The Classical Beat Tanglewood and Sevenars Celebrate Great Music

Master pianist Emanuel Ax performs Brahms Aug. 4 at Tanglewood.

Tanglewood this week shifts into high gear with spectacular musical riches showcasing audience favorite works by time-honored composers.

Tanglewood continues its classical programming in high style with the Danish String Quartet performing Schubert on Aug. 3. The great pianist Emanuel Ax surveys the magisterial Brahms First Piano Concerto on Aug. 4; Berlioz’s out-of-this world "Symphonie Fantastique" will enthrall you on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 6, and to top it all off, Ravel’s insistent "Bolero" and the grandiloquent Symphony No. 2 of Sibelius will take center stage Monday evening, Aug. 8. The certifiably unforgettable performances by the brilliant Fellow/members of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (TMCO) will assuredly raise the roof in Ozawa Hall.

Adding to the excitement will be two of the not-to-be missed grand and popular celebratory events of the summer music festival season: John Williams’ Film Night on Aug. 5 and Tanglewood on Parade on Aug. 8. Read below for the details.

Tanglewood: in Ozawa Hall, the Shed and the Linde Center, Studio E

• Wednesday, Aug. 2, 1:30 p.m. in the Linde Center, Studio E: TLI Open Oboe and English Horn Workshop with Robert Sheena, BSO English Hornist, and TMC Fellows (joint presentation of TLI and TMC).  

• Wednesday, Aug. 2. 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The Danish String Quartet will perform music of Schubert and Anna Thorvaldsdottir ("Rituals").

• Thursday, Aug. 3, 1 p.m. in the Linde Center, Studio E: A TLI In Conversation with the distinguished pianist Andreas Haefliger. 

•   Friday, Aug. 4, 1:30 p.m. in the Linde Center, Studio E: For the TMC Composers’ Concert, Composition Fellows present works they composed at Tanglewood (free). 

•  Friday, Aug. 4, 8 p.m. in the Shed: John Adams’s "Shaker Loops" and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with the stellar frequent Tanglewood guest artist Emanuel Ax the luminous soloist.  

•   Saturday, Aug. 5, 2:30 p.m. in the Linde Center, Studio E: TLI Presents cellist Astrid Schween and pianist Shai Wosner in recital, performing masterpiece cello sonatas of Debussy, Britten, and Brahms. 

•   Saturday, Aug. 5, 5 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The TLI Spotlight Series presents scholar Dr. Saidiya Hartman, who discusses racial justice and equality - central topics from her award-winning book, now newly revised and expanded: "Scenes of Subjection."

•  Saturday, Aug. 5, 6 p.m., in the Linde Center, Studio E: Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra offer a Prelude Concert, featuring music by Sibelius, Schumann, and Friedrich Cerha, as well as "these intervals matter," a composition by Katherine Balch for soprano solo, crystal glasses, and gravel.  

•   Saturday, Aug. 5, 8 p.m. in the Shed: John Williams makes the first of his two 2023 Tanglewood appearances, sharing the podium with David Newman to lead the Boston Pops in John Williams’ Film Night, a cherished tradition and highly anticipated event of every summer. The Boston University Tanglewood Institute Chorus also appears in selections from maestro Williams’ unforgettable scores, while clips from blockbusters  "Jurassic Park," "Superman," and "Star Wars" are shown on the big screen.

•   Sunday, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. in Ozawa Hall: A Tanglewood Music Center chamber music concert, featuring works by Imogen Holst, John Harbison, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and the world premiere of a new work by Annie Nikunen.  

•  Sunday, Aug. 6, 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: Japanese conductor Kazuki Yamada leads the BSO in Mendelssohn’s youthful Concerto in E Major for two pianos and orchestra, featuring the Dutch piano duo Lucas and Arthur Jussen, and concluding with Berlioz’s masterpiece "Symphonie Fantastique."

•   Sunday, Aug. 6, 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The Aaron Diehl Trio: pianist Aaron Diehl, drummer Aaron Kimmel, and bassist David Wong—present a jazz program, which will include "24 Preludes" by American composer/pianist Sir Roland Hanna. 

Sevenars Music Festival

Sevenars welcomes back two Festival favorites - cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio and pianist Judith Lynn Stillman. The duo will perform Rachmaninoff's soul-stirring Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano Op. 19, Beethoven's Sonata in A Major Op. 69, Debussy’s Sonata for Cello and Piano and shorter works by Astor Piazzolla and Gaspar Cassadó.

