performance, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will return to Boston to prepare for its first tour with its new music director, Andris Nelsons; the 2015 BSO European tour, August 22-September 5, will include performances in London, Salzburg, Grafenegg, Lucerne, Milan, Paris, Cologne, and Berlin.

Performances to take place in the Koussevitzky Music Shed the weekend of August 21-23 include the Boston Pops concert with Keith Lockhart and Cirque de la Symphonie (8/21) and Film Night with conductorsJohn Williams and David Newman (8/22) described above.

Shed programs for July 4, August 23, 28, 29, and 30, as well as programs for Labor Day weekend, September 4-6, will be announced at a later date.

TANGLEWOOD WINE & FOOD CLASSIC, ONE DAY UNIVERSITY, AND FAMILY CONCERT

Tanglewood Wine & Food Classic will take place August 6-9. Tanglewood's Family Concert will take place on Saturday, July 4, at 11 a.m. in Ozawa Hall. Further details on these two events will be announced at a later date.

One Day University, the acclaimed adult educational series, will return to Tanglewood on Sunday, August 23, with Barry Schwartz, Professor at Swarthmore College, in "The Paradox of Choice: When More is Less"; Michael Sparer, Columbia University, "Living and Dying in America: The Politics of Healthcare"; and Anna Celenza, Georgetown University in "A Sinatra Centennial: What Made Ol' Blue Eyes Great?."

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