Tanglewood Learning Institute

Hub New Music performs Daniel Wohl's UFO-inspired piece, Mirage. Wohl has been noted as one of his generation's most “imaginative, skillful creators” (New York Times) for works that seamlessly merge electronic and acoustic sounds to create immersive experiences for listeners. In Mirage, the composer asks, “Are UFOs just products of our imagination, projections of our hopes, or something truly alien?” Wohl will also join Hub New Music on piano and electronics for the premiere performance of specially made arrangements from his 2019 album, État.

Back by popular demand, Jumaane Smith has performed on five GRAMMY® Award-winning records, two Emmy Award-nominated TV performances, the GRAMMY® Awards with Stevie Wonder, in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, and more! He has spent the last 18 years touring and recording with Michael Bublé as lead trumpeter, vocalist, and featured soloist, and has toured with his own band to such world-class venues as Jazz At Lincoln Center, Birdland Jazz Club, Vail Jazz Festival, Java Jazz Festival, North Star Festival, Joe's Pub, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Catalina Island Jazz Festival, among many others. Experience the high energy excitement of blues, funk, jazz, shuffles, boogaloo, and New Orleans style street beats with Jumaane Smith and his rollicking band!

While at TLI, Jumaane Smith will work with students from Lee Middle and High School.

“Don’t Tap on the Glass” is an open dress rehearsal providing a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the musical process of creating a recital. Watch and listen as Llewellyn Sanchez Werner, Yevgeny Kutik, and the Borromeo String Quartet work through thorny passages and discuss their work. Stay after for a conversation with the musicians — audience members are free to ask questions.

How do distinct voices — each with its own history, sound, and perspective — learn to coexist, collaborate, and ultimately build something shared? Featuring the Borromeo Quartet, pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, and violinist Yevgeny Kutik, The Birch Festival offers an afternoon of music that celebrates difference not as division, but as the raw material of community.

The Borromeo Quartet will perform Florence Price’s Five Folk Songs in Counterpoint, where familiar tunes speak to a rich musical legacy — handed down, reshaped, and kept alive across generations. Louis Moreau Gottschalk, a virtuoso pianist from New Orleans with a Creole mother and a Jewish father helped shape an early American concert voice; his The Banjo brings sparkle and rhythmic bite, blending concert brilliance with vernacular energy.

Also featured is the Massachusetts premiere of a new work by Jonathan Leshnoff for violin and piano, inspired by George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport — an affirmation of religious freedom as an aspiration we are still called to realize. Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson will read both the letter from the Hebrew Congregation of Newport to President Washington, and his response. The program culminates with all six musicians joining for Ernest Chausson’s monumental Concerto in D for violin, piano, and string quartet: a metaphor for community and musical conversation itself, as individual voices — sometimes competing — learn to listen, yield, lead, and join.

This event will be a phone-free experience. Use of cellphones, smart watches, smart accessories, cameras, or recording devices will not be permitted in the performance space.

Upon arrival at the venue, all phones, smart watches, and accessories will be secured in Yondr pouches that will be opened at the end of the event. Guests maintain possession of their belongings at all times and can access their phones throughout the event at designated Phone Use Areas in the venue. All phones will be re-secured in Yondr pouches before returning to the event space.

Anyone seen using a non-permitted device during the performance will be escorted out of the venue. Guests are encouraged to bring a credit card for purchases inside the venue. We appreciate your cooperation in creating a phone-free viewing experience.

Yacht Rock Revue, hailed by Rolling Stone as the "world's premier soft-rock party band," invites listeners on a nostalgic voyage through the sun-soaked melodies of the '70s and '80s. With dy-no-mite renditions of hits by Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, and more, Yacht Rock Revue is widely recognized as the driving force behind the yacht rock resurgence, sharing stages with icons and garnering a devoted following of "Anchorheads." 2026 marks their most ambitious production yet, but with the intimacy and interactive touch that harkens back to their days as a club band. Channeling the golden age of television and their humble beginnings in an Atlanta, GA basement in 2007, it's PRIMETIME

FRONT ROW HOT SEAT PACKAGE

• One reserved front row ticket*
• Merchandise item designed and created exclusively for package purchasers
• Collectible laminate to remember your evening
• Commemorative ticket
• Designated check-in and on-site VIP event staff

*Locations may vary. See specific date for details. Merch will be shipped to the address provided at the time of purchase (US & Canada only). No PO Boxes.

