(LENOX, Mass.) – While there’s still more to come at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra takes its final bow of the 2014 season at Tanglewood on Sunday, August 24, at 2:30 p.m., in the Shed, with its traditional performance of Beethoven’s transcendent Symphony No. 9. Later that evening, the Maria Schneider Orchestra – a big-band group led by composer-pianist Maria Schneider that blends the freedom of jazz and the structure of classical music -brings its unique flavor of music-making to Ozawa Hall for an 8 p.m. concert.

The final BSO concert of the summer includes a second opportunity for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus to shine in the form of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, which includes a foreshadowing of the legendary “Ode to Joy” theme from the Ninth Symphony. The Choral Fantasy also features eminent pianist Yefim Bronfman, a familiar and beloved Tanglewood guest. Vocal soloists include sopranos Nicole Cabell and Meredith Hansen, mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, tenors Noah Stewart and Alex Richardson, and bass-baritone John Relyea.

Earlier in the weekend, on Saturday, August 23, at 8:30 p.m., maestro Charles Dutoit returns to the podium to lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s penultimate performance of the 2014 Tanglewood season. Featuring an Italian-themed program, the concert begins with Berlioz’s colorful Roman Carnival Overture, a standalone concert work that draws material from the composer’s opera Benvenuto Cellini. The program continues with Rachmaninoff’s warhorse Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, featuring Russian virtuoso pianist Kirill Gerstein as soloist, and concludes with Ottorino Respighi’s bombastic trio of Rome-centric tone poems-Roman Festivals, Fountains of Rome, and Pines of Rome-three of the repertoire’s great orchestral showpieces.

Maria Schneider has garnered nine Grammy nominations and two Grammy wins, and her music has been hailed by critics as “evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE WEEK OF AUGUST 28-31

On Thursday, August 28, the Labor Day Weekend festivities kick off with a live-presentation of the witty and fast-paced radio program “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” in the Shed. The Peabody Award-winning series offers a fast-paced, irreverent look at the week’s news, hosted by Peter Sagal along with judge and score-keeper Carl Kassell. This 8 p.m. performance will be recorded for broadcast to its weekly audience of 3.2 million weekly listeners on more than 600 NPR stations nationwide.

The following night, Friday, August 29, Grammy award-winning tween-rock group Train takes the stage. This annual concert typically appeals to 11- and 12-year-old girls and their moms.

On Saturday, August 30, Josh Groban joins the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, under the direction of Keith Lockhart. One of today’s popular music superstars, Mr. Groban has become a Tanglewood favorite and provides a spectacular close to an extraordinary summer of music-making.

To close out the 2014 season, Tony Bennett, the 17-time Grammy Award-winning musician whose music spans over six decades, performs on Sunday, August 31 at 2:30 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed.

Tanglewood’s 2014 season opens on Friday, June 27, and closes Sunday, August 31. Tickets, priced from $10 to $121, are available through Tanglewood’s website, Tanglewood, through SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200, and at the Symphony Hall Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA.

Friday, August 22, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall

 

Prelude Concert

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor

Mickey Katz, cello (Tavener)

TAVENER Svyati

SHOSTAKOVICH Ten Poems on Texts by

Revolutionary Poets

 

Friday, August 22, 7:15 p.m. Shed

This Week at Tanglewood

Panel discussion with moderator Martin Bookspan and guest artists, including soprano Nicole Cabell, pianist Kirill Gerstein, and conductor Charles Dutoit

 

Friday, August 22, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Pops Orchestra

Keith Lockhart, conductor

“Oz with Orchestra”

The Wizard of Oz was a technical marvel for the MGM studio in the late 1930s. MGM has stunningly re-mastered this timeless classic, and in this version, produced by John Goberman, the brilliantly restored images are accompanied by a full symphony orchestra playing entirely new transcriptions of Harold Arlen’s brilliant lost scores. Hearing Judy Garland’s original 1939 vocals, backed by lush, live orchestration, will transport children and adults alike. With this presentation of The Wizard of Oz on the big screen, moviegoers will be treated to the Oscar-winning film as it has never been seen before.

 

 

Saturday, August 23, 9:30 a.m. Shed

Pre-Rehearsal Talk

 

Saturday, August 23, 10:30 a.m. Shed

Rehearsal, Sunday program

 

Saturday, August 23, 2:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Family Concert

Boston Cello Quartet

 

 

 

Saturday, August 23, 8:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Charles Dutoit, conductor

Kirill Gerstein, piano

BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture

RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

RESPIGHI Roman Festivals; Fountains of Rome;

Pines of Rome

 

 

 

Sunday, August 24, 2:30 p.m. Shed

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Charles Dutoit, conductor

Yefim Bronfman, piano

Nicole Cabell and Meredith Hansen*, sopranos

Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano

Noah Stewart** and Alex Richardson, tenors

John Relyea, bass-baritone

Tanglewood Festival Chorus,

John Oliver, conductor

BEETHOVEN Choral Fantasy

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9

 

Sunday, August 24, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall

Maria Schneider Orchestra