Season Preview 2023: Music
We've chosen 10 out of many music performances you won't want to miss.
Kelly Hanas
Our region has plenty of music venues and concert series to keep any music-loving listener happy from October to March (we’re looking at you, Williams College, Close Encounters With Music, Clarion Concerts, Berkshires Jazz, Crescendo, and so many more). But once Tanglewood announces its lineup and the others follow suit, we start looking forward to the music at the concert halls, sheds, and theaters old and new that make the summer so magical every year. Since it’s nigh unto impossible to pick out just 10 must-see tickets, we’re necessarily omitting many. So we urge you to look into the other venues making music this summer, among them Berkshire Theatre Festival, Basilica Hudson, PS21, Mr. Finn’s Cabaret, The Foundry, The Barn in Egremont, Ancram Opera House, and Tannery Pond Concerts. And don’t forget your favorite local breweries, distilleries and wineries, where music is now a de rigueur add-on to imbibing.
If you’re lucky at finding shamrocks, maybe you’ll be able to get a ticket to the James Taylor fest, but don’t count on it. Instead, choose from a popular series lineup that includes The Steve Miller Band with guest Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (June 23) and Elvis Costello (July 1).
1. Opening Night at Tanglewood
Anyone can go to opening night at Tanglewood and be part of the festive event. The concert will be conducted by Maestro Andris Nelsons and will feature pianist Daniil Trifonov playing Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3. Also on the program: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 and the opening piece, Wynton Marsalis’s fanfare, “Herald, Holler, and Hallelujah.” A rousing beginning. July 7
2. Andris Nelsons conducts Beethoven and Orff’s “Carmina Burana” at Tanglewood
Adored conductor, great composers, and master vocal work: It’s going to be quite a night in the Koussevitzky Music Shed. The program starts with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3. Then, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Children’s Chorus, three soloists and the Boston Symphony Orchestra will shake the earth with “Orff’s Carmina Burana.” July 16
Leonidas Kavakos, Emanuel Ax, and Yo-Yo Ma. Photo: Hilary Scott
3. Emanual Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma perform an All-Beethoven program at Tanglewood
This all-star trio plus all Beethoven is an annual concert that never fails to draw the crowds. Ax, Kavakos and Ma will perform a trio version of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and the Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat, Op 97, “Archduke.” Aug. 25
4. Horszowski Trio Plays Schubert’s “The Trout” at Music Mountain
This is the perfect concert in which to experience the serenity of Music Mountain’s mountaintop grounds in Falls Village, Connecticut. The Horszowski Trio will perform works by Smetana and Chihara, then will be joined by two other musicians for Schubert’s ravishing Trout Quintet. It’s a piece you can never hear too often. June 25
5. Kellin Hanas Quintet at Music Mountain
Saturday evenings at Music Mountain are devoted to jazz, and this is your opportunity to hear Hanas, a 21-year-old trumpeter (and comedian!) as she rises to the top of her field. Not even out of school yet — she’s studying at Manhattan School of Music — she’s already toured with The Manhattan Transfer and debuted her quintet at Birdland. Aug. 12
Floating Tower
6. Floating Tower at The Adams Theater
We’re so happy to welcome the newly renovated theater in Adams, Massachusetts to the area’s stages. While not completely finished with the rehabilitation, the organization is offering a “pop up” season of performances. We look forward to Floating Tower, a collective of actors-musicians whose program, “Shadows of Forgotten Ancesotrs” is an immersive musical homage to the spirit of Ukraine. July 1, 2
7. “La Boheme” at Berkshire Opera Festival
Although the Berkshire Opera Festival offers aria programs and, in other years, operas by contemporary composers, it sticks to the classics for its mainstage production. Puccini’s “La Boheme” is always a fan favorite. At The Colonial Theatre. Aug. 26-Sept. 1
Flor de Tolache
8. Flor de Tolache at Bard
The Fisher Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and commemorating it with a community celebration featuring Flor de Toloache, the Latin Grammy Award-winning, all-female mariachi band. The group will perform on the lawn of the Fisher Center, and the concert will be followed by dancing in the Spiegeltent. July 15
9. PUBLIQuartet: “What Is American,” at The Stissing Center
We love that The Stissing Center, is committed to presenting chamber music, and that it brings us groups like PUBLIQuartet with its modern interpretations of chamber music. In “What Is American,” the group explores the kaleidoscope of composers and diverse genres that make up American’s musical history. Aug. 27
10. Musical Inspirations at Norfolk Chamber Music Festival
The theme of this summer’s vaunted chamber music festival is “Instrumental Insights,” and selected concerts will explore a particular topic, illuminated through music. In “Musical Inspirations,” composers — Beethoven, Williams Grant Still and Alfred Schnittke —draw inspiration from interesting sources. Pianist Boris Berman will share the stage with immensely talented Norfolk fellows. And for those who regularly attend these concerts, there’s news: the Music Shed is now air conditioned. July 28
