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26-600: The group was founded in 1948 by Madi Bacon and Gaetano Merola to provide singers for the San Francisco Opera . It has been directed by Ian Robertson since 1996, prior to which it was directed by Laura Kakis Serper from 1993. Past directors also include Edwin Flath, William Ballard and Louis Magor with support from training group directors Juell Gainey (Juelle Hinman) Judy Breneman (Dodge), Sarah Keene, Donald Osborne... On January 20, 2009, forty-three boys from

52-533: A "Red Cross life-saver:, one November day in 1933 she tried to save a man from drowning. A number of people gathered to watch but Bacon was the only person to strip down removing her "excess clothing." Although the man died, she received a letter from a friend of the drowned man, which said, "Since you risked your life, you might like to know the kind of person you did it for. He was a Greek of high character. He had three beautiful daughters." She met Albert Einstein while in high school and after she had graduated from

78-579: A men's chorus. The first rehearsal as a mixed chorus was held on March 3, 1936, under the direction of Madi Bacon, who received an annual salary of $ 250. In 1940, Bacon created Chicago's Elizabethan Madrigal Singers. She also attended Tanglewood in the Massachusetts Berkshires, to study conducting under Serge Koussevitzky and Stanley Chapple, alongside Leonard Bernstein and others. In 1941, Bacon received an MA from University of Chicago , studying under Carl Bricken. In 1941, she

104-713: A permanent building for these concerts?' In minutes, more than $ 30,000 was raised." The following year, the Eliel Saarinen -designed, fan-shaped Shed (now known as the Koussevitzky Music Shed, or simply "The Shed") was constructed, with some 5,100 seats, giving the BSO a permanent open-air structure in which to perform. Broad lawns extend beyond the Shed, providing outdoor space for concert goers and sweeping views of Stockbridge Bowl and Monument Mountain in

130-464: A plywood shell. Event press noted how the concerts had already become high society events. On August 12, 1937, a thunderstorm interrupted a performance of Richard Wagner 's Ride of the Valkyries . The Boston Globe reported that "Gertrude Robinson Smith strode purposefully to the stage when the concert stopped and addressed the record crowd of 5,000, haranguing: 'Now do you see why we must have

156-581: A school orchestra. She graduated from high school in 1922 and obtained an undergraduate degree in romance languages from The University of Chicago. From 1922 to 1923, perhaps through the close connection of her parents to Jane Addams , she worked at Chicago's Hull House , teaching art. In February of 1928, she was hired as a tennis teacher at the Katherine Branson School in Marin County, California. The following year, she became

182-665: Is a woman who has achieved international distinction in the music profession who is not an initiated member or Sigma Alpha Iota.” She was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994 Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and festival in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts . It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood

208-728: Is also home to three music schools: the Tanglewood Music Center , Tanglewood Learning Center, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute . Besides classical music, Tanglewood hosts the Festival of Contemporary Music, jazz and popular artists, concerts, and frequent appearances by James Taylor , John Williams , and the Boston Pops . The history of Tanglewood begins with a series of concerts held on August 23, 25 and 26, 1934, at

234-546: The COVID-19 pandemic . The Shed was renovated in 1959 with acoustic designs by BBN Technologies . In 1986 the BSO acquired the adjacent Highwood estate, increasing the property area by about 40%. Seiji Ozawa Hall (1994) was built on this newly expanded property. Leonard Bernstein conducted the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood. In 1986, a then 14-year-old Midori would debut with the BSO and snap two E-strings, one on

260-604: The Interlaken estate of Daniel Hanna, about a mile from today’s festival site. A few months earlier, composer and conductor Henry Kimball Hadley had scouted the Berkshires for a site and support for his dream of establishing a seasonal classical music festival. He found an enthusiastic and capable patron in Gertrude Robinson Smith . Within a few months they had organized a series of concerts featuring

286-620: The New York Philharmonic Orchestra , where Hadley once had been the associate conductor. Staged in an amphitheater built on the estate's show horse ring, the first concert was attended by Sara Delano Roosevelt , the President's mother. Heartened by the success of this effort, Robinson and Hadley organized another well received series of concerts in Interlaken the following summer. After two seasons featuring

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312-868: The Music Extension Division at the University of California, Berkeley where she expanded the extension program and created a community choir. She firmly believed in creating musical opportunities for the community. She taught conducting at Holy Name College in Oakland. While in Berkeley, she studied piano under Alexander Raab . In 1948, Gaetano Merola , who was then director of the San Francisco Opera , and Kurt Herbert Adler , its artistic director, invited her to recruit and train boys to perform in Carmen and La bohème . Bacon’s major achievement

