Topics Include:
www.bso.org
www.tanglewood.org
Celebrating 75 Years of Musical Scholarship at Tanglewood
Travel Expert and Radio Show Host Stephanie Abrams talks with Ellen Highstein, Director of the Tanglewood Music Center, based on the grounds of Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and features performances of classical, pops, jazz and other musical genres as well as more recent additions to the array of offerings including comedy.
As of press time Tanglewood's calendar is well underway with a selection of pre-season performances, though the official opening for Tanglewood has not begun. Some of these acts include: Diana Krall, Sheryl Crow, Huey Lewis and the News, Tony Bennett with Lady Gaga, Garrison Keillor, James Taylor and more. Stephanie encourages listeners not to delay in buying their tickets for Tanglewood performance and cautions that many events sell out, some of them quite quickly.
Ellen Highstein says that she's been with the Tanglewood Music Center for 18 years (since 1997) and began the relationship at a time when she was running a small non-profit based in NY where she assisted with career development for young classical musicians. Seiji Ozawa, former Music Director for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, met with and ultimately hired Ellen to implement various changes for the Music Center. Ozawa was the Music Director of the BSO for more than 20 years and Ozawa Hall on the grounds of Tanglewood is named after him in recognition of his contributions. Stephanie says that Ozawa has a very charismatic presence that deeply affects audiences.
Ellen says her friend English composer Oliver Knussen introduced her to Ozawa. Knussen was formerly a resident of Tanglewood, head of the center's composition activities and oversaw the Festival of Contemporary Music one of the Music Center's flagship events.
Ellen clarifies for listeners the distinction between the physical grounds called Tanglewood, the Tanglewood festival, and the Tanglewood Music Center. The grounds of Tanglewood share a border with Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The Tanglewood Festival, Ellen says, is mostly represented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra's residency which typically plays up to three (3) times per weekend during the summer. Additionally several other events by various artists and performers as well as a recital series and more fill out the festival calendar. The Tanglewood Music Center was started in 1940 by the then Music Director of the BSO Serge Koussevitzky who had a vision of turning his Orchestra, during the summer months, into a kind of music academy to help "pass the baton" to the next generation of the best and brightest upcoming musicians. These students of music could come to study from current musical masters.
Ellen thinks among Koussevitzky's motivations for starting the program were both the desire to help foster learning among future masters, but also to let some of the youth, vigor and passion younger musicians bring to the field rub off on the Orchestra itself. Ellen says that for a teacher there is nothing better at keeping oneself honest and inspired than working with young eager people in your field. This year (2015) marks the 75th anniversary for the Tanglewood Music Center and Ellen feels that long history is certain validation that the model for the center is a success.
Radio Show Host Stephanie Abrams says that though many people may not have heard of Serge Koussevitzky, they probably know of Leonard Bernstein whom he mentored. Ellen tells us that Leonard Bernstein was one of the very first conducting fellows during the first year the Tanglewood Music Center's existence. The Music Center refers to their students as "fellows" because they are all on fellowship; that is, they do not pay any tuition for the experience. One of the projects the Center is doing this year to celebrate their 75th anniversary is digitally streaming their archival recordings to make them available to the public as a free service. This will include a very early recording from Bernstein conducting. Though she is not one hundred percent certain, Ellen is fairly sure that this also represents the earliest example of a Bernstein recording during his lifetime. This particular recording is of Bernstein conducting Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.
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Travelers411 Directory:
Click here for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Directory listing where you'll find links to all interviews with Boston Symphony Orchestra in one place.
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Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread:
https://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16538
For more information visit www.bso.org and www.tanglewood.org
Linda Maisch, Vice President, Organizational Development and Community Engagement, Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
www.sciencemuseumok.org
Related Photo Galleries:
https://www.travelers411.com/forums/album.php?albumid=1584
Travelers411 Directory:
Click here for the Science Museum Oklahoma Directory listing where you'll find links to all interviews with Science Museum Oklahoma in one place.
Click here for more info and links to all interviews featuring Linda Maisch.
Travelers411 Community Forums - This interview's thread:
https://www.travelers411.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19299
For more information visit www.sciencemuseumok.org
Guests Include:
Ellen Highstein, Director of Tanglewood Music Center, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Lenox, Massachusetts, USA.www.bso.org
www.tanglewood.org
Linda Maisch, Vice President, Organizational Development and Community Engagement, Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
www.sciencemuseumok.org
