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Tanglewood Forever Campaign, Continuing Through August 31, 2019, Surpasses $64 Million Goal

Opening party for BSO Board of Trustees weekend, at the Lenox home of Cindy and Ollie Curme. Left to right: Sue Elliott (TLI Director); Mark Volpe (BSO President and CEO); Joyce Linde (Trustee); Susan Paine (Chair, BSO Board of Trustees); Cynthia Curme (Trustee), Ollie Curme. (Photo credit: Hilary Scott)

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced that the donor-funded Tanglewood Forever campaign, which continues through August 31, 2019, has surpassed its $64 million goal, raising $70 million as of July 8, 2019. The primary goals of Tanglewood Forever have been both to enhance the festival’s traditional summer season offerings with the wide spectrum of dynamic, engaging, and thought-provoking activities of the new Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), and to amplify its connection with the Berkshire community through the introduction of the new four-building climate controlled Linde Center for Music and Learning, which will play an essential role in establishing Tanglewood for the first time as an all-season facility. Details of fall, winter, and spring programming at the Linde Center will be announced later in the summer. Further details about the Tanglewood Learning Institute are available at www.tli.org; details about the Linde Center are available here.

Launched in a quiet phase in 2012 to mark Tanglewood’s 75th anniversary, the Tanglewood Forever campaign was announced to the public in July 2018. Earlier this year, the BSO announced the naming of the Linde Center for Music and Learning in honor of the late BSO Board Chair Edward H. Linde and his wife, current BSO Trustee Joyce Linde.  (Read here about the naming of the Linde Center.) The Linde family’s vision-setting 2009 gift inspired the planning that led to the construction of the Linde Center and development of the TLI, both cornerstones of the Tanglewood Forever initiative. The Linde Center and TLI were officially launched on June 28, 2019.

Led by BSO Trustee Cynthia Curme as Campaign Chair, Tanglewood Forever supports Tanglewood’s distinctive place among the world’s prestigious summer music festivals and its goal of expanding the intersection between music and learning.  Gifts to the campaign also support ongoing strategic horticulture preservation and enhancement plans to maintain Tanglewood’s natural beauty, along with improved patron amenities on the Ozawa Hall side of campus, where the Linde Center for Music and Learning is located, including a new gate and box office, and expanded restroom facilities.

The BSO’s major, long-term investment in the festival through the Tanglewood Forever campaign not only improves the Tanglewood experience by amplifying its ongoing mission of music and learning for its hundreds of thousands of summertime visitors, but also helps to ensure that Tanglewood is accessible to the Berkshire community at large.  Through the four-season Linde Center for Music and Learning and the year-round programming of the Tanglewood Learning Institute, the BSO is deepening its commitment and connections in the Berkshires, forged more than 82 years ago when Tanglewood was founded by Serge Koussevitzky, BSO Music Director 1924-1949.

Tanglewood Forever contributions support three key objectives (amounts received through July 8):

$43 million      Facilities and landscape projects
$23 million      Endowment for Tanglewood artistic and community programming and facilities
$4 million      Immediate support for new and enhanced learning and community programs

Already a driver of more than $103 million in economic impact in the Berkshires each year, according to a third-party study by Stephen Sheppard, Professor of Economics at Williams College, Tanglewood was estimated to increase its economic impact on the Berkshires during the period of construction of the Linde Center to $127 million annually; this number represents a 110% increase over the $60 million economic impact number from a similar 2008 study. In addition, it is expected that the increase in visitors to the festival’s Tanglewood Learning Institute programs—taking place during each Tanglewood summer season and now for the first time throughout the year—will have an additional positive impact on tourism revenue for the local area.

QUOTE FROM MARK VOLPE, BSO EUNICE AND JULIAN COHEN PRESIDENT AND CEO

“This is a special moment for the BSO and Tanglewood and its new initiatives introduced this summer. We hope that the Tanglewood Forever campaign—and all that it represents for those who enjoy this place as listeners and learners—will play a major role in making the Tanglewood experience more expansive and accessible for all visitors.  Thanks to the generosity of so many wonderful Tanglewood Forever donors, we look forward to the many opportunities that the Linde Center and Tanglewood Learning Institute programs will create for both our summer season visitors and the Berkshire community, as we anticipate Tanglewood’s first-ever programming throughout the fall, winter, and spring. We hope this new and expanded programming will help us deepen our engagement throughout the region, ensuring that the BSO and Tanglewood are not just in the Berkshire community, but more important, of the Berkshire community.”

QUOTE FROM BSO TRUSTEE CYNTHIA CURME, CAMPAIGN CHAIR

“I am deeply grateful to the hundreds of generous donors whose commitments helped us surpass our goal for the Tanglewood Forever campaign several weeks before its official close at the end of August. We believe that Tanglewood is for everyone, and that no matter the reason one might love this extraordinary place—music, nature, learning, community—it has something for every visitor to enjoy. It has been absolutely inspiring to see so many people step up to support this important campaign, which has played such a major role in the launch of the Linde Center and Tanglewood Learning Institute programs this summer.  Their investments will help ensure that Tanglewood continues to thrive for all who enter its gates—from our neighbors here in the Berkshires to those who visit from around the region, the country, and the world.”

