Thomas Hampson travels to the Tanglewood Festival this month to celebrate the centennial of his late mentor, Leonard Bernstein, and to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

This year, the Tanglewood Festival dedicates their season to the birthday centennial of Leonard Bernstein, who attended and performed at the festival for 50 years. The Bernstein Centennial Celebration concert will take place on August 25 (the anniversary of the Maestro’s birthday) at the Koussevitzky Music Shed in a star-studded performance. The gala concert will be hosted by Audra McDonald and directed by James Darrah. Together with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the concert will feature a plethora of artists, including Andris Nelsons, John Williams, Susan Graham, Nadine Sierra, Isabel Leonard, and more. They will also be joined by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. This momentous occasion will be recorded by Great Performances and broadcasted on PBS throughout America, Europe, and Asia premiering December 28, 2018.  The festival has put together a website to share the history of Leonard Bernstein, click here.

The first half of the program will include selections from famous Bernstein works like Candide, West Side Story, Mass, and Serenade. The second half will feature music from the classical canon very dear to Bernstein’s heart like Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn as well as music by Copland, plus a new work by John Williams. The finale will feature Mahler’s apocalyptic Resurrection Symphony.

Thomas Hampson will also sing in the festival’s season-ending concert led by Christoph Eschenbach. On August 26, the program will include Bernstein’s Afterthought: Study for the Ballet Facsimile and his “Take Care of This House” from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The program will conclude with Tanglewood’s traditional season ending performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Hampson will share the stage with mezzo soprano Sasha Cooke, soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, tenor Joseph Kaiser, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.