The Classical Beat: Tanglewood Concludes, South Mountain Up Next

Tanglewood brings to a close its magnificently curated, presented and performed 2025 classical music summer festival season on Sunday, Aug. 24 with the Boston Symphony performing Beethoven's immortal Symphony No. 9 ('Choral')  in the Shed. Prior to that, there will be a celebration of the Boston Pops' maestro Keith Lockhart, who has attained a remarkable 30 years with the beloved orchestra; Francis Poulenc's incandescent choral masterwork "Gloria," performed by the BSO and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, will be paired with Gustav Holst's resplendent multi-movement tone poem, "The Planets." Following these spectacular performances, and with the culminating "Ninth," the classical season ends. Read on for the details, including the following, end-of-season Popular Artists appearances in the Shed.

• Friday, Aug. 22, 8:00 p.m.: in the Shed: The Keith Lockhart 30th Anniversary Concert, which brings special guests Lynn Ahrens, Jason Danieley, Ben Folds, Mandy Gonzalez, Bernadette Peters, Ryan Miller, John Pizzarelli, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Time for Three, to celebrate the unforgettable moments Keith has brought to the orchestra and the community since 1995. Video tributes and archival film, interspersed during the concert, promise a memorable night of music making with Keith and his guests.
• Saturday, Aug. 23, 8:00 p.m. in the Shed: Maestro Kazuki Yamada, Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, leads a program of Gustav Holst's iconic suite, "The Planets." The program opens with Poulenc's emotionally moving "Gloria," with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and soprano soloist Raquel Gonza?lez in her BSO debut.
• Sunday, Aug. 24, 2:30 in the Shed: For the BSO's final performance of the season, esteemed conductor and 1958 TMC alumnus Zubin Mehta makes his BSO debut and returns to the Shed for the first time since 2001 to conduct Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with soloists Federica Lombardi, Isabel Signoret, Pene Pati, and Ryan Speedo Green and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The Symphony is paired with the world premiere of "Words and Prayers of My Fathers," a BSO commission for choir composed by Composer Chair Carlos Simon, conducted by James Burton.

Popular Artists in the Shed

• Thursday, Aug. 28, 8:00 in the Shed: "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!," NPR's popular news quiz program, returns live with host Peter Sagal, judge-scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, and award-winning actor Paul Giamatti as celebrity guest. Nominated for an Academy Award in 2023 for his lead role in "The Holdovers," Giamatti can currently be seen in Season 7 of Netflix's "Black Mirror" and will star opposite Julianne Moore in the forthcoming feature film "No One Cares."
• Saturday, Aug. 30, 7:00 p.m. in the Shed: Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band behind "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird," makes its Tanglewood debut. With a catalog of over 60 albums, billions of streams, tens of millions of records sold, and the introduction of Hell House whiskey, Lynyrd Skynyrd remains a cultural icon that appeals to all generations.
• Sunday, Aug. 31, 7:00 p.m. in the Shed: Thirteen-time GRAMMY winner Bonnie Raitt returns to close the summer season. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, Raitt was also named one of Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and "100 Greatest Singers of All Time."

(Please note that John Legend's concert on Sept. 5 has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Refunds have been issued for tickets purchased through bso.org, tanglewood.org and the Box Office.)

For tickets to all Tanglewood events, call (888) 266-1200, or go online at tanglewood.org.

Summer's end doesn't imply classical music will be absent in the Berkshires; far from it. A long-lived, major "player" in the area, South Mountain Concerts starts up soon after Labor Day with top-drawer chamber music in Pittsfield.

South Mountain Concerts presents five chamber music programs

Founded in 1918, South Mountain Concerts presents some of the world's leading chamber music ensembles and soloists during the fall in its beautiful, classically designed and purpose-built concert hall, located at 730 South Street, Pittsfield.

Programs for 2025 South Mountain Chamber Music Concerts  

• Sunday, Sept. 7: Wu Han, piano; David Finckel, cello; Stella Chen, Bella Hristova, violins; Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola. Mozart – Duo for violin and viola; Mendelssohn – String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 2; Dvorak – Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81.         
• Sunday, Sept. 14: Calidore String Quartet with Matthew Lipman, viola: Haydn – String Quartet, in D Major Op. 76, No. 5; Mozart – String Quintet in C Major, K. 515; Mendelssohn – String Quintet in B-flat Major, Op. 87.          
• Sunday, Sept. 21: Dover String Quartet: Haydn – String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4; Dvorak – String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96; Mendelssohn – String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op. 80.
• Sunday, Sept. 28: Escher String Quartet: Mozart – String Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 428; Alexander Zemlinsky – String Quartet No. 4, Op. 25; Dvorak – String Quartet in G Major, Op. 106.
• Sunday, Oct. 5: String Sextet – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Strauss – Sextet for Strings, "Capriccio," Op. 85; Brahms – Sextet in C Major, Op. 36: Dvorak – Sextet in A Major, Op. 48.

To my readers I bid a fond farewell until June, 2026, when I hope to return to preview the musical offerings at Tanglewood, Taconic Music, Sevenars and other venues in the Berkshires and southern Vermont. Keep on listening, and even more important, attend performances. Music only lives when it is performed.

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.