Tanglewood Too

Adjunct Events at the BSO’s Great Music Festival in the Berkshires

While picnics on the lawn outside the big Koussevitsky Music Shed are the principle attraction for those who journey to Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s iconic summer music festival in western Massachusetts, audiences should not overlook another option.  Also on the grounds is Seiji Ozawa Hall, a handsome acclaimed wood auditorium.  Housing the BSO’s Fellowship Program and hosting concerts and programs, the Ozawa offers concert-goers an additional venue and line-up.

Programs in the Ozawa are varied and inventive.  On this season’s schedule were concerts by the Emerson and the Danish String Quartets and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, broadcasts of NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” and  the “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” quiz show. Male vocal chorus Chanticleer sang and the New York-based orchestra the Knights performed ‘60’s folk music. Barry Humphries, the “other half” of Dame Edna Everage, joined the Australian Chamber Orchestra for an entertaining and informative selection of “decadent music” songs from the Weimar era.  

Many concert-goers pack picnics, simple or elaborate.  In addition, sandwiches and snacks are on sale.  Personal picnics are packed in Tanglewood totes for those who order ahead.  More intimate than the Shed, Seiji Ozawa Hall offers another good reason to travel to Tanglewood.