Tanglewood Presents Past, Present, and Future: What Is Music For?, A Humanities Series Created in Partnership with Yo-Yo Ma (August 2–12)

Tanglewood is pleased to announce two upcoming series that enhance the summer festival’s musical offerings through deep exploration of the humanities. Past, Present, and Future: What Is Music For?, created in partnership with longtime BSO collaborator Yo-Yo Ma, encompasses four talks and four musical performances with an array of compelling scholars and performers (Aug. 2–12). The annual Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI) Spotlight Series this year features: Ma and historian Heather Cox Richardson (Aug. 2), art critic Sebastian Smee and musicians Sam Amidon and Shahzad Ismaily (Aug. 9), and violinist Vijay Gupta, journalist Steve Lopez, and Juilliard’s Lesley Rosenthal (Aug. 23). Another new addition to the August schedule brings On Being podcast host Krista Tippett to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on the humanities with Princeton’s D. Graham Burnett (Aug. 10).

Quote from Yo-Yo Ma:

“For millennia, the humanities have helped us to navigate through times of creation and times of destruction, to seek truth, and to build trust. It’s wonderful to join my friends at the BSO to reflect on why we make music and what makes us human — and how that can be a source of hope for the future.” 

Quote from BSO President and CEO Chad Smith: 

"The Spotlight Series is a cornerstone of TLI’s summer season, bringing preeminent thought leaders across disciplines to Ozawa Hall. This August, we are thrilled to partner with the incomparable Yo-Yo Ma, who has curated Past, Present, and Future: What is Music For?, a series of concerts and speaking events that weaves together themes in his musical performances at Tanglewood with ideas and questions probed by Spotlight guests historian Heather Cox Richardson, art critic Sebastian Smee, and musicians Sam Amidon and Shahzad Ismaily.  We invite you to join us for these and other humanities events this summer and throughout the year that we hope will enrich your concert experience by demonstrating music’s power to address timeless human questions.”

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