On Tuesday mornings this summer, the Berkshire Museum and the Tanglewood Association of the Boston Symphony Association of Volunteers will present the annual ReDiscovering Music program, renamed this year as Words About Music. This season’s revamped program will feature lectures, panel discussions, and open interviews focusing on both the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s current season at Tanglewood and classical music in general.
The wide-ranging program strives to include something for everyone. It will be opened on July 13th by Martin Bookspan, the veteran commentator for Live from Lincoln Center, who will talk about his life as the broadcast voice of the New York Philharmonic. Other well-known scheduled speakers include Phyllis Curtin, the former soprano and current artist-in-residence at the Tanglewood Music Center, and composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, and self-proclaimed “living American treasure” David Amram, who will discuss the influence of Shakespeare on both his own music and that of others. Piano duo Vladimir Pleshakov and Elena Winther, as well as cellist Yehuda Hanani, will give lectures on their respective instruments, while jazz singer Teri Roiger and her husband, jazz bassist John Menegon, will lead a discussion on improvisation and introduce a live performance by the group 5 Alone. The series will be wound up by Robert Conant, director of the Saratoga Springs summer Festival of Baroque Music, and fellow harpsichordist Don Angle, discussing the evolution of music from Bach to the present day.
The series will be hosted by WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s Paul Elisha, who will also host a special reception and series overview for Boston Symphony Orchestra subscribers on July 6th, from 4 until 6 in the afternoon. The lectures themselves will be held on Tuesday mornings from 10 until 11:30, July 13th through August 24th, at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Tickets are available from the museum and are priced at $12 for individual lectures or $65 for all seven sessions plus the reception.