Tanglewood

As much and more can be learned by attending a rehearsal as can be gleaned enjoying a concert.

As long-time fans of Tanglewood know, the music rarely stops during July and August. On July 10, the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) Orchestra, Conducting Fellows, and Nelson present a program of music by Ravel, Stravinsky and Debussy. The TMC was founded by Koussevitzky in 1940 to allow gifted music students to work closely with faculty members from the BSO and with guest artists.

Its alumni roster reads like a who’s who of classical music — Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, Seiji Ozawa, and the late Burt Bacharach are only a few of the thousands. It is estimated that 20% of American symphony orchestra members, along with 30% of all firstchair players, have attended the TMC.

Highlights in the Koussevitzky Music Shed as the summer rolls on include Mozart’s opera “Cosi fan tutte,” presented on July 15 at 8 pm, with Nicole Cabell and Kate Lindsey as sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, Meigui Zhang as the triumphant maid-servant Despina, Amitai Pati and Elliot Madore as bumbling suitors Ferrando and Guglielmo, and Patrick

Theater

the development, production and presentation of theater, music, and the performance arts on several stages.

Summer plays begins at the Unicorn Theatre with “What the Constitution Means to Me,” May 18-June 3; “Photograph 51,” June 15-July 1; the world premiere of “The Smile of Her,” July12-29, featuring Christine Lahti; and “On Cedar Street — a Musical,” Aug. 12-Sept. 2. At The Garage, “The Accidental Hero,” will be performed on May 26. The Colonial Theatre will play host to “Million Dollar Quartet,” June 27-Juy 16, and “Hershey

Carfizzi as Don Alfonso.

The following afternoon, Maestro Nelsons conducts Beethoven’s “Leonore Overture No. 3” and Carl Orff’s massive “Carmina burana.”

A fascinating program is planned for July 23 at 2:30 p.m., when guest conductor Thomas Wilkins conducts the BSO in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Ballade in A minor,” Jeff Midkiff’s Mandolin Concerto “From the Blue Ridge,” featuring the composer as soloist, and Duke Ellington’s “Suite from The River.”

BSO assistant conductor Anna Rakitina — the second woman to be awarded this position (she has held it since 2019) — leads the orchestra in the Serge Koussevitzky Memorial Concert on July 30. The program includes

Felder’s Beethoven — A Play with Music,” Sept. 8-10. The Colonial Theatre will also offer a special encore presentation of the popular musical, “The Secret Garden,” which has been abridged for younger audiences in an enhanced concert-style production. For more information, visit berkshiretheatregroup.org

Compelling stories, exceptional performances and vital conversations are on tap by Chester Theatre Company this season at their home in the foothills of the Berkshires at Chester Town Hall. This year’s thought-provoking plays include “The Making of a Great Moment,” June 22July 2, written by Peter Sinn Nachtreib and directed by clips and cinematic music. Another Tanglewood favorite artist, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, returns to the Shed on Aug. 13 at 2:30 p.m. to play Shostakovich’s “Cello Concerto No. 1” with Andris Nelsons on the podium. Julia Adolphe’s “Makeshift Castle” and Stravinsky’s “Petrushka” (1947 version) round out the program. musicians will present music by composers Gabriela Lena Frank and Anna Thorvaldsdottir along with Bartok’s “Contrasts” and Gyorgy Kurtag’s “12 Microludes and 6 Moments Musicaux.”

Ellen Reid’s “When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist,” Prokofiev’s Suite from “Romeo and Juliet,” and Paganini’s “Violin Concerto No. 1,” featuring Joshua Bell.

A stalwart star in the Tanglewood firmament for decades, pianist Emanuel Ax will play the Brahms “Piano Concerto No. 1” on Aug. 4 at 8 p.m. in a program including Tanglewood alumnus John Adams’ Shaker Loops. Dima Slobodeniouk, music director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia from 2013 to 2022, conducts the BSO.

