Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc

Programs: Orchestra music programs: through three distinct components-the boston symphony, the boston pops, and tanglewood-the bso offers some 320 concerts each year and reaches more than 1. 2 million audience members. Internationally recognized as one of the finest orchestras, the bso is also one of the world's largest orchestras as measured by scope of operations and the fourth-largest performing arts institution in the u. S. In 2016-2017, the bso welcomed close to 187,000 patrons to symphony hall for its winter season, 215,000 for its holiday and spring pops seasons, 345,500 for the tanglewood season in lenox, ma, and 452,500 to educational and community concerts held at symphony hall, tanglewood, and at boston's esplanade. Select highlights include: the orchestra's receipt of a second consecutive best orchestral performance grammy award for "shostakovich under stalin's shadow," a recording series with music director andris nelsons, the bso, and deutsche grammophon; performances of strauss's der rosenkavalier with soprano renée fleming; emmanuel ax's personally curated series of five programs at tanglewood, schubert's summer journey; a boston pops tribute to the iconic film composer and boston pops conductor laureate john williams; and the first boston pops fourth of july spectacular to be managed entirely by the bso.

education:education and community programs are integral to the bso's mission and are delivered via two avenues: 1) the tanglewood music center (tmc), bso's summer academy for rising professional musicians; and 2) education and community engagement department programs for individuals of all backgrounds. The tmc serves as a bridge from the conservatory to the professional world, where promising young musicians gain access to some of the world's finest professionals and are primed for successful performing careers. The tmc also functions as a think tank for faculty, who are encouraged to explore uncharted directions in composition, conducting, and collaboration to advance and influence the field. The principal areas of study and performance at the tmc are orchestral and chamber music, with an emphasis on contemporary music, vocal repertoire from art song to opera, composition, and conducting. In 2017, the tmc provided 143 of the world's most promising young musicians (representing 30 states and 18 countries) the opportunity to engage in intensive, performance-oriented work with bso musicians, resident and guest faculty members, and visiting guest artists. Tmc students presented 26 concerts of orchestral, vocal, and chamber works throughout the summer. Education and community engagement programs reached more than 32,000 students, teachers, and families, many of whom come from low-income communities in the greater boston area. Highlights include: 1) youth and family concerts: more than 24,000 tickets distributed for 14 concerts (including open rehearsals, tanglewood family concert, and byso concerts). 1,200 boston public school students received free tickets to youth concerts, and all children under the age of 18 attended family concerts for free. 2) community chamber concerts: approximately 2,700 in attendance. Bso musicians perfomed free concerts led post-concert discussions at northeastern university and in 10 communities limited in access by distance or economics. 3) symphony for our city: symphony for our city partnered with 12 nonprofit organizations in greater boston to provide 768 free tickets to three bso, pops, and tanglewood performances. Concert attendees also met with andris nelsons post-performance. 4) days in the arts (darts): 389 students reached. Thanks to generous tuition subsidies, students from urban, suburban, and rural communities gained a confidence-building introduction to the arts and inclusion in a diverse, supportive community.

historic preservation and conservation and facility rental: the bso's two main properties, symphony hall and tanglewood, carry historical significance and represent popular sites supporting the massachusetts tourist industry. Symphony hall's acoustic qualities have earned it a place among the top three concert auditoriums in the world, a fact underscored by the hall's 1999 designation as a national historic landmark. Symphony hall resonates with more than a century of performances by key artists spanning the history of classical music. In addition to bso performances, the hall functions as a key performance venue for a number of local, national, and international ensembles and presenters, including the handel & haydn society, the celebrity series of boston, and the boston youth symphony orchestras. The hall has a 2625 seat capacity. Located in the berkshire hills of lenox, massachusetts and established in 1936 by then-music director serge koussevitzky, tanglewood is the summer performance home of the bso. Tanglewood annually attracts more than 300,000 visitors and presents ten weeks of diverse programming, including concerts from the bso, the tanglewood music center, and the pops. Tanglewood spans more than 500 acres and remains open to the public year-round, much like a state park. 23 buildings reside on the grounds, including two performance venues: the koussevitzky music shed and seiji ozawa concert hall. Built in 1938, the koussevitzky music shed is a seasonal hall open on three sides with 5,121 seats and additional seating for more than 10,000 on the adjacent lawn. All bso and visiting orchestra concerts are performed in the shed. Opened in 1994, seiji ozawa hall is a brick and wood structure that provides a venue for chamber music performances and serves as the headquarters of the tanglewood music center. It seats up to 750 audience members on the orchestra level and an additional 450 in the two balconies, as well as hundreds more on the adjacent lawn. In 2017 at symphony hall, in addition to minor repairs, renovations, and improvements throughout the hall the bso undertook the complete replacement of the hall's chiller system. At tanglewood, activity centered on preparations for construction of a new facility-the largest construction project at tanglewood since construction of seiji ozawa hall-the tanglewood music center/tanglewood learning institute complex.