Lenox — Tickets for the 2025 Tanglewood season go on sale March 6 at 10 a.m. at Tanglewood.org or (888) 266-1200. More than 100 performances are in the offing, including concerts and other events by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, and recital, chamber music, and Tanglewood Learning Institute events in Ozawa Hall and at the Linde Center for Music and Learning. Bonnie Raitt closes the festival on August 31.
Some of the most celebrated pianists on Earth will perform works this summer by old masters and new, ranging from Beethoven to John Williams. Emanuel Ax will perform the world premiere of Williams’ Piano Concerto composed especially for him. Also watch for pianists Daniil Trifonov, Yefim Bronfman, Seong-Jin Cho, Yuja Wang, and Lang Lang.
Opening night for the BSO is Saturday, July 5. Daniil Trifonov performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, followed by a BSO performance of Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances.”
On August 3, pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, violist Antoine Tamestit, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma perform works by Beethoven: Trio No. 4 in B-flat for piano, violin, and cello, as well as transcriptions of his Leonore Overture No. 3 and Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” This concert is a sequel to an all-Beethoven chamber program performed by Kavakos, Ma, and Ax in 2023 to a sold-out Shed.
Yuja Wang is the headliner on July 20, performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. On the same program is Berlioz’s path-breaking “Symphonie fantastique.” Wang recently collaborated with Andris Nelsons and the BSO on a recording of Messiaen’s “Turangalîla-Symphonie,” released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2024.
A series of first prizes at such prestigious international competitions as the 2021 Menuhin Violin Competition put Spanish violinist MarÃa Dueñas on the map. On July 25, she makes her BSO and Tanglewood debuts with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. The program also includes Mendelssohn’s “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage,” J.S. Bach’s Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3, and Mahler’s valedictory Adagio from Symphony No. 10.
If you hear only one performance at Tanglewood this summer, make it Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” led by Andris Nelsons on July 19, with soprano Kristine Opolais, tenor Seok Jong Baek as Cavaradossi (in his Tanglewood and BSO debuts), bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel as Scarpia, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. (Nelsons led Act II of “Tosca” in 2015 with a cast that featured Opolais and Terfel.) Also watch for Nelsons to lead “Romeo and Juliet: A Theatrical Concert for Orchestra and Actors” in collaboration with Concert Theatre Works and director Bill Barclay on July 11.
On July 27, in Nelsons’ final BSO concert of the 2025 season, Lang Lang performs Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in a program that includes Gabriela Ortiz’s “La Calaca,” for string orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral.”
Here is a statement from Andris Nelsons about Tanglewood 2025:
We are excited for another fantastic summer at Tanglewood, full of exceptional music in the beautiful surroundings of the Berkshires. We are delighted to perform Puccini’s “Tosca” with Kristine Opolais and Bryn Terfel, and excerpts from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” with Bill Barclay’s Concert Theatre Works company. We are thrilled to welcome many renowned guest artists, including some of the world’s greatest pianists – Daniil Trifonov, Yefim Bronfman, Lang Lang, and the BSO’s most recent recording partners Yuja Wang and Seong-Jin Cho. Furthermore, the BSO and I are privileged to perform the world premiere of John Williams’ Piano Concerto with Emanuel Ax, one of Tanglewood’s most beloved artists. Tanglewood is known for its commitment to supporting young artists, and we are pleased to introduce the brilliant young violinist MarÃa Dueñas in her debut with the BSO. Tanglewood is also one of the world’s greatest centers for music education and I am looking forward to working with our Tanglewood fellows and members of the faculty across our rehearsals and concerts together, as well as our master classes.
Here is a statement from BSO President Chad Smith:
For the past 87 years Tanglewood has offered a uniquely enriching experience for audiences, artists, and students alike. Simply put, there is no more inspiring setting to hear, perform, or study music than Tanglewood. We are thrilled to announce a summer schedule that brings many of today’s most extraordinary artists across many genres and the next generation of orchestral talent to the BSO’s summer home in the Berkshires for what promises to be another memorable season of music-making and learning.
I have barely scratched the surface of this summer’s Tanglewood offerings. For a full listing, click here. More popular artists will be added to the schedule in the coming months.