Boston Symphony Orchestra
BSO Music Director James Levine will open the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 127th season on Thursday, October 4, leading mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in an all-Ravel program, and will close the 2007-08 season seven months later with rare concert performances of Berlioz' epic opera, "The Trojans".

The BSO's 2007-08 season will feature some of the most colossal works for orchestra, including Smetana's "M·Vlast", Bach's "St. Matthew Passion", Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius", Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", Debussy's "La Mer", Saint-SaÎns' Symphony No. 3, "Organ", three Mahler symphonies, and three Strauss tone poems, as well as performances of new and recent works by William Bolcom, Elliott Carter, Brett Dean, Henri Dutilleux, Michael Gandolfi, Osvaldo Golijov, and John Harbison. The new season also offers an impressive roster of many of the world's best-known conductors, including BSO Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohn·nyi, Charles Dutoit, Mark Elder, Rafael Frhbeck de Burgos, Daniele Gatti, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Marek Janowski. Julian Kuerti and Markus Stenz make their debuts on the BSO podium.

Today the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc., presents more than 250 concerts annually. It is an ensemble that has richly fulfilled Henry Lee Higginson's vision of a great and permanent orchestra in Boston.

Boston Pops
Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops launch their 2007 season on May 9 with singer-songwriter Ben Folds, pairing America's Orchestra with one of the indie-rock world's most innovative performers. In Mr. Lockhart's 13th season with the orchestra, he will lead 29 concerts, including the return of the Pops' acclaimed Jazz Fest with Dianne Reeves, Gary Burton, and Chick Corea (May 29-June 2); a tribute to Broadway (June 13-15); the ever-popular Pops on the Edge programs (June 23-27); and the Pops' annual July 4 celebration on the Charles River Esplanade.

The Boston Pops Orchestra has also entered the age of YouTube.com with POPSearch 2007. Conductor Keith Lockhart invites individual singers from across the country to submit videos to compete in POPSearch 2007, a national talent contest that offers amateur singers a chance to perform with the Boston Pops at its annual Fourth of July Extravaganza in Boston.

In addition to performances in Symphony Hall and formal tours, the Boston Pops also has numerous engagements year round throughout New England and annual summer appearances at Tanglewood.

Tanglewood
The 2007 Tanglewood season opens July 6 with BSO Music Director James Levine leading the world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and music from Mendelssohn's exquisite ballet "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Throughout the course of the summer, Maestro Levine leads a host of monumental works including Brahms' profoundly beautiful Symphony No. 1 (August 17) and Mahler's epic Symphony No. 3 (July 14).

The 2007 Tanglewood season features performance by some of the classical musicís greatest artists, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma (August 4); pianist Emanuel Ax (August 12); violinist Joshua Bell (July 27) and Itzhak Perlman (August 11), and such conductors as Maestro Levine, Rafael Frohbeck de Burgos (August 12 and 19), Andre' Previn (July 8, and 13), and Kurt Masur (July 29).

Tanglewood's roots date back to 1936, when BSO Music Director Serge Koussevitzky and the orchestra gave their first outdoor concerts under a tent in the beautiful Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. Today, Tanglewood draws more than 350,000 visitors annually for orchestral and chamber music concerts, instrumental and vocal recitals, student performances, and the annual Festival of Contemporary Music.