The following evening offers one of the biggest draws of the Tanglewood summer season, John Williams’ Film Night. Williams and David Newman are scheduled to conduct the Boston Pops in a series of film

James Barry; “Guards at the Taj,” July 6-16, written by Rajiv Joseph; “The Light,” July 27-Aug. 6, written by Loy A. Webb and directed by Christina Franklin; and “Circle Mirror Transformation,” Aug. 10-20, written by Annie Baker and directed by Daniel Elihu Kramer. For more information, visit chestertheatre. org

There will be no fully staged theater productions at Williamstown Theatre Festival this year, but there will be cabaret and readings. For more information, visit wtfestival. org

Located in the heart of the Berkshires in Lenox, Shakespeare & Company’s 46th season begins on May

The Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert concludes the BSO summer season on Aug. 20 at 2:30 p.m. James Burton will conduct Michael Tippett’s “Spirituals from A Child of Our Time,” and Susanna Malkki will conduct the traditional season-closer, Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9.”

The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra is featured on Aug. 26 at 8 p.m., playing John Williams’ magical score, under Keith Lockhart’s direction, while the film “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” plays on the big screen.

Of course the foregoing is only the tip of the Tanglewood iceberg. Every week is packed with activities at the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), in Seiji Ozawa Hall, and elsewhere on the idyllic, sprawling campus.

For fans of contemporary classical composition, the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music always brings concertgoers to the cutting edge of new music. On July 27 (8 p.m.) and 28 (2:30 p.m.) in Seiji Ozawa Hall, the TMC

26 with Ken Ludwig’s “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” directed by Ariel Bock. Additional performances include William Shakespeare’s “The Contention (Henry VI, Part II), June 17-July 15, directed by Tina Packer; August Wilson’s “Fences,” July 22-Aug. 27, directed by Christopher Edwards; “Golda’s Balcony,”

Aug. 5-30, by William Gibson and directed by Daniel Gidron; “Hamlet - A Staged Reading,” Sept. 1-3, by William Shakespeare and directed by Kevin G. Coleman; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,”

Aug. 1-Sept. 10, by William Shakespeare and directed by Allyn Burrows; and the world premiere of “Lunar Eclipse,” Sept. 15-Oct. 22, by Donald

On July 30 at 8 pm in Studio E, a silent film with a score composed by TMC Composition Fellows will be shown. Also in Studio E, cellist Astrid Schween (former Univesity of Massachusetts Amherst music faculty member, now cellist of Juilliard Quartet) and pianist Shai Wosner will play cello/ piano sonatas by Debussy, Brahms, and Britten at 2:30 pm on Aug. 5.

On Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. in Ozawa Hall, the Aaron Diehl Trio (Aaron Diehl, piano; Aaron Kimmel, drums; David Wong, bass) present a jazz program that includes Sir Roland Hanna’s “24 Preludes.”

As if that weren’t enough, the classical and jazz summer is surrounded and interspersed by appearances by popular artists like Elvis Costello (July 1), Train (Aug. 24), the Steve Miller Band (June 23), Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (July 2), and many more.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit bso. org online for a complete and user-friendly interface, and fill your summer with music of all kinds, from the familiar to the as yet unheard: Tanglewood has it all.

Margulies and directed by James Warwick. For more information and various stages, visit shakespeare.org

Hampshire Shakespeare Company in Amherst returns to production after COVID-19 with “Macbeth,” directed by Kit Thomas and Luke Dowling. Planned performance dates are May 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30, but have not been officially posted on its website at hampshire shakespeare.com

The Majestic Theater in West Springfield offers their annual Children’s Theater from July 10-19 with “Little Lord Fauntleroy” and Disney’s “The Aristocats Kids” from July 24Aug 2. For more information, visit majestictheater.com.

Dance

CONTINUES FROM PAGE E4

Opening Gala on June 24, where American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland will be awarded this year’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award.

“I’m honored to be recognized by Jacob’s Pillow,” Copeland said in a statement released by Jacob’s Pillow. “This treasured team’s longstanding commitment to the arts and dance are perfectly aligned with my desire to bring this art form to as many people as possible. I look forward to celebrating with everyone at the Gala.”

This summer’s festival will also feature many free talks, workshops and “Choose What You Pay” performances, along with the other performances listed below. The full schedule of ticketed performances can be found at Jacob’s Pillow’s website, jacobspillow.org.