PREMIUM HOT SEAT PACKAGE

• One reserved ticket within rows 2-4*
• Merchandise item designed and created exclusively for package purchasers
• Collectible laminate to remember your evening
• Commemorative ticket
• Designated check-in and on-site VIP event staff

*Locations may vary. See specific date for details. Merch will be shipped to the address provided at the time of purchase (US & Canada only). No PO Boxes.

GOLD HOT SEAT PACKAGE

• One premium reserved ticket*
• Merchandise item designed and created exclusively for package purchasers
• Collectible laminate to remember your evening
• Commemorative ticket
• Designated check-in and on-site VIP event staff

*Locations may vary. See specific date for details. Merch will be shipped to the address provided at the time of purchase (US & Canada only). No PO Boxes.

SILVER HOT SEAT PACKAGE

• One reserved ticket*
• Merchandise item designed and created exclusively for package purchasers
• Collectible laminate to remember your evening
• Commemorative ticket
• Designated check-in and on-site VIP event staff

*Locations may vary. See specific date for details. Merch will be shipped to the address provided at the time of purchase (US & Canada only). No PO Boxes.

The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration returns to celebrate 60 years of the Grateful Dead and Garcia’s enduring legacy. This groundbreaking orchestral adventure – curated by the Garcia family – will feature Garcia's storied original compositions as well as classic interpretations of timeless standards that were hallmarks of Garcia and the Grateful Dead's storied concerts. The program features an all-star lineup, including Jerry Garcia Band members Melvin Seals on organ and vocalist Jacklyn LaBranch; guitarist/songwriter Tom Hamilton (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead); bassist Grahame Lesh (Phil Lesh & Friends); drummer John Morgan Kimock (Mike Gordon); and vocalist Kanika Moore (Doom Flamingo). Get back on the bus and join what’s sure to be a magical evening.  

Often with the sounds of the morning orchestra rehearsal as a backdrop, see the amazing variety of mature specimen trees on the Tanglewood grounds and enjoy views of the Berkshire Hills from a variety of different vantage points. As you tour the BSO’s beloved summer home, consider which trees may have inspired the Tanglewood name and learn how the landscape was shaped by glaciers and how it has changed over the roughly 11,000 years since the ice sheet retreated.

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we honor two composers who helped shape one of America’s signature musical institutions. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s work on Broadway broke ground and forged pathways, from their collaboration on West Side Story, to Bernstein’s On the Town and Candide, to Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music. Join us as the Boston Pops and some of musical theater’s freshest talent pay tribute to two titans of the Great White Way.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis.

A celebration of music, movement, and storytelling! This interactive performance brings back improvisational storyteller, beatboxer, and rapper Baba Israel and multi-instrumentalist and soundscape wizard Sean Nowell to collaborate with contemporary dancer Audrey Thao Berger and hip-hop dancer B-Boy Spidey. The performance will invite young people to bring music, poetry, and stories to life through interactive dance!

Music of Charles IVES

An ongoing collaboration between the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center, TLI Open Workshops “pull back the curtain” on the extraordinary work that takes place each summer when the absolute finest young musicians — selected through a rigorous application and audition process — journey to Lenox for what often represents the final milestone in their development before a professional life in music.

Each week, scheduled classes from one of the TMC’s areas of study are opened to the public, offering a firsthand look at the results of pairing these exceptional musicians with our world-renowned faculty.

New this summer, TLI 101 offers guests a point of entry to learn more about the music and art they love. Featuring presentations devoted to classical music, jazz, opera, and dance, these talks, led by renowned experts, expand how TLI helps our audience deepen their relationship with the music and performances they see and hear on our stages. Dance 101 will be led by John Lam, founder of Lam Dance Works; associate professor of dance, Boston Conservatory at Berklee; former principal dancer with Boston Ballet.

Featuring works by BRAHMS, JANÁČEK, BEACH, and PROKOFIEV.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis

This two-hour workshop will allow participants to master the basic capabilities of their smartphone or tablet camera. The class covers all in-device functions and a short but valuable segment on in-device editing of images. Instructor: Thad Kubis (Rain location: Tanglewood Provisions)

Join Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center for a special mini-concert before the main event to whet your musical appetite.

New works by TMC Composition Fellows

An ongoing collaboration between the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center, TLI Open Workshops “pull back the curtain” on the extraordinary work that takes place each summer when the absolute finest young musicians — selected through a rigorous application and audition process — journey to Lenox for what often represents the final milestone in their development before a professional life in music.

Each week, scheduled classes from one of the TMC’s areas of study are opened to the public, offering a firsthand look at the results of pairing these exceptional musicians with our world-renowned faculty.

