TANGLEWOOD TO UNVEIL PENELOPE JENCKS SCULPTURE OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN, ONE OF THE 20TH CENTURY’S TOWERING MUSICAL FIGURES AND TANGLEWOOD GUIDING SPIRIT 1940-1990

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July 24, 2014

TANGLEWOOD TO UNVEIL PENELOPE JENCKS SCULPTURE OF
LEONARD BERNSTEIN, ONE OF THE 20TH CENTURY’S TOWERING MUSICAL FIGURES AND TANGLEWOOD GUIDING SPIRIT 1940-1990

UNVEILING CEREMONY TO TAKE PLACE MONDAY, JULY 28, AT 3 P.M., BEGINNING WITH A MUSICAL PROGRAM AT OZAWA HALL, FOLLOWED BY SCULPTURE UNVELING AT HIGHWOOD MANOR HOUSE

NEW LEONARD BERNSTEIN SCULPTURE, ALONG WITH AARON COPLAND BUST UNVEILED IN 2011 IN TANGLEWOOD’S FORMAL GARDENS, IS PART OF A
MULTI-YEAR PLAN TO HONOR TANGLEWOOD’S MOST ICONIC MUSIC FIGURES

Celebrated New England-based artist Penelope Jencks’s new sculpture of Leonard Bernstein will be unveiled at a ceremony at Highwood manor house on the Tanglewood grounds on Monday, July 28, at 3 p.m. The new sculpture    honors the legendary Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)—composer, conductor, author, lecturer, and pianist—who led the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Music Center orchestras in some of the most memorable performances in the history of the festival. Mr. Bernstein also played a highly influential pedagogical role at the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s prestigious summer music academy, where he worked with Tanglewood founder Serge Koussevitzky (BSO music director 1925-1949) as a Conducting Fellow in the first TMC class in 1940.

The Leonard Bernstein sculpture is the second in a series of sculptures planned for permanent display throughout the Tanglewood grounds and depicting the festival’s most iconic music figures. In summer 2011, Ms. Jencks’s bust of composer Aaron Copland— located in the formal gardens behind the Tappan Manor House—was the first of its kind to be given a permanent spot on the grounds in the 75-year history of the festival.  This series of sculptures has been made possible through a generous gift by Boston Pops Laureate Conductor and Tanglewood Artist in Residence John Williams.

“Tanglewood has always been, and will continue to be, the spiritual home of Leonard Bernstein,” said John Williams. “It therefore seems fitting, and is a particular joy to me, to welcome a brilliant bronze portrait of Mr. Bernstein by sculptress Penelope Jencks to the Tanglewood campus. Ms. Jencks also recently contributed a portrait of Aaron Copland to the Tanglewood grounds, which is enjoyed by countless visitors. And I believe that her new work will immeasurably add to the experience of visiting Tanglewood, and will constitute a lasting tribute to one of our country’s greatest musicians.”

The Leonard Bernstein sculpture will be placed in the entry way of the Highwood manor house, located between the Koussevitzky Music Shed and Ozawa Hall, where there is a courtyard named after Bernstein in honor of his close relationship with the Tanglewood Music Center—first as a Fellow in 1940, then as a teacher and conductor leading the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in many powerfully memorable performances. The unveiling festivities on June 28 will begin with a short musical program by special guest artists and members of the BSO in the Ozawa Hall at 3 p.m., followed by the unveiling and reception at Highwood. The all-Bernstein musical program will feature mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, with pianist Alan Smith, in “My New Friends” from The Madwoman of Central Park, “Dream with Me” from Peter Pan, and “In Our Time”; BSO Associate Principal Clarinetist Thomas Martin and pianist Vytas Baksys performing the second movement of Bernstein’s Clarinet Sonata; and BSO Acting Assistant Concertmaster Julianne Lee and Mr. Baksys in a special instrumental arrangement by Eric Stern of “Glitter and Be Gay” from Candide.

Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937, is located in the Berkshire Hills between Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The 2014 Tanglewood season opens June 27 with the Kenny Barron Trio and closes on August 30 with a performance by the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart, with special guest Josh Groban, with a wide variety of orchestral, chamber music, recital, jazz, and popular artists concerts featured throughout the season. The Boston Symphony performs most Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in July and August, regularly presenting many of the great conductors and soloists of our time. Tanglewood also features performances by Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony’s prestigious summer music academy for the advanced training of musicians. For more information, please visit www.tanglewood.org.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN AT TANGLEWOOD
Written by Richard Dyer
On March 17, 1940, Aaron Copland sent a letter of recommendation to support the application of a 21-year-old protégé of his who wanted to be accepted into Serge Koussevitzky’s first conducting class at the Tanglewood Music Center. Copland wrote, “In my opinion, Mr. [Leonard] Bernstein is an extraordinarily gifted young musician. I have seldom met his equal for sheer musicianship. His musical memory is remarkable, and so is his ability to sight-read both scores and piano music. He is besides a first-rate pianist. He possesses the type of temperament which I believe in particularly sympathetic to Dr. Koussevitzky…”  The rest, of course, is history—a history that neither Copland nor Bernstein himself could possibly have imagined. At the beginning, as Copland admitted, Bernstein’s experience on the podium was limited—he had won a newspaper contest and conducted the overture to Wagner’s Die Meistersinger on Boston’s Charles River Esplanade without rehearsal. He had also led student performances at Harvard, and went through formal conducting studies with Fritz Reiner at the Curtis Institute of Music; he enjoyed the support of another major conductor, Dimitri Mitropoulos.

But there is no question that Bernstein’s experience that first summer at Tanglewood was transformative. As he wrote to Koussevitzky afterwards, “This summer was to me beauty—beauty in work, and strength of purpose, and cooperation. . . these last six weeks have been the happiest and most productive of my life.” In those weeks, Bernstein conducted the Music Center Orchestra in the Second Symphony of Randall Thompson, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, and works by Bach, Haydn, Brahms, and Copland, all part of the curriculum. On his own, he organized a performance of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with a new spoken text by himself and conducted it as a surprise serenade for Koussevitzky at a reception. He also made several friends for life, and imbibed the sights, sounds, and, most important, the spirit of the place.

Bernstein became a star “overnight” in 1943 when at the last moment he replaced Bruno Walter in a nationally broadcast concert by the New York Philharmonic—the story made the front page of The New York Times. The most important fact about that moment was that Bernstein was ready by then. His Tanglewood experiences had prepared him well for the next steps and stages, and he knew it—and he remained grateful for the rest of his life. After Koussevitzky’s death Bernstein wore a pair of his cufflinks at every concert he ever conducted, and he ritually kissed them before entering the stage every single time.

In the decade that followed his first student summer, Bernstein became Koussevitzky’s assistant at Tanglewood, and in his own right led some very important performances in the Berkshires, including the first American performance of Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, the first performance anywhere of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie, and the Tanglewood premiere of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, a work that the BSO had not played in thirty years until he came along, and one that remained a cornerstone of his repertory. To continue reading this essay, click here.
PENELOPE JENCKS
Inspired by Penelope Jencks’ monumental sculpture of Eleanor Roosevelt in Riverside Park in New York, John Williams chose Ms. Jencks to create sculptures of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, the first two in a series of sculptures to commemorate some of Tanglewood’s most iconic figures. A Massachusetts-based artist, Penelope Jencks is also the artist behind the Samuel Eliot Morison “Sailor, Historian” sculpture, which stands along Commonwealth Avenue and Exeter Street in Boston, and most recently, in 2007, the sculpture of Robert Frost at Amherst College in Amherst, MA. Jencks attended Swarthmore College, where she studied art history and French before transferring to art school at Boston University. She studied under several mentors during her student years including Edwin Dickinson, Harold Tovish, and Hans Hofmann in Provincetown. She has created numerous works in terra cotta and bronze, and for several years she spent most of her time living in Italy, where she had the sculpture of Robert Frost carved in granite. Her retrospective exhibition at Boston University in 2006 was given the AICA/NE (International Association of Art Critics) second place Award for Best Monographic Show in a University Gallery – Boston Area.

