At Tanglewood, everything from Benjamin to Zorn
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced details of this summer's Festival of Contemporary Music at Tanglewood. This year's festival is scheduled for Aug. 7-11 and will be curated by the highly regarded American composer Augusta Read Thomas, a former TMC fellow.
In contrast to last year's festival, which was devoted wholly to Elliott Carter, this year's will be a highly diverse affair, with composers representing a wide variety of styles, generations, and nationalities to be featured. Among those whose music will be heard are recent Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang, Oliver Knussen, George Benjamin, Peter Lieberson, Wolfgang Rihm, and John Zorn. Works by local composers David Rakowski and Yehudi Wyner will also be played.
Many of the concerts will be performed by the TMC fellows under faculty conductor Stefan Asbury. As in past years, one BSO concert will be part of the festival: The orchestra's assistant conductor Julian Kuerti will lead "Sinfonietta II" by the late George Perle. The festival's final concert is a recital by British pianist Nicolas Hodges, who is scheduled to play a demanding program of works by Pierre Boulez, Hans Thomalla, Michael Finnissy, Frederic Rzewski, and Henri Dutilleux.
And for those worried that they'll miss Carter's music after last year's blowout, fear not: His "Poems of Louis Zukofsky" will have its world premiere on Aug. 9.
Information: www.tanglewood.org
Another, less grandiose LSO event will take place the next day, away from the Symphony Hall stage. In fact, it's targeted at people who are unable to reach the concert hall at all. Two of the orchestra's musicians - violist Robert Turner and cellist Hilary Jones - will play for patients at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. They'll also stick around to talk with their listeners and demonstrate their instruments. It's part of Musicians on Call, a program that sends musicians to hospices, hospitals, nursing homes, and private homes to perform. While Boston's Longwood Symphony Orchestra, for one, has done similar performances, it's rare to see a major orchestra bring a project like this on tour.
In an e-mail, Jones said that she and Turner tailor their repertoire, which consists mostly of arrangements - "from Purcell to The Pink Panther, via Glière and bluegrass, so we have something to suit all tastes and occasions" - to the places they visit. Among memorable experiences, she recalls playing for a woman in Florida who was over 100 years old. "Her house was an old orange packing warehouse that her husband had converted, and she had lived there for 75 years. Her first great-great-grandchild was born that very morning!"
Asked why she thought it was important to bring the program with them on tour, she said, "Because it is a wonderful opportunity to meet, and take our music to, people from other countries and walks of life."
