Tanglewood's Festival Of Contemporary Music to Take Place in July

This summer, composer Gabriela Ortiz is director of Tanglewood's Festival of Contemporary Music (July 24–28) in Lenox, Massachusetts, presenting six chamber and orchestral concerts that explore themes of identity, tradition and ritual, and migration. She also will be in conversation with Anthony (Tony) Fogg, the BSO's Vice President of Artistic Planning, as part of his weekly Talks and Walks series.

Founded in 1964, the Festival of Contemporary Music (FCM) is a cornerstone of Tanglewood's summer season, showcasing today's musical landscape alongside landmark 20th-century works, and fostering collaboration between living composers and Tanglewood Music Center Fellows.

Over the course of four days, Ortiz curates programs centered on topics such as percussion music from the Americas (featuring the Mexican ensemble Tambuco), migration and exile, and the natural world. Her own works appear throughout, alongside those of her contemporaries, including Ellen Reid, Gabriella Smith, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Highlights include Altar de muertos, a virtuosic string quartet inspired by the Day of the Dead, and Liquid Borders, a percussion quartet meditating on the impact of territorial divisions in the world.

The festival closes on July 28 with Ortiz's 2015 flute concerto Altar de Viento, performed by soloist Alejandro Escuer and the TMC Orchestra conducted by Thomas Wilkins. Written for Escuer, the concerto reflects on wind as an ancestral sound and invisible force. Ortiz explains: “For Alejandro, his true instrument is not the flute, but the wind. For me, the altar—a raised place—pays tribute to wind and sound. By listening before seeing, we arrive at a space of deepest intimacy.” 

Altar de Viento is one of eight works in Ortiz's series of “musical altars,” which also includes Altar de fuego for orchestra, Altar de piedra for three percussionists and orchestra, and Altar de cuerda for violin and orchestra (recently recorded by violinist María Dueñas, Gustavo Dudamel, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic on the GRAMMY-winning album Revolución diamantina).

TANGLEWOOD 2025 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

July 24–28 | Lenox, Massachusetts

Events are free except those with an *

Jul 24 at 1pm: Ortiz in conversation with Anthony Fogg, Talks and Walks*

Jul 24 at 8pm: Ortiz and the Mexican Tradition   

ORTIZ Tin-Tan – Fanfarria y Mambo  

ORTIZ Puzzle-Tocas

ORTIZ Tres Haikus  

CHÁVEZ Cantos de Mexico  

LAVISTA Reflejos de la noche  

SYRSE Mi Canto  

ORTIZ Río Bravo

Jul 25 at 2:30pm: Mexico, Cuba, the US, and one hundred years of percussion  

Tambuco

ORTIZ Río de mariposas  

LAVISTA Musicas de cristal  

CHÁVEZ Xochipilli  

ROLDÁN Ritmica V and VI  

VARÈSE Ionisation  

ORTIZ Pico-Bite-Beat  

Jul 26 at 2:30pm: Music of Migration and Exile  

Tambuco  

ORTIZ Exilios  

DERBEZ Transit  

ZOHN-MULDOON Suite from Comala  

ORTIZ Liquid Borders  

Jul 26 at 6pm: Prelude Concert

SMITH Carrot Revolution  

ORTIZ Altar de muertos  

Jul 27 at 2:30pm: Boston Symphony Orchestra *

Boston Symphony Orchestra  

Andris Nelsons, conductor  

Lang Lang, piano   

ORTIZ La Calaca for string orchestra  

SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2  

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, Pastoral  

* Part of Tanglewood Festival programming  

Jul 27 at 10am: The Natural World  

ORTIZ Cedrus  

ORTIZ Pigmentum  

ORTIZ Trifolium  

ORTIZ Vitrales de ambar  

MÁRQUEZ Dibujos sobre un puerto  

REID West Coast Sky Forever  

Jul 28 at 8pm: TMC Orchestra Perform Ortiz, Reid, and Smith *

Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra   

Thomas Wilkins, conductor   

Leonard Weiss, TMC Conducting Fellow

Yiran Zhao, TMC Conducting Fellow

Alejandro Escuer, flute  

SMITH Bioluminescence Chaconne  

ORTIZ Altar de Viento

REID When the World as You've Known It Doesn't Exist  

ORTIZ Hominum—Concierto for Orchestra