(LENOX, Mass.) – In lieu of the annual Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival, which has been a fixture at Tanglewood for several decades but will not take place this summer, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced several new jazz concerts that will occur during the regular Tanglewood season, including legendary pianist Chick Corea, who will take the stage at Ozawa Hall with vibist Gary Burton and the Harlem String Quartet on August 26 at 8 p.m., and bassist Christian McBride, who will bring his trio with Christian Sands and and Ulysses Owens, Jr., to Ozawa Hall on August 19 at 8 p.m.
Previously announced jazz concerts include five-time Grammy Award-nominated trumpeter Chris Botti on Sunday, August 5, and the double platinum-selling vocalist/pianist 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.
Tickets for the entire 2012 Tanglewood season, June 22-September 2, 2012, go on sale Sunday, January 29, at 10 a.m. online at Tanglewood, by phone at 888-266-1200, or at the Symphony Hall box office in Boston, Mass.
Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary season includes 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 6) and an all-Wagner program (July 21), replicating two programs from Tanglewood’s first season in 1937, and eight world premiere performances.
The 75th anniversary season will also present James Taylor (July 2, 3, 4), 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), return with the Boston Pops.
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.
In addition to honoring some of the legendary moments from Tanglewood’s rich performance history, the 75th anniversary season will look to the future with eight new works presented in world premieres and major new media initiatives including international radio broadcasts and new streaming offers provided free to a worldwide audience.
Both The Clark and the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health have teamed with Tanglewood to provide new ticket perks for the 75th anniversary season. The Clark 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.
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 All Together Singing: Creative Ways to Make and Listen to Music with Your Family or call 800.741.7353.