Sung in French with English supertitles

An ongoing collaboration between the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center, TLI Open Workshops “pull back the curtain” on the extraordinary work that takes place each summer when the absolute finest young musicians — selected through a rigorous application and audition process — journey to Lenox for what often represents the final milestone in their development before a professional life in music.

Each week, scheduled classes from one of the TMC’s areas of study are opened to the public, offering a firsthand look at the results of pairing these exceptional musicians with our world-renowned faculty.

The Boston Camerata returns to Tanglewood with Free America! This program explores the vital and life-affirming sounds of the young Republic, as its citizens stood and played forth their love of freedom and their rejection of tyranny. Camerata's productions of little-known but vital early repertoire have won praise on five continents both for their scholarship and their exuberant, communicative energy.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis

New this summer, TLI 101 offers guests a point of entry to learn more about the music and art they love. Featuring presentations devoted to classical music, jazz, opera, and dance, these talks, led by renowned experts, expand how TLI helps our audience deepen their relationship with the music and performances they see and hear on our stages. Classical 101 will be led by Rob Kapilow, a composer, conductor, and award-winning author who has captivated audiences worldwide with inventive, interactive programs that demystify music, spark “aha” moments, and invite listeners of all ages and backgrounds to hear — and truly listen — in new ways.

Featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Think you have your smartphone or tablet under control? Take a two-hour stroll around Tanglewood and learn a myriad of Techniques, Tricks, Tips and Hacks that will only add to your creative capabilities. Bring your fully charged smartphone or tablet and get ready for a unique photographic experience. (Rain location: Tanglewood Provisions)

“I am alive because of music,” a phrase echoed by many composers and artists living under Nazi tyranny — captures how faith and music became deeply intertwined sources of resistance, comfort, and survival. Figures such as Olivier Messiaen, Arnold Schoenberg, and the composers imprisoned in the Terezín concentration camp drew on these forces to create works of remarkable resilience. Fulbright Holocaust music scholar Mark Ludwig explores several of these inspiring compositions, presented alongside live performances of piano and vocal music.

Join us for an unforgettable evening of stories, music, and conversation with trailblazer Christian McBride, the 11-time Grammy Award-winning bassist whose three-decade career spans extraordinary achievements as a performer, composer, producer, educator, and mentor. Through a true, personal story, McBride offers a rare glimpse into his musical inspiration and storied career. Then, following a virtuosic live bass performance, the evening continues with a dynamic conversation hosted by Catherine Burns, Peabody Award-winning director, former artistic director of The Moth, and renowned storytelling architect. Insightful, moving, and richly entertaining, this is a night that brings together artistry, humanity, and the power of live storytelling. 

Weird Al brings his legendary full-production multimedia comedy rock show back to the concert stage with the BIGGER & WEIRDER 2026 Tour, playing his iconic hits as well as some never-performed-live-before fan favorites. Al’s long-time band is joined by four additional players to create a super-sized concert experience.

“Weird Al” Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history. A 5-time Grammy Award winner, he is best known for his parodies of the biggest musical artists over the last 4 decades, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, Queen, U2 and Lady Gaga, all with their personal blessings. His many hits include “Amish Paradise,” “Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Word Crimes,” and the platinum-selling “White & Nerdy.” His last album Mandatory Fun is the only comedy album in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Yankovic’s live shows have entertained audiences across the globe for generations, including appearances at such iconic venues as Radio City Music Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks, Carnegie Hall, Wolf Trap, The Kennedy Centern and Madison Square Garden. In 2022, Yankovic produced and co-wrote the Emmy-winning biopic WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.

VIP Meet & Greet and Backstage Tour Packages are available for this show. Click here for more information on VIP packages.

4 ticket limit

Special Guest: PUDDLES PITY PARTY
Puddles Pity Party, the 7-foot sad clown whose golden voice is “comparable to any Grammy winner” (Los Angeles Times), has amassed over 900K YouTube subscribers and performed sold out shows around the globe including San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, London’s Soho Theatre and a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. He has performed on stage with such legends as Eric Idle, Nick Offerman, Jack Black, Maynard James Keenan and Primus. Puddles’ one-of-a-kind “textured voice laced with melancholy” (NY Times) has been hailed as “operatic” (Boston Globe) and his show both “life-affirming” (Herald Scotland) and “hysterically funny” (LA Weekly).

An ongoing collaboration between the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center, TLI Open Workshops “pull back the curtain” on the extraordinary work that takes place each summer when the absolute finest young musicians — selected through a rigorous application and audition process — journey to Lenox for what often represents the final milestone in their development before a professional life in music.

Each week, scheduled classes from one of the TMC’s areas of study are opened to the public, offering a firsthand look at the results of pairing these exceptional musicians with our world-renowned faculty.

