Iconic American Conductors at Tanglewood
From the podium to the classroom, generations of American conductors have shaped—and been shaped by—Tanglewood. As students, mentors, and faculty, they have carried forward a tradition of musical excellence that continues to influence orchestras and audiences around the world. It could be argued that founder Serge Koussevitzky, himself a naturalized citizen of his adopted country, was the first American conductor to leave his mark on Tanglewood. His students, many of them also American, have impacted further generations of conductors.
Learn more about the early years of the Tanglewood Music Center's conducting program, the American conductors who have performed on the Tanglewood stage, and the BSO/Pops' own American conductors who have helped mold the orchestra into the entity it is today.
Serge Koussevitzky flanked by protégés Leonard Bernstein (right) and Eleazar de Carvalho at Seranak (Koussevitzky’s summer home), ca. 1948.
Both the American Bernstein and the Brazilian de Carvalho went on to prominent conducting careers and became influential members of the TMC’s conducting faculty.
Photograph by Howard S. Babbitt, Jr.
The Koussevitzky Genealogy
A chart demonstrating the impact that the Russian-American Serge Koussevitzky had on conductors in America and beyond.
Batons
Serge Koussevitzky baton
Gift of Maria, Anna, Olga, and Natasha de Leuchtenberg, 1997
Leonard Bernstein baton
Gift of the Bernstein Estate, 1990
Early Years
Members of the music center’s first conducting class in 1940.
From left: Leonard Bernstein, Richard Bales, Stanley Chapple (conducting faculty), Thor Johnson, unknown.
Photograph by Samuel Peck (1940 alum)
Application to study conducting at the TMC for American-born conductor Thomas Schippers (1948)
Conductor Seymour Lipkin (in pit) conducts a TMC rehearsal of Leonard Bernstein's opera Trouble in Tahiti with Bernstein, Sarah Caldwell and Boris Godovsky looking on, 1952.
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo)
Sarah Caldwell conducts the BSO in a performance of excerpts from Berlioz' Les Troyans at Tanglewood, with Shirley Verrett as the vocal soloist, 1977.
Caldwell arrived at Tanglewood in 1946 at age 18, enrolling in the opera department to study conducting and stage direction with Boris Goldovsky. Impressed by her talent and work ethic, Koussevitzky appointed her Goldovsky’s assistant the following year, a role she held for five years.
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photos)
Application to study conducting at the TMC for American-born conductor Herbert Blomstedt (1953)
Letter from American-born conductor Herbert Blomstedt asking for materials to apply to the Tanglewood Music Center's conducting program (1953)
David Zinman’s first guest conducting appearance with the BSO at Tanglewood, July 7, 1968, ten years after attending the music center as a conducting fellow (1958)
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein, Whitestone Photo
David Zinman conducting the BSO in the Shed at Tanglewood, August 6, 2017
Nearly 60 years after his student days, David Zinman was still returning to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra (this performance was his most recent).
Photograph by Hilary Scott
Carrying on the Legacy
Conducting student Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the TMC orchestra in rehearsal, ca. 1968.
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo)
Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the TMC Orchestra at Tanglewood, ca. 1969
After attending the TMC as a conducting fellow in 1968 and 1969, Thomas was appointed by the BSO to the positions of assistant conductor, associate conductor, and principal guest conductor in the space of 3 years.
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo)
Conducting fellow Isaiah Jackson confers with Leonard Bernstein, 1970
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo)
Seiji Ozawa coaches conducting seminar student Alan Gilbert, 1987 or 1988
Photograph by Walter H. Scott
Marin Alsop as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood, ca. 1989
Marin Alsop studied conducting with Leonard Bernstein at the music center in 1988 and 1989 and became the first woman to win the coveted Koussevitzky Conducting Prize (1989). With her appointment as Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2005, she became the first woman to lead a major American symphony orchestra.
Photograph by Walter H. Scott
Karina Canallakis conducts the TMC Orchestra, 2014
Canallakis attended the TMC’s conducting seminar in 2013, returning as a conducting fellow the following year. She is currently the chief conductor of Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Dutch abbreviation RFO) based in Hilversum, The Netherlands. She also serves as principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the first woman to hold that position.
Photograph by Hilary Scott
The orchestra's own American conductors
Although both the BSO and Pops were established in this country, they were modeled after European institutions and employed many European conductors and musicians for some time. In 1930, Arthur Fiedler was the first American-born musician appointed conductor of the Boston Pops and the one who, through tireless touring and recording, turned the Boston ensemble into "America's Orchestra." His successors John Williams and Keith Lockhart have further cemented that American sound and legacy. Thomas Wilkins, Germeshausen Youth and Family Concerts Conductor, inspires musical love and knowledge in the next generation of American audiences.
Dueling batons: Gene Shalit and Arthur Fiedler at Tanglewood before their appearance on Tanglewood on Parade, 1977
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photos)
John Williams conducts the Boston Pops Orchestra in his own music during Tanglewood on Parade (TOP) on July 31, 2001
Photograph by Walter H. Scott
Keith Lockhart leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra at Tanglewood-on-Parade, August 1, 1995
Photograph by Walter H. Scott
Thomas Wilkins conducts the BSO during Tanglewood on Parade, August 2, 2022
Photograph by Hilary Scott