Jencks is a member of the National Academy of Design, the Royal British Society of Sculptors, and the National Sculpture Society. Her works can be found in private and public collections worldwide. Some of her notable public collections and commissions include: The White House (Washington, D.C.); The Maggie Cancer Care Center (Edinburgh, Scotland); the Readers Digest Corporate Head-quarters (Pleasantville, NY); the Boston Public Library (Boston, MA); the Bibliotecca di Piestrasanta (Italy); the City of New York, NY; the City of Toledo, OH; the Cape Museum of Fine Arts (Dennis, MA); the National Academy of Design (New York, NY); Amherst College (Amherst, MA); and Brandeis University (Waltham, MA).

JOHN WILLIAMS, BOSTON POPS CONDUCTOR LAUREATE,
TANGLEWOOD ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
In a career spanning five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage. He has served as music director and laureate conductor of one of the country’s treasured musical institutions, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he maintains thriving artistic relationships with many of the world’s great orchestras. He remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices.

Mr. Williams has composed the music and served as music director for more than 100 films. His nearly 40-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful films, includingSchindler’s List, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones films,Lincoln, Saving Private Ryan, War Horse, The Adventures of Tintin, Amistad, Munich, Hook, Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and Empire of the Sun.   Mr. Williams also composed the scores for all six Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Memoirs of a Geisha, Far and Away, The Accidental Tourist, Home Alone, Nixon, The Patriot, Angela’s Ashes, Seven Years in Tibet, The Witches of Eastwick, Rosewood, Sleepers, Sabrina, Presumed Innocent, The Cowboys, The Reivers, andGoodbye, Mr. Chips, among many others. His most recent film project was The Book Thief.  He has worked with such legendary directors as Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler, and Robert Altman. He adapted the score for the film version of Fiddler on the Roof, for which he composed original violin cadenzas for renowned virtuoso Isaac Stern. He has appeared on recordings as pianist and conductor with Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Jessye Norman, and others. Mr. Williams has received five Academy Awards and a total of forty-nine Oscar nominations, making him the Academy’s most-nominated living person. He also has received seven British Academy Awards (BAFTA), twenty-one Grammys, four Golden Globes, five Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records.

A composition student of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Mr. Williams also studied piano at the Juilliard School with Madame Rosina Lhevinne. He began his career in the film industry working with such accomplished composers as Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, and Franz Waxman. He went on to write music for more than 200 television films for the groundbreaking, early anthology series Alcoa Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre, Chrysler Theatre, and Playhouse 90. His more recent contributions to television music include themes for NBC Nightly News (“The Mission”), the theme for what has become network television’s longest-running series, NBC’s Meet the Press, and the prestigious PBS arts showcase Great Performances.
Mr. Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies, and concertos for flute, oboe, violin, clarinet, viola, and tuba. His cello concerto was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered by Yo-Yo Ma at Tanglewood in 1994. Mr. Williams also has filled commissions by several of the world’s leading orchestras, including a bassoon concerto for the New York Philharmonic, a trumpet concerto for the Cleveland Orchestra, and a horn concerto for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “Seven for Luck,” a seven-piece song cycle for soprano and orchestra based on texts by former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, was premiered by the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood in 1998. And at the opening concert of their 2009-10 season, James Levine led the Boston Symphony in the premiere of Mr. Williams’s “On Willows and Birches,” a new concerto for harp and orchestra.

In January 1980, Mr. Williams was named nineteenth conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding the legendary Arthur Fiedler. He currently holds the title of Laureate Conductor, which he assumed following his retirement in December 1993, after fourteen highly successful seasons. He also holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood.

One of America’s best-known and most distinctive artistic voices, Mr. Williams has composed music for many important cultural and commemorative events, including “Liberty Fanfare” for the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in 1986, “American Journey” for the America’s Millennium concert in Washington, D.C., on New Year’s Eve 1999, and “Soundings” for the gala opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In the world of sport, he has contributed musical themes for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Mr. Williams holds honorary degrees from twenty-one American universities, including The Juilliard School, Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, Boston University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, The Eastman School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the University of Southern California. He is a recipient of the 2009 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the United States Government. In 2003 he received the Olympic Order, the IOC’s highest honor, for his contributions to the Olympic movement. He served as the Grand Marshal of the 2004 Rose Parade in Pasadena, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honor in December 2004. In January 2009, Mr. Williams composed and arranged “Air and Simple Gifts” especially for the inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama.