The Etudes are Philip Glass’ most personal body of work — a self-portrait of a life’s practice, representing some of the most intimate and inventive music of his oeuvre. 20 piano etudes in their entirety are. performed by five featured pianists, each bringing their own unique approach to their instrument and to Glass’ singular work.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis

New this summer, TLI 101 offers guests a point of entry to learn more about the music and art they love. Featuring presentations devoted to classical music, jazz, opera, and dance, these talks, led by renowned experts, expand how TLI helps our audience deepen their relationship with the music and performances they see and hear on our stages. Jazz 101 will be led by leading jazz pianist and composer Ted Rosenthal, winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and graduate studies faculty member at The Juilliard School.

Featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Tenor and frequent TLI collaborator Nicholas Phan’s signature recital program Fellow Citizens delves into stories of immigration and migration through compositional voices ranging from Schubert and Dvořák to Errollyn Wallen and Mohammed Fairouz. Opening with “God Bless America,” Irving Berlin’s musical prayer of thanksgiving to the nation that gave him refuge as a child fleeing pogroms in Russia, Fellow Citizens reflects on two competing narratives about U.S. history: one that asserts that America is for Americans and another that celebrates the country as a nation of immigrants.

This performance will be followed by a Meet the Makers conversation with the performers.

Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf is a beloved musical tale that introduces young listeners to the orchestra by assigning each character a distinct instrument and theme. Performed by a cast of talented local actors and musicians from the BU Tanglewood Institute, this timeless work remains one of the most enduring gateways to classical music for audiences of all ages!

In collaboration with Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

A century after their birth, Miles Davis and John Coltrane still sound like the future — restlessly inventing and eternally inspiring. Special guests Ingrid Jensen, trumpet, and Jimmy Greene, saxophones, join Tanglewood-favorite Ted Rosenthal and his trio for a tribute to these American icons!

Join composer, conductor, and educator Esa-Pekka Salonen and BSO President and CEO Chad Smith for a rare, forward-looking conversation on the future of orchestral music. In residence at Tanglewood, Salonen brings his boundary-pushing creativity and vision for the next generation of music makers, while Smith explores the forces reshaping orchestras today — locally, nationally, and globally. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear two of classical music’s most influential voices discuss innovation, artistry, and the bright lights shaping the cultural landscape.

Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Isbell is one of the most respected and celebrated artists of his generation. The North Alabama native possesses an incredible penchant for identifying and articulating some of the deepest, yet simplest, human emotions, and turning them into beautiful poetry through song. Isbell sings of the everyday human condition with thoughtful, heartfelt, and sometimes brutal honesty. 

After releasing multiple critically-acclaimed albums, appearing in an Academy Award-nominated film, Killers of the Flower Moon, and touring the world with his band, the 400 Unit, Isbell began 2025 with a change of pace. A solo record. Simply Isbell and his voice and an acoustic guitar, an all-mahogany 1940 Martin 0-17. Recorded at Electric Lady Studios in NYC, ‘Foxes in the Snow’ further demonstrates his pure talent as a songwriter and musician. As Stereogum so aptly put it, "the barebones intimacy recenters the artist behind the persona and serves as a reminder that this guy can write a damn song."

Join Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael for a talk centered on his acclaimed book Look at the USA, a powerful photographic exploration of America’s contradictions, complexities, and everyday realities. Van Agtmael will discuss the stories behind the images and reflect on his personal ties to the Berkshires and Tanglewood, where his family history deepens his long engagement with place and memory. An afternoon of images, insight, and conversation about how we see America today.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis

New this summer, TLI 101 offers guests a point of entry to learn more about the music and art they love. Featuring presentations devoted to classical music, jazz, opera, and dance, these talks, led by renowned experts, expand how TLI helps our audience deepen their relationship with the music and performances they see and hear on our stages. Opera 101 will be led by Dr. Hilary Poriss, professor and chair, Department of Music, Northeastern University.

Featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Go beyond the basic and start to integrate the many advanced functions your smartphone or tablet can offer. This three-hour workshop will use the beautiful, landscaped grounds of Tanglewood as your visual and color palette as you expand your knowledge and skills. Advanced editing techniques, app tools, filters, and accessories will be discussed. (Rain location: Tanglewood Provisions) 

Prerequisite: Introduction to Smartphone Photography and/or Techniques, Tricks, Tips and Hacks.