For Sevenars tickets, and general contact information, call: (413) 238-5854 (please leave a message for return call). On the Web: www.sevenars.org. Email: Sevenars@aol.com. Admission is by donation at the door (suggested $20). Refreshments are included. Sevenars Concerts is located at the Academy in South Worthington, MA, located at 15 Ireland Street, just off Route 112.

The Classical Beat: Spectacular Music and Celebrations at Tanglewood, Sevenars

By Stephen DanknerSpecial to iBerkshires
01:00PM / Thursday, July 30, 2026

With the arrival of August, we are at the midpoint – the emerging height of the classical music festival season. Programs at Tanglewood this week offer an enthralling and diverse mix of orchestral works by Beethoven, Schumann, Wagner, Sibelius, Debussy, Ravel, Bartok and Stravinsky performed by the Boston Symphony, the Tanglewood Music Festival Orchestra and, for the delight of chamber music lovers, the Danish String Quartet playing late Beethoven. The week's other prominent highlights includes Maestro Nelsons leading the BSO in a concert version of  Mozart's iconic comic opera "The Marriage of Figaro." Also scheduled: Yo-Yo Ma's curated concerts, conversations and events under the rubric "We The People," and the activities that comprise the all-day 'Tanglewood on Parade' celebration, always a Tanglewood patron favorite. Read below for more detailed information about these and other performances and related celebratory activities, covering the week of July 30-Aug. 4.

Tanglewood

• Thursday, July 30, 8:00 p.m., Ozawa Hall: The polished Danish String Quartet performs Stravinsky's "Suite italienne," Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F, Op. 135 and a medley of arrangements of Danish folksongs.

• Friday, July 31. 8:00 p.m., in the Shed: Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the BSO in a compelling program of Wagner (the 'Prelude and Liebestod' from "Tristan und Isolde"); Sibelius (Symphony No. 7) and Beethoven (the magisterial Piano Concerto No. 5) with Yefim Bronfman the stupendous soloist.

• Saturday, Aug. 1, 8:00 p.m. in the Shed: Mozart's uproarious comic operatic masterpiece, "The Marriage of Figaro" is performed in concert with English supertitles by a stellar cast of TMC Vocal Fellows - the Boston Symphony led by Andris Nelsons. The production is directed by James Darrah Black.

Tanglewood on Parade Events - Tuesday Aug. 4

The gates open with a fanfare, followed by events during the afternoon and into the evening; each celebrate Tanglewood's ensembles and performers, including Yo-Yo Ma, Keith Lockhart, Samy Rachid and The Boston Pops, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. "Making Music In Community" is the over-arching theme. Visit Tanglewood's website for full program and personnel information, specific events, repertoire and locations. Events throughout the day will occur in Ozawa Hall, the Shed and in the Linde Center. The festivities conclude with the traditional performance of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" by The Pops, accompanied by spectacular fireworks lighting up the Berkshire skies.

For tickets for all Tanglewood/BSO concerts (lawn and Shed seating) and for special events call (617) 266-1200 or (413) 637-5180; online: tanglewood.org or customerservice@bso.org. In Lenox, visit the Tanglewood box office at the Main Gate located at 297 West Street.

Sevenars Music Festival

Pianist Paul-Andre? Bempe?chat in All-Beethoven Program at Sevenars

Founded in 1968, Sevenars Concerts, Inc. is presenting its 58th anniversary season of six summer concerts, held at the Academy in the historic village of South Worthington, MA, located at 15 Ireland Street, just off MA Route 112.

• Sunday, Aug. 2, 4:00 p.m.: Pianist Paul-André Bempechat will present a solo recital. Renowned for his interpretations of the First Viennese School, Brahms, Schumann, and Chopin - Bempechat - a French-Canadian - is a disciple of the artistic legacies of the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School. Decorated as Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, he has toured widely throughout Europe.

He will perform four of Beethoven's Sonatas - Op. 22, Op. 27 No 2 ('Moonlight'), Op. 90 and Op. 57 ('Appassionata'.} Currently recording all 32 Beethoven sonatas, Mr. Bempéchat offers the Sevenars audience the thrill of hearing these four stunning masterworks.   

The Sevenars Academy is located at 15 Ireland Street, just off Rt. 112 in South Worthington, Ma. Concerts are presented on six consecutive Sundays at 4:00 p.m., through August 16. Phone: (413) 238-5854 (please leave a message for a return call). Visit online at: www.sevenars.org. Admission is by donation at the door (suggested $20). Refreshments will be available at no cost.