The 2026 Festival of Contemporary Music

Founded by Aaron Copland in 1964, the Festival of Contemporary Music is part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Music Festival. Past directors have included Gunther Schuller, George Benjamin, and Tan Dun.

The Boston Globe once described the festival as one that “changes pattern and purpose from summer to summer.” This year’s festival, curated by Esa-Pekka Salonen, includes five concerts featuring music by several generations of composers. The performers are Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center—early-career musicians from around the world selected through competitive international auditions.

The concerts pair 20th-century works by composers including Witold Lutosławski, György Ligeti, and Peter Maxwell Davies with music by 21st-century composers including Alisson Kruusmaa, Anna Berg, Lisa Streich, and Gabriella Smith. The first four chamber concerts are free and open to the public. The festival concludes with a ticketed concert by the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.

The 2026 Festival of Contemporary Music is supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further Information:
bso.org

Dates

23–27 July 2026
Seiji Ozawa Hall, Lenox