Jacob’s Pillow Festival Schedule:

• Mark Morris Dance Group

June 28 – July 2, Ted Shawn Theatre

One of the most inventive, playful and insightful choreographers, Mark Morris’ dance company will return to The Pillow to present his latest evening-length work, “The Look Of Love,” an homage to the music of composer Burt Bacharach. For Morris, everything starts with the music, which will be performed live. “I choreographed it the way I do everything,” Morris said in a 2017 interview I did with him about a new piece created that year. “I listened to it (the music). I studied it. And I made up a dance.” That might sound simple. But like any great artist, Morris’ masterpieces look effortless and magical. Morris made his Pillow debut in 1982 and The Mark Morris Dance Group first performed at The Pillow in 1986 and has returned more than 20 seasons since then.

• Dutch National Ballet

July 5 – 9, Ted Shawn Theatre

In a historic debut, Dutch National Ballet — one of the world’s most critically acclaimed ballet companies — will perform at Jacob’s Pillow for the first time this summer. The Netherlands-based ballet company will perform several works, including “Variations for Two Couples” choreographed by Hans Van Manen, “Two & Only” (Wubkje Kuindersma), “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude” (William Forsythe); “Grand Pas Classique” (Victor Gsovsky) and “Five Tangos” (Hans van Manen, music by Astor Piazzolla). The performances will feature the company’s newest member, Bolshoi Ballet star Olga Smirnova, who joined the Dutch National Ballet after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• Gauthier Dance/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart

July 12 – 16, Ted Shawn

Theatre

Based in Germany, Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart has been blurring the boundaries between modern dance and ballet for decades. Founded by Canadian dancer, choreographer and musician Eric Gauthier, the company will return to The Pillow to celebrate its 15th anniversary. Many of their Pillow performances have been the highlight of the summer in years past, including in 2015, when Gauthier Dance thrilled audiences with a dazzling genre-defying show. After the 2015 performance, Gauthier talked with the audience about what he thinks makes a great dance. “My taste is as long as it says something, that’s all that important,” he said.

• AXIS Dance Company

July 14 – 16, Henry J. Leir Stage

Led by Artistic Director Nadia Adame and Managing Director Danae Rees, AXIS Dance Company is one of the nation’s most acclaimed ensembles of disabled and non-disabled performers. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company will make its Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer performing “Desiderata” by Asun Noales, “Flutter” by Robin Dekkers, and a third piece to be announced.

• Dorrance Dance

July 19 – 23, Ted Shawn Theatre

Based in New York City, crowd-pleasing Pillow favorite Dorrance Dance was founded in 2011 by Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance with the goal of engaging audiences on a musical and emotional level while sharing the complex history and powerful legacy of tap dance. “Every time we pick up our foot, we’re responsible for music,” Dorrance rary dance, Oona Doherty will be making her Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer as the first headlining artist from Northern Ireland to perform at the festival. Based in Belfast and touring internationally, Doherty — a choreographer, dancer, collaborator, and visual artist – is the recipient of numerous international awards. Doherty’s group will perform “Navy Blue,” an ensemble piece that will be a U.S. premiere at The Pillow. The company will also perform “Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus.”

• Hip Hop Across the Pillow

Aug. 2 – 6, Ted Shawn Theatre said in an interview I did with Dorrance the year she received the 2013 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. “The possibilities are endless. And that’s why this form (of dance) is so exciting. What inspires us is there’s such a connection with tap and music.” This summer, the company will perform “SOUNDspace,” one of the early works that brought Michelle Dorrance to prominence. The program will also feature “45th & 8th,” a new work featuring the original compositions of vocalist Aaron Marcellus.

• Oona Doherty – OD Works

July 26 – 30, Ted Shawn Theatre

A rising star in contempo -

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, The Pillow will present a “festival within the Festival.” This oneof-a-kind program will feature dance artists including Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater, which returns to the Pillow after 13 years. The program will also feature the world premiere of two works commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow specifically for the Festival: a new duet by hip-hop icons Rokafella and Kwikstep, and a work performed by the Ladies of Hip Hop created by Los Angeles-based multi-disciplinary artist d. Sabela Grimes.

• Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Aug. 9 – 13, Ted Shawn Theatre

For nearly three decades, New York-based Complexions Contemporary Ballet

SEE DANCE, PAGE E14