World Premiere. A reading, with music, of Uwe Wittstock’s February 1933: The Winter of Literature, abridged by acclaimed German novelist-playwright Daniel Kehlmann. Directed by Tony-nominated Knud Adams and featuring music supervised by composer/pianist Dan Schlosberg, the piece traces the swift collapse of Weimar Germany’s literary world — following figures like Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht — as Hitler’s rise forces choices of flight, complicity, or defiance. February 1933 resonates powerfully with the perils of present-day American democracy and the ongoing fight to preserve the freedoms to read and write.

This performance will be followed by a Meet the Makers conversation with the creative team.

Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Passamaquoddy educator and singer Chris Newell joins Vermont fiddler and teaching artist Ida Mae Specker for a new interactive children’s concert premiering this summer as part of TLI for Families. Through songs, storytelling, rhythm games, and audience participation, the program invites children to experience how music connects people to community, culture, and the natural world.

In 2025, Specker and Newell began collaborating with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and others on projects exploring connections between music, community, and nature across the Northeast.

The traditional daytime events of Tanglewood On Parade are reimagined to celebrate the Berkshires, featuring TMC and BUTI ensembles, storytelling, high school marching bands, a collaboration with Festival Latino, dancing on the lawn, and a joyful parade to the Shed. In the evening, the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows join members of the BSO to perform music by Copland, Tchaikovsky, and Loggins-Hull. The program will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral,” performed without a conductor — one example of what happens when friends and neighbors work together with a common purpose.

The traditional daytime events of Tanglewood On Parade are reimagined to celebrate the Berkshires, featuring TMC and BUTI ensembles, storytelling, high school marching bands, a collaboration with Festival Latino, dancing on the lawn, and a joyful parade to the Shed. In the evening, the Tanglewood Music Center Fellows join members of the BSO to perform music by Copland, Tchaikovsky, and Loggins-Hull. The program will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral,” performed without a conductor — one example of what happens when friends and neighbors work together with a common purpose.

An ongoing collaboration between the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center, TLI Open Workshops “pull back the curtain” on the extraordinary work that takes place each summer when the absolute finest young musicians — selected through a rigorous application and audition process — journey to Lenox for what often represents the final milestone in their development before a professional life in music.

Each week, scheduled classes from one of the TMC’s areas of study are opened to the public, offering a firsthand look at the results of pairing these exceptional musicians with our world-renowned faculty.

We The People goes beyond musical performance to explore the week’s themes — of community, shared truths, and hope for the future — through the broader lens of the humanities.

Yo-Yo Ma and members of the BSO cello section play chamber music that follows the passions of the musicians, in ensembles that model American traditions of collaboration, democracy, and balance between the individual and the community.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis

Featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Yo-Yo Ma joins the BSO in an expression of gratitude, a tribute to the friends that have helped us transcend the dark moments in our past, which we hope will bring us wisdom in this time of fragmentation. The orchestra will be joined by Samy Rachid, Renaud Capuçon and Berkshire neighbors Jack Brown and the Berkshire Lyric chorus, performing Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, Brahms’s String Sextet No. 2 in G, a celebration of nature and love, and the Brahms Double Concerto, a musical gift of reconciliation.

Capturing a live performance in photographs requires skill, patience, and discretion. This unintrusive workshop will instruct in lighting, exposure, exposure settings, and composition as we photograph Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra rehearsing live in Seiji Ozawa Hall. The three-hour class is limited to six participants and students will need a tripod or monopod, and camera or smartphone/tablet that can be used with manual settings. Instructor: Thad Kubis

Prerequisite: Introduction to Smartphone Photography and/or Introduction to DSLR/Mirrorless Photography.

Historian and author Heather Cox Richardson joins Bryan Stevenson, the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, in conversation.

A journey in words and music through many things we share in our American present: the land around us, our individual and collective stories, the ideals that motivate us. Together with the BSO and special guest musicians and artists, this program will reflect the triumphs, tragedies, and possibilities of our country.

A Whale of a Tale by composer Allen Feinstein features an ensemble of BSO musicians with narration by Rebecca Sheir of Circle Round. Perfect for young listeners, the instruments will become characters — from a playful seagull to a magnificent whale — bringing this lively and engaging story to life. The interactive program invites children and families to sing along at key moments, imagine stories inspired by the music, and join a spirited finale with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

A celebration of the extraordinary power of human creativity and diversity that has always been central to the United States and will guide our future. The BSO, Yo-Yo Ma, Anna Handler, and Samy Rachid are joined by Karen Ouzounian, Christine Lee, Kayhan Kalhor, Arooj Aftab, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Chorus to play music by John Tavener, Kayhan Kalhor, and Osvaldo Golijov.