2014 TANGLEWOOD SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
In some of the most eagerly anticipated concerts of the 2014 Tanglewood season, Andris Nelsons will lead four programs in his first festival appearances as BSO Music Director Designate (7/11, 7/12, 7/19, and 7/20); among the repertoire Mr. Nelsons will conduct are excerpts from Strauss’s opera Der Rosenkavalier, Brahms’s Symphony No. 3, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Ravel’s Bolero, and music of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Christopher Rouse, and Rolf Martinsson. The 2014 Tanglewood season will shine a spotlight on a wide variety of American music, starting with the BSO’s all-American opening night program featuring opera star Renée Fleming in an evening of music ranging from opera arias to popular song (7/5).  Season highlights include a BSO concert performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (8/16); Maher’s Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with Manfred Honeck conducting (7/26); a movie presentation of The Wizard of Oz with orchestral accompaniment by the Boston Pops led by Keith Lockhart (8/22); the ever-popular Film Night with John Williams (8/2); an all-Tchaikovsky program with cellist Yo-Yo Ma (8/10); a return appearance by the Grammy Award-winning band Train (8/29); and the greatly anticipated return of James Taylor for two concerts July 3 and 4. The BSO welcomes Emanuel Ax performing Beethoven’s extraordinary Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor (8/15); Charles Dutoit leading the BSO, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and cast of acclaimed soloists in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the orchestra’s last concert of the season (8/24); Ellis and Delfeayo Marsalis in an evening inspired by the American ballad (8/17); The Kenny Barron Trio featuring the famed pianist (6/27); The Beach Boys (8/18); Josh Groban joining the Boston Pops (8/30); and an appearance by Tony Bennett for the season finale (August 31).

Additional artists of note include Jason Alexander (7/13), Joshua Bell (7/20), Yefim Bronfman (8/24), Thomas Hampson (7/16, 7/18), Paul Lewis (7/25), Anne-Sophie Mutter (7/11), Gil Shaham (7/24, 8/8), Jean-Yves Thibaudet (8/1), and Dawn Upshaw (7/23). Tanglewood will also host two popular radio shows: Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion (6/28), broadcast live, and NPR’s popular radio quiz show, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me(8/28), which will be taped for future broadcast. Tanglewood will also present the Wine and Food Classic (8/7-10), featuring wines from around the world and locally sourced foods, and One Day University (8/24), the acclaimed adult education series.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TANGLEWOOD, THE BSO’S SUMMER HOME SINCE 1937
One of the most popular and acclaimed music festivals in the world, Tanglewood—the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937—is located in the beautiful Berkshire Hills between Lenox and Stockbridge, MA. With an average annual attendance of more than 300,000 visitors each season, Tanglewood has a $60 million impact on the Berkshire economy each summer. Tanglewood presents orchestra concerts by the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and visiting ensembles, featuring many of the greatest classical musicians of our time; recital and chamber music concerts in the intimate setting of Ozawa Hall; programs highlighting the young musicians of the Tanglewood Music Center; and performances by some of today’s leading popular artists. Introduced last year—$20 tickets for attendees under 40—will be available for BSO and Boston Pops performances in the Shed.  Tanglewood is family-friendly, with free lawn tickets available for children and young people age 17 and under, a 50% discount on Friday-evening lawn tickets for college and graduate students, and a variety of special programs for children, including Kids’ Corner, Watch and Play, and the annual Family Concert, this year to take place on August 23. Tanglewood is also the home of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s preeminent summer music academy for the advanced training of young professional musicians, and Days in the Arts, a multi-cultural arts-immersion program that gives 400 fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders from communities across Massachusetts the opportunity to explore the arts throughout each week-long session of the summer. These are just two of the BSO’s many educational and outreach activities, for which more information is available at www.bso.org—the largest and most visited orchestral website in the country, receiving about 7 million visitors annually and generating over $95 million in revenue since its launch in 1996. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is online at www.bso.org.

SPONSORSHIP
Commonwealth Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation is proud to be celebrating its eleventh year as the Official Chauffeured Transportation Provider of the BSO.

For further information, call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is online at www.bso.org. All programs and artists are subject to change.

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