QUOTE FROM BSO TRUSTEE JOYCE LINDE, CHAIR OF THE TMC/TLI INITIATIVE COMMITTEE

“The success of the Tanglewood Forever campaign is only possible because of so many deeply committed people working together toward one shared goal—expanding Tanglewood’s reach and influence through innovative new programs, alongside its extraordinary traditional musical offerings. I thank the many donors whose financial support is an expression of their confidence in the projects created and enhanced by this campaign, and a vision for an ever-evolving future for our beloved Tanglewood. I am proud that my family has been able to be a part of this investment in Tanglewood’s future through the Linde Center and the Tanglewood Learning Institute. In addition to serving the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the festival each summer, we hope that the new facilities and programs will serve the community and unite people through shared experiences, furthering Tanglewood’s mission as a welcoming place for everyone.”

CONTINUING FUNDRAISING WILL SUPPORT NEW FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS AS WELL AS ONGOING IMPROVEMENTS AND ENHANCEMENTS

Though the goal for Tanglewood Forever has already been surpassed through the generosity of some 554 donors, the BSO and Tanglewood will continue to raise funds for the facilities and programs throughout the summer and beyond. Through annual and endowment support, future donors will ensure that new and existing facilities on campus will be improved and maintained over time.  They will also help the BSO continue its long-term horticultural strategy to maintain and enhance the grounds for the enjoyment of all. In addition, existing programming as well as new initiatives created through the Tanglewood Learning Institute will benefit from future support, including the proposed year-round offerings in the Berkshires.

MAJOR ENHANCEMENTS ALREADY MADE POSSIBLE BY TANGLEWOOD FOREVER DONORS

Though the Tanglewood Forever campaign continues through August 31, donors to the campaign have already made a significant impact on Tanglewood and the visitor experience, with improvements already apparent on the Tanglewood campus.

The Linde Center for Music and Learning
Opened this summer, the new multi-use, multi-season Linde Center for Music and Learning supports the performance and rehearsal activities of the Tanglewood Music Center and hosts the Tanglewood Learning Institute, which offers education and enrichment programs to enhance the visitor experience. Designed by William Rawn Associates, the architects of Seiji Ozawa Hall, this climate-controlled facility will also be available to the Berkshire community for use throughout the year.

The Tanglewood Learning Institute
Beyond Tanglewood’s 82-year tradition of concert programming, this summer a new concept in creative enrichment has begun. The Tanglewood Learning Institute offers engaging programs for curious minds—immersion weekends, interactive talks, open rehearsals, films, master classes, unconventional performances, and visual arts experiences designed to deepen understanding of music, the arts, and the human spirit.

Bernstein Campus Visitor Experience Improvements
Nearly 50,000 people visit Tanglewood’s Bernstein Campus and attend Ozawa Hall events each year, with many more visitors expected with the opening of the Linde Center for Music and Learning and Tanglewood Learning Institute. Tanglewood Forever donors have made the Bernstein Campus more welcoming and usable for guests, creating a new Ozawa Hall box office and entrance gate, improving sight lines to the Ozawa Lawn and surrounding Berkshire landscape, and expanding restroom capacity for Ozawa Hall visitors.

Horticultural Enhancements
For many of the 350,000 annual guests who enter the gates at Tanglewood, the festival’s renowned beautiful and expansive grounds are an integral aspect of the Tanglewood experience. As part of ambitious, long-term plans to restore and enhance the horticultural landmarks of the entire Tanglewood campus, the BSO has already completed restorations of the Whispering Bench in Tanglewood’s Formal Gardens, along with updates to its surrounding landscape, to restore the its former glory.  Other updates include new perimeter hedgerows and irrigation systems for the Shed and Ozawa Hall lawn areas.

Endowment for Programs and Facilities
The many programmatic and facilities enhancements supported by Tanglewood Forever donors will allow the BSO to continue its investment in creating new cultural and intellectual pursuits through music and education for its community of Fellows, alumni, faculty, artistic partners, and visitors.

Tanglewood Forever News and Updates

March Construction Update

As the Linde Center rounds into its final form, the new Ozawa Hall Gate structures continue to come together, providing a new glimpse at Tanglewood's future.

January Construction Update

As the new studios at the Linde Center for Music and Learning are tuned and acoustically calibrated, the structures at the Ozawa Gate continue to take shape.

Tanglewood Announces Naming of Linde Center for Music And Learning

Tanglewood’s major new four-building multi-use complex for performance and learning—opening in summer 2019—will be named the Linde Center for Music and Learning in recognition of leadership gifts made by Joyce and Edward H. Linde and their family.

Donate Today

You can help the BSO ensure that Tanglewood remains vibrant and unique among summer festivals by supporting Tanglewood Forever. Donate online now, or contact the BSO Development Office at 617-638-9267 or friendsoftanglewood@bso.org for more information.