Hugh Jackman is an award-winning actor celebrated for his work across film, theater, and music. He earned a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media as the lead in The Greatest Showman, starring alongside Zac Efron and Zendaya, and his performance in Les Misérables captivated global audiences and garnered him a Golden Globe for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy. His extensive film credits include Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, the X-Men series, Logan, Prisoners, and Florian Zeller’s The Son. Most recently, Jackman starred in Song Sung Blue, co-starring Kate Hudson, written and directed by Craig Brewer. Beyond acting, he has achieved critical acclaim through his production company, TOGETHER Productions, for which the second season has been announced. Along with other new shows, back by popular demand is the critically acclaimed play, Sexual Misconduct, co-starring Jackman and Ella Beatty live on stage at the Audible Theater in New York City. Up next on screen for Jackman is The Death of Robin Hood, out in theaters in May 2026.

An ongoing collaboration between the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center, TLI Open Workshops “pull back the curtain” on the extraordinary work that takes place each summer when the absolute finest young musicians — selected through a rigorous application and audition process — journey to Lenox for what often represents the final milestone in their development before a professional life in music.

Each week, scheduled classes from one of the TMC’s areas of study are opened to the public, offering a firsthand look at the results of pairing these exceptional musicians with our world-renowned faculty.

Pianist Adam Tendler transforms personal loss into luminous art with Inheritances, a collection of 16 commissioned works exploring memory, grief, and renewal. What began as an unexpected inheritance became a bold act of generosity when Tendler invited composers including Laurie Anderson, Devonté Hynes, Nico Muhly, and Missy Mazzoli to create new pieces in dialogue with his own reflections. Recently featured on CBS Sunday Morning and a 2026 GRAMMY-nominee for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, the result is a deeply human meditation on what we carry and what we release.

In partnership with Boston University Tanglewood Institute, BSO presents environmentalist composer John Luther Adams’ Crossing Open Ground, an outdoor work for winds, brass, and percussion. Led by conductor Christopher Rountree and director Dimitri Chamblas and featuring 40 BUTI musicians, the piece offers an opportunity to rediscover and reconsecrate our sense of place. Throughout the performance, each performer and listener is free to follow their own individual path through the physical and musical landscape. The New Yorker called Adams “one of the most original music thinkers of the new century.” With Crossing Open Ground, he invites us to listen to the older, deeper natural world beneath our feet.

Amelia features text from Amelia Earhart’s pilot’s log from her last trip around the world.

“A government of laws, not of men.” With those seven words, John Adams proposed a new American ideal: justice as a shared promise, not a ruler’s whim. But what does it feel like to live in a society that honors — or breaches — that principle? From Eroica to Guernica, artists have long illuminated the moral force of justice. In this special course, Juilliard's Lesley Rosenthal, a leading figure in the worlds of law and the performing arts, explores the Rule of Law through musical and visual works that celebrate this ideal and protest its absence.

Arts and the Rule of Law may be purchased as a series or on a class-by-class basis

Featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Think you have your smartphone or tablet under control? Take a two-hour stroll around Tanglewood and learn a myriad of Techniques, Tricks, Tips and Hacks that will only add to your creative capabilities. Bring your fully charged smartphone or tablet and get ready for a unique photographic experience. Instructor: Thad Kubis (Rain location: Tanglewood Provisions)

Legendary multimedia artist Laurie Anderson is joined by acclaimed director Peter Sellars for a dynamic Spotlight conversation. In a wide-ranging dialogue, Sellars guides an exploration of Anderson’s groundbreaking career, creative process, and lifelong engagement with music, language, technology, and storytelling—while leaving room for the give-and-take that comes when two inspired and pioneering artists meet. Together, they reflect on art’s power to shape perception, provoke empathy, and help us make sense of the world we inhabit, offering audiences an intimate and illuminating encounter with one of contemporary art’s most influential voices through the lens of a peer.

Featuring Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center

In the words of Steven Spielberg, “without John Williams, bicycles do not fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches or heroes in red capes. Dinosaurs do not walk the earth. Sharks do not terrorize idyllic summer beaches. And Jedi do not return. Without the magic of John Williams, audiences do not wonder, or weep, or believe…”

Maestro of the Movies: A Tribute to John Williams is the ultimate concert celebration of the man who truly has composed the soundtrack to our lives. With selections from his most iconic scores – Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Superman, Lincoln and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Maestro of the Movies also features more than fifty minutes of specially edited scenes and clips from John Williams’ best-loved films, projected in HD and in sync to his spectacular music. This loving tribute to the greatest musical storyteller of our time is feast for the eyes and the ears!

