"The Tanglewood Music Center's strength lies with its resources. The Tanglewood environment is a potent mix of all the attributes of a great musical and educational experience. The presence of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its artistic resources enables students to learn the art and craft of orchestral performance with master teacher-performers in orchestral and master class settings." -Edwin Barker, Principal Double Bass, Boston Symphony Orchestra, TMC Fellow, 1975

"The chamber music program provides intense encounters with intimate genres. The faculty stresses deep listening skills and active communication in repertoire ranging from masterworks to rarities, from the earliest styles to works just written." -Norman Fischer, Chamber Music Coordinator

"Tanglewood represents complete immersion in music: participation, study, listening, interacting. Tanglewood also manages to incorporate so many forms of music into the program-orchestra, chamber, contemporary, vocal, opera-that we become fluent in every genre. Finally, the partnership with the BSO is perhaps the most unique element of Tanglewood. Most other festivals can only offer guest faculty, but rarely an entire professional orchestra in their backyard." -Grace Browning, 2011 Harp Fellow

Instrumental and Orchestral Studies
Edwin Barker, Chairman

The TMC strives to maintain a rewarding balance of orchestral playing, chamber music, and master-classes for instrumental Fellows.

Instrumental and Orchestral Studies at the TMC includes work in the TMC Orchestra (TMCO), in depth studies in chamber music, as well as classes with members of the BSO and guests, and other special instrument-specific projects.

The TMCO performs under internationally renowned conductors before sold-out crowds in the Koussevitzky Music Shed and in Seiji Ozawa Hall. Highlights of TMCO conductors and repertoire include:

MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA	Prokofiev/Romeo and Juliet Suite
CHARLES DUTOIT	Stravinsky/Les Noces
CHRISTOPH VON DOHNÁNYI	Beethoven/Egmont Overture
LORIN MAAZEL	Tchaikovsky/1812 Overture (combined the BSO)
RAFAEL FRÜHBECK DE BURGOS	Bartók/Concerto for Orchestra
	Beethoven/Violin Concerto (with Gil Shaham)

Additionally, the TMCO will participate in a gala celebration of Tanglewoods 75th anniversary in the Koussevitsky Music Shed, performing with soloists Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, and Anne-Sophie Mutter.Mr. Ax will also join the TMCO for a performance of Schoenbergs Piano Concerto, and FCM will include a concert performance of Oliver Knussens opera Higglety Pigglety Pop!

Interaction with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is an integral part of the program. In addition to master-classes (see below), Fellows have regular contact with BSO section representatives, who serve as mentors in matters both professional and musical. BSO representatives are actively involved in pre-season auditions, creating summer assignments, providing ongoing counsel, and ensuring a regular collaboration between the two orchestras. Additionally, the TMCO joins with the BSO in a gala performance during Tanglewood on Parade, a day-long celebration filled with musical events. Front section seating is available to TMC Fellows for most BSO concerts, and BSO rehearsals are always open to TMC Fellows. TMC string players can audition to perform with the BSO during the summer, and TMC wind, brass, percussion and harp players are invited to observe daily BSO rehearsals onstage within the sections.

Chamber Music
Norman Fischer, Coordinator

The study and performance of chamber music is a central part of the Tanglewood Music Center curriculum. The TMC offers chamber music concerts every Sunday morning at 10:00 am and preceding BSO concerts on Saturday evening, as well as additional concerts as scheduled throughout the summer. All instrumental and vocal Fellows perform on these recitals.

All violinists, violists, and cellists will begin their summer with the 8-day String Quartet Seminar, an intensive workshop that explores this repertoire from Haydn through the 20th century. Participants concentrate exclusively on the study of pre-assigned quartets during this period; master-classes are held throughout the seminar. A marathon concert takes place at the end of the seminar, and some of the quartets studied become long-term projects for performance later in the season.

All applicants should be aware of the TMC's considerable emphasis on contemporary music, which features prominently in chamber music recitals throughout the summer and particularly during the world-renowned Festival of Contemporary Music (August 9-13).

Other highlights of chamber music in 2012 include projects led by distinguished faculty Emanuel Ax, Pamela and Claude Frank, Joseph Silverstein, and others to be announced.

Master-Classes
TMC Fellows have at least one class per week with BSO members, TMC resident faculty, or visiting artists, examining over the course of the summer both solo and orchestral repertoire, as well as special topics like contemporary techniques, breathing methods, professional issues, reed making, etc. Fellows are informed of these in advance of the season, and should come prepared to actively participate. Classes may include extended seminars focusing on a particular topic, reading sessions for standard orchestral repertoire, and mock auditions.