Tanglewood Talks 2026 with Jeremy Yudkin

Library : Lenox Library

Location : Lenox Town Hall, 6 Walker Street, Lenox, MA, 01240, United States

Start : Sunday 12th of July 2026 11:00 AM

End : Sunday 12th of July 2026 12:30 PM

Description :

Dr. Jeremy Yudkin is back with the 43rd season of Tanglewood pre-concert talks.  These programs will take place in the Town Hall auditorium, located at 6 Walker Street, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Summer 2026 schedule will be as follows: JULY Sunday, July 5. Portraits of Lincoln. Celebrating American and Abraham Lincoln with Aaron Copland, Philip Glass (world premiere!), and John Williams. Friday, July 10. Tchaikovsky. His towering Piano Concerto No. 1 and excerpts from the immortal Swan Lake. Sunday, July 12. Chopin, Brahms, and Jani.Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, Brahmsâs Second Symphony, and âWhat do flowers do at night?â Friday, July 17. RenĂŠe Fleming/Hampson/Wakao.Samuel Barberâs Violin Concerto, Carlos Simonâs Meditations on Grace, and excerpts from John Adamsâs Nixon in China. Sunday, July 19. Hayden, Beethoven, Shostakovich.Haydnâs brilliant Symphony No. 22, Shostakovichâs Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethovenâs Symphony No. 2. Friday, July 24. Mozart and Tchaikovsky.Mozartâs Violin Concerto No. 5 and Tchaikovskyâs experimental Third Symphony (âPolishâ). Sunday, July 26. Tchaikovsky and Mozart.Mozartâs Violin Concerto No. 1, Salonenâs Gambit, and Tchaikovskyâs celebrated Symphony No. 5. Friday, July 31.Wagner, Sibelius, and Beethoven.The Tristan Prelude, Sibeliusâs magnificent Seventh, and Beethovenâs masterful âEmperorâ Concerto. AUGUST Sunday, August 2. Nelsons/Joshua Bell.Bruchâs Scottish Fantasy, Sarah Kirkland Sniderâs Marmoris, and Schumannâs Third Symphony. Friday, August 7. Yo-Yo I.FaurĂŠ, Cantique de Jean Racine Brahms, String Sextet, Op. 36, and his Double Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra. Sunday, August 9. Yo-Yo II.Tavener, MahĂĄmĂĄtar, Kalhor, Venus in the Mirror, and Golijob, Azul. Friday, August 14. Music and Dance.Dance for Martha Graham, Coplandâs Appalachian Spring, and Beethovenâs Seventh Symphony. Sunday, August 16. Bruch, Violin Concerto, and Mahlerâs Symphony No. 5, which moves from fatalism to triumph. (Beethovenâs Fifth, anyone?) Friday, August 21. No lecture. Sunday, August 23. Beethovenâs Ninth! Photo by Ben Garver About the speaker: Jeremy Yudkin is Professor of Music and Co-Director of the Center for Beethoven Research at Boston University.  He has served as Visiting Professor of Music at Oxford, Harvard, and the Sorbonne.  He is the author of ten books, including From Silence to Sound: Beethovenâs Beginnings (2020) and Understanding Music (Prentice Hall, 1996, 2016), and edited the recently-published 550-page volume The New Beethoven.  He also researched and published the first-ever book on the Lenox School of Jazz (2006).  He has given hundreds of lectures across Europe, the United States, and Russia and has won numerous awards, including an Award for Excellence in Historical Research for his book on Miles Davis (2008).  At Boston University, where he teaches courses on Beethoven, BartĂłk, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles â among many others â he has been nominated ten times for Metcalf Awards in Teaching and once as Provostâs Scholar-Teacher of the Year. The pre-concert talks are free thanks to the Lenox Library Associationâs Goodwin Fund.