Laurie Anderson presents a drone-based sonic experience utilizing guitars from her late husband Lou Reed’s collection. The installation, performed by Reed's former guitar tech, Stewart Hurwood, places the instruments in an arrangement against a group of amplifiers so that their tuned feedback creates an enveloping drone of harmonics that shifts and changes, depending on the audience's location. A roster of guest artists, curated by Anderson, will rotate every hour.

Join us for a transformative movement workshop led by esteemed choreographer and director Dimitri Chamblas (Paris Opera Ballet, CalArts, Studio Dimitri Chamblas). This session invites participants to connect more deeply with their bodies and each other — when we open ourselves physically, we become more receptive, allowing resonance to emerge. Through guided explorations, Chamblas creates an ephemeral space where trust, weight, and gesture help us socialize in new, meaningful ways. This is a profound, inclusive experience featuring live music by Adam Tendler, where attendees shape shared moments in time and place.

Visionary artist Laurie Anderson brings her incisive voice and boundless imagination to Tanglewood in The Republic of Love, an evening of music and storytelling that reflects on America’s past and present. Reexamining works such as “Big Science” and “Language Is a Virus,” and weaving in the words of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, John Cage, Gertrude Stein, and others, Anderson — joined by the genre-defying ensemble Sexmob and other special guests — creates a concert that is provocative, intimate, and ultimately a celebration of artistic freedom.

One of music’s most respected voices, Brandi Carlile is an Oscar-nominee, 11-time Grammy winner, two-time Emmy winner, and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author. 

After pouring herself into projects with musical icons, Carlile looks inward on her new album, Returning To Myself (Interscope Records/Lost Highway), produced by Carlile, Andrew Watt, Aaron Dessner, and Justin Vernon. The acclaimed album debuted at No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts. The record follows Who Believes in Angels?, the universally praised, Grammy-nominated collaborative album with her childhood hero Elton John, which debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. and top 10 in the U.S. 

In the midst of yet another monumental year, Carlile was recently honored as one of TIME’s 2026 Women of the Year, performed a rendition of “America The Beautiful” at Super Bowl LX, and kicked off her extensive The Human Tour, which consists of arena shows across North America, the U.K., and Europe. Carlile will also return to the Gorge Amphitheatre for three nights this spring with her "Echoes Through The Canyon" weekend, featuring The Highwomen, Sheryl Crow, Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Wynonna Judd, I’m With Her, Brittney Spencer, and Sara Bareilles. 

Beloved by her peers, Carlile has worked with artists such as Soundgarden, Sam Smith, Alicia Keys, Hozier, Noah Kahan, P!nk, and Dolly Parton. She was named OUT Magazine’s Icon of the Year and was awarded Billboard’s Women In Music Trailblazer Award and NMPA’s Songwriter Icon Award, as well as multiple awards from the Americana Music Association. Carlile is also a founder of the Looking Out Foundation, which has raised over $9 million for grassroots causes to date.

The Silkroad Ensemble’s latest flagship program with Artistic Director Rhiannon Giddens is Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual. In this program, Rhiannon and the Ensemble explore how we can experience music to better  understand our world, find comfort, process loss and a changing environment, and rebuild community based on our own humanity. Historically, when we have found ourselves in a time of conflict or stress, we have always turned to music—for example, many of us held on to our sanity during the long months of the pandemic with songs, sounds, and stories. 

The idea of trance, something that can bring us to a deep peace that is hard to find in modern society, is profoundly tied to the communal music-making traditions found in many different cultures, from Morocco to India to Ireland, and is a way in which we can build a stronger human connection amidst all the noise. In Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual, the musicians will delve deeply into one another’s music and traditions and invite audiences to join them as partners and participants in the performance, instead of solely as passive bystanders. 

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein and Boston’s self-conducted chamber orchestra A Far Cry present the Goldberg Variations, reimagining Bach’s iconic keyboard masterpiece in revelatory, unexpected ways as a living dialogue for piano and string orchestra. Created by Criers Alex Fortes and Sarah Darling with Dinnerstein, who is famous for her solo recording of the work, the collaboration explores each variation and the worlds within to reveal new facets of the Goldbergs renowned mathematical structure and emotional journey. The culmination of a four-day residency at TLI, this performance and Meet the Makers talkback with the creators features their newly cemented arrangement of the Goldbergs in anticipation of recording together in Fall of 2026.

Featuring members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

This 2-hour workshop will allow participants to master the basic capabilities of their smartphone or tablet camera. The class covers all in-device functions and a short but valuable segment on in-device editing of images. Instructor: Thad Kubis (Rain location: Tanglewood Provisions)

Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown is best known for writing deeply expressive, musically sophisticated scores for modern musicals, and for being one of the most influential composers in contemporary American theater. Award-winning Georgia Stitt is highly regarded for creating and shaping new musical theater and vocal works while actively supporting the next generation of artists — especially women — in the field. They are joined by Peabody Award-–winning WQXR broadcaster Elliott Forrest for an afternoon of engaging conversation and creative insight. In this wide-ranging discussion about the art of making music, the dynamic multi-hyphenate couple is sure to offer insight into how music and lyrics are developed for musicals, film, television, and recordings. And don’t be surprised if the conversation leads them to the piano — and into song!

Judy Collins has long inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Six decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 55-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century. 

The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Collins bids adieu to the road with her Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: Farewell Tour — an expansive final run across North America and beyond that gives audiences one last chance to experience her timeless voice and storytelling live.

Taking the stage with Collins, especially for the Tanglewood concert, are co-stars Mary Chapin Carpenter and Rosanne Cash, two celebrated singer-songwriters in folk music. Carpenter has sold over 17 million records and won five Grammy Awards over the course of her renowned career, including 2025’s critically acclaimed and deeply introspective Personal History. Cash has earned four Grammy Awards, became the first woman to receive the Edward MacDowell award for music composition in 2021, and is praised as America’s foremost musical woman of letters. They are joined by special guest Amanda Shires — a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who received the 2017 Emerging Artist of the Year prize from the Americana Music Association.

The Athens, AL-raised band, comprised of vocalist/guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, and bassist Zac Cockrell exploded onto the scene in 2012 with their debut album Boys & Girls, (ATO Records), which entered Billboard’s Independent Albums chart at No. 1. Boys & Girls earned the band multiple GRAMMY nominations and was hailed as one of the year’s best albums by numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, which also named lead single “Hold On” the #1 Best Song of 2012. Soon after its release, the bandmates found themselves thrust into the global spotlight, achieving such milestones as performing at the White House and on “Saturday Night Live.”

The band’s legacy continued to grow with the groundbreaking Sound & Color (ATO Records). Released 10 years ago, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, won GRAMMY Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The first single, “Don’t Wanna Fight,” took honors in the Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song categories. Sound & Color marked a profound evolution from Alabama Shakes’ debut album, as The New York Times Magazine observed, heralding the band’s “soul-stirring, shape-shifting new sound.” Both Sound & Color and Boys & Girls were certified Platinum by the RIAA.

The Shakes’ Cockrell, Fogg, & Howard have reunited in the studio and released a new single “Another Life” last year.  

THE “ANOTHER LIFE” VIP EXPERIENCE - $424

One premium reserved ticket in the first few rows, one autographed, limited-edition VIP exclusive tour poster signed by Alabama Shakes, one VIP-Exclusive Alabama Shakes merchandise item, one commemorative VIP laminate & lanyard, crowd-free merchandise shopping before the show, on-site perks such as VIP check-in, and an on-site customer service mobile text-only number.

“HOLD ON” VIP PACKAGE - $349

One premium reserved ticket in the best available seats, one limited-edition VIP exclusive tour poster, one VIP-Exclusive Alabama Shakes merchandise item, one commemorative VIP laminate & lanyard, crowd-free merchandise shopping before the show, on-site perks such as VIP check-in, and an on-site customer service mobile text-only number

In her long-awaited return to Symphony Hall, Hilary Hahn, one of the world’s great violinists, pairs with acclaimed cellist Seth Parker Woods for a new BSO co-commissioned work written for them by the BSO’s Composer Chair Carlos Simon. Simon’s vibrant, often joyful musical language is tailor-made for the interplay of soloists and orchestra. Sparklingly orchestrated music from two of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s stage works, his opera Eugene Onegin and brilliant character dances from the Nutcracker ballet, anticipates our deep focus on the composer’s work in January.

Known for an affinity for the music of his homeland, Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša leads the BSO in a program featuring two Czech composers. Josef Suk, one of Antonín Dvořák’s favorite students, was a prominent violinist and a popular composer in the early 20th century. These are the first BSO performances of his Fantasiké Scherzo, a kind of jolly danse macabre. Suk briefly mentored his younger compatriot Bohuslav Martinů, whose Sixth Symphony was a BSO 75th anniversary commission dedicated to his conductor friend, the BSO’s Charles Munch. Alexandre Kantorow, who made his BSO debut in 2022, returns to perform Brahms’ turbulent Piano Concerto No. 1, the composer’s first fully realized, ambitious foray into orchestral music.