338-572: The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), under the direction of Conductor Serge Koussevitzky , was invited to perform at the 1936 festival held at Holmwood, the home of Margaret Vanderbilt in nearby Lenox. The BSO gave its first concert in the Berkshires on August 13, 1936. For nearly eighty years the BSO has remained the crown jewel of the music festival. In 1937

364-534: The SFBC performed at the presidential inauguration ceremony for United States President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol, along with members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (a separate organization). They sang for 20 minutes in front of an audience of millions. Boys from the SFBC have regularly performed in productions of the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Symphony . Among others,

390-580: The Tanglewood grounds. In addition to hosting world-renowned programs of classical , jazz , and popular music , Tanglewood provides musical training. In 1940 conductor Serge Koussevitzky initiated a summer school for approximately 300 young musicians, now known as the Tanglewood Music Center . Also nearby is the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), a program that collaborates with young musicians. Days in

416-673: The University of Chicago, because she was a bilingual German speaker, she was assigned to translate for him when he gave several lectures on peace at the Covenant Club in Chicago. She was strongly moved by the announcement of his death. She had a lifelong interest in the outdoors and was a member of the Sierra Club. She climbed and hiked all over the world. Bacon was an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota . “An Honorary Member

442-491: The concertmaster's Stradivarius , playing Bernstein's Serenade after Plato's "Symposium" . In August 1990, Bernstein would conduct what proved to be his final concert, which Deutsche Grammophon would later release as a live recording on CD. Following his death in 1990, composer Aaron Copland's ashes were scattered over the Tanglewood Music Center. There is a memorial garden with a bust of Copland on

468-489: The distance. At the opening ceremony for the Shed on August 4, 1938, Gertrude Robinson Smith's dedication comments were recorded and can be heard today. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed in the Koussevitzky Music Shed every summer since 1938, except for the interval 1942–45 when the Trustees canceled the concerts and summer school due to World War II , and during summer 2020, when performances were cancelled due to

494-407: The festival site was moved to "Tanglewood", an estate donated by Mrs. Gorham Brooks and Miss Mary Aspinwall Tappan, daughter of William Tappan and Caroline Sturgis . "Tanglewood" took its name from Tanglewood Tales , written by Nathaniel Hawthorne , while he lived in a cottage located on the estate. The season consisted of six concerts over two weeks given inside a temporary tent erected around

520-601: The group has performed for Colin Powell , Tipper Gore , Pope John Paul II , Queen Elizabeth II , Prince Charles , Arnold Schwarzenegger , and Mikhail Gorbachev . In 1997 the group performed at the wedding of Andre Agassi and Brooke Shields in Monterey, California . Alumni of the group include author Daniel Handler , better known under his pen name Lemony Snicket , actor Joshua Jackson , singer Christopheren Nomura , violinist Donald Weilerstein , cellist Paul Tobias,

546-553: The late conductor Calvin Simmons, conductors Peter Rubardt, Alan Yamamoto, Joe Illick and Phillip Kelsey, and a cappella director/singer Deke Sharon . Madi Bacon Maria "Madi" Helena Bacon (1906 - 2001) was an American musician, choral conductor, educator and athlete. She was founder of the San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC). The SFBC was the first boys' repertory chorus in the nation. Bacon served as

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572-467: The music director of the group until her retirement in 1972. She lived in Berkeley, California from 1946 until her death, teaching voice and conducting until the last few years. She believed in and practiced equal opportunity and inclusion. She was an avid tennis player, and mountain climber. Bacon was born in Chicago on February 15, 1906 and was the daughter of Dr. Charles Sumner Bacon and Marie Francisca Emile von Rosthorn, an Austrian countess. Her father

598-672: The school's first music teacher. In 1931 she taught music at Glencoe Public School. Never having had any formal classes in music history, she studied music history on her own. Bacon was the founding conductor of the Winnetka Mixed Chorus founded in 1936, and which became the North Shore Choral Society is the oldest choral organization on the North Shore of Lake Michigan. It was born in Winnetka as

624-760: Was also the music director at Roycemore School in Evanston, Illinois. She joined the faculty of the Central YMCA College in Chicago, whose faculty later transformed itself into Roosevelt University . She was made Dean in December 1942. The Central YMCA College opened in 1919. It was actively diverse and identified itself as "liberal in spirit." Its president was Edward "Jim" Sparling , who fