Even in the off season, Tanglewood dominates the cultural and economic life of the Berkshires. "For the Berkshires to thrive, we need Tanglewood to survive," says BSO trustee Nancy Fitzpatrick, the owner of the Red Lion Inn, who is head of the Tanglewood Business Partners. According to the 2008 Boston Symphony Economic Impact Report, Tanglewood is the single largest tourist attraction in the Berkshires with approximately 350,000 annual visitors. Innkeepers, restaurateurs and shopkeepers depend on concert-goers for their livelihoods, which explains why so many of them packed the ballroom on November 21 at the Cranwell Mansion in Lenox for the announcement of Tanglewood's 2010 summer schedule. "I'm going home to blog about this right now," said one ebullient Lenox innkeeper. "We have to let our regulars know who's playing so they can book their rooms now."
As in recent seasons, the biggest draw at Tanglewood is expected to be James Taylor, who will be appearing with his old friend Carole King on July 3 & 4, which will be the end of the American leg of their "Troubador Reunion" World Tour that is named after the Los Angeles club where they both played when they were first starting out. In the past few years, Tanglewood has had no better friend than Taylor, who has designated the July 4 show as a fundraiser for Tanglewood. (Tickets go on sale February 7.) Taylor and King made a surprise appearance at the Cranwell announcement, and the ballroom erupted in grateful, loving applause. After Taylor and King made their exit, BSO managing director Mark Volpe quipped: "The good new is that the BSO will be at Tanglewood, too." Indeed, it will be a milestone summer in Lenox—John Williams's 30th season, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus's 40th birthday, the Tanglewood Music Center's 70th anniversary and the 125th anniversary of the Boston Pops. What's more, the legendary conductor Seiji Ozawa will be returning to conduct concerts on July 24 & 25, and the calendar is filled with performances by Tanglewood alumni such as Garrison Keillor, Mark Morris, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Dawn Upshaw, and Pinchas Zuckerman. And for the Jazz Festival, John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey have been booked to do an encore taping of their Radio Deluxe program.
Tanglewood is not the only arts organization that is trying to tantalize its audience with coming attractions. Last week, Barrington Stage Company announced that its annual main stage musical will be Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which will star Jeff McCarthy and run for five weeks (June 17 - July 17). It will be directed by artistic director Julianne Boyd, who's proven herself adept at directing musicals with dark themes such as last summer's Carousel. And Jacob's Pillow has already announced that it has commissioned three world premieres for next summer by the choreographers Monica Bill Barnes, Kyle Abraham, and Camille A. Brown (left), which indicates that historic Jacob's Pillow is committed to championing new talent and making artistic innovation a priority.
