Al Fesco at Tanglewood

Those coveted tickets for James Taylor’s shed concerts at Tanglewood are now on sale. (Sales began January 29) They can be had online by going to tanglewood.org, or by phone at 888-266-1200 and if you are in Boston, at the Symphony Hall Box Office. (The Tanglewood box office in Lenox will not reopen until June 21.) Tickets for the 2012 Tanglewood season are priced from $9 to $117, and the festival offers free lawn tickets to young people age 17 and under and a 50% discount on lawn tickets to college and graduate students.

July 4 Weekend means James Taylor

The dates of the James Taylor concerts are July 2, 3 and 4. But the legendary performer is only the tip of a monumental array of symphonic, chamber and new music events. The 75th Season has many starry events including Yo-Yo Ma with his Silk Road Ensemble (June 22 and 24); Joshua Bell (July 7); Jean-Yves Thibaudet (August 5); Mark Morris Dance Group (June 28 and 29); and Chris Botti (August 5). Bernadette Peters (July 8) as well as Maureen McGovern and Brian Stokes Mitchell (August 24), make welcome returns with the Boston Pops.

Even before James Taylor, the Tanglewood grounds come to life with the annual return of Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion on June 30.

Tanglewood Jazz Festival Cancelled, but Corea, Burton, others added to the season

The Labor Day Jazz Festival appears to have been cancelled as the BSO announces additional jazz artists sprinkled throughout the coming season. Colleague Charles Giuliano speculates on the reasons and history in his story here. (link)

New additions since the November season announcement include Chick Corea and Gary Burton with the Harlem String Quartet on August 26, and Christian McBride Trio with Christian Sands and Ulysses Owens, Jr. on August 18. Other jazz artists featured throughout the Tanglewood Season include the five-time Grammy Award nominated trumpeter Chris Botti on Sunday, August 5, and the double platinum-selling Diana Krall on Saturday, June 23. The young and adventurous Ébène String Quartet will also juxtapose a Mozart and Tchaikovsky set with jazz selections arranged by the ensemble members and filled with improvisation in Ozawa Hall on Thursday, August 16.

The Main Course – The BSO, The Pops

For the original season announcement and its many details, read the original announcement.

For the day by day breakdown of concerts and composers, read our complete schedule.

Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary season will present a spectacular lineup of musical guests and programs that spotlight the festival’s rich tradition of presenting summertime concerts since 1937. Highlights include a gala celebration with appearances by John Williams, Keith Lockhart, Andris Nelsons, James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, and Anne-Sophie Mutter, performing with the BSO, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestras (July 14), a special John Williams 80th Birthday Celebration (August 18), an all-Beethoven (BSO opener on July 7) and an all-Wagner program (July 21), replicating two programs from Tanglewood’s first season in 1937, and eight world premiere performances.

Cross Promotion with Clark Art Institute and Kripalu Center

Both the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health have teamed with Tanglewood to provide new ticket perks for the 75th anniversary season. The Clark Art Institute and Tanglewood will offer two ticket deals. The first, for $50, includes two Clark admissions and two Tanglewood lawn tickets for any classical concert valid through October 21, 2012. The second deal, for $100, includes a pre-concert buffet dinner at Highwood Supper Club, followed by the Silk Road Ensemble concert with Yo-Yo Ma in Ozawa Hall on Friday, June 22, or Sunday, June 24. This ticket deal is thematically paired with the Clark’s special exhibition called “Unearthed: Recent Archaeological Discoveries from Northern China,” which showcases a selection of objects from sites along the Silk Road that have never been exhibited outside of China.

Kripalu is another major Berkshires destination.

A ticket partnership between Tanglewood and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health will take place from July 3-6, in conjunction with a Kripalu workshop called “All Together Singing: Creative Ways to Make and Listen to Music with Your Family,” with acclaimed musicians Nerissa and Katryna Nields. In this Kripalu program, families develop their own Family Musical Canon, sing in harmony, and make instruments together, as well as embark on a July 4 outing to Tanglewood to enjoy the annual favorite James Taylor concert, followed by fireworks. For more information and/or to register for this program, visit kripalu.org/tanglewood or call 800-741-7353.

Tanglewood for the First Timer

Tanglewood is a world class attraction that draws hundreds of thousands to the Berkshires each summer. Its grounds are legendary, yet it is family friendly (as long as the young ones know how to behave) and a favorite place for al fresco picnics on the lawn before the concerts. There is no dress code, but suffice to say that a jacket and tie would be as out of place as saggy grunge attire. Except on stage.

Tanglewood — the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937—is located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills between Lenox and Stockbridge, MA. With an average annual attendance of more than 300,000 visitors each season, the festival has a $60 million impact on the Berkshire economy each summer. Tanglewood presents orchestra concerts by the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and visiting ensembles, featuring many of the greatest classical musicians of our time; recital and chamber music concerts in the intimate setting of Ozawa Hall; programs highlighting the young musicians of the Tanglewood Music Center; performances by some of today’s leading popular artists; and a season-ending Labor Day Weekend festival. Tanglewood is family-friendly, with free lawn tickets available for children and young people age 17 and under, a 50% discount on Friday-evening lawn tickets for college and graduate students, and a variety of special programs for children, including Kids Corner, Watch and Play, and the annual Family Concert, this year to take place Saturday, August 25. Tanglewood is also the home of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s preeminent summer music academy for the advanced training of young professional musicians, and Days in the Arts, a multi-cultural arts-immersion program that gives 400 fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders from communities across Massachusetts the opportunity to explore the arts throughout each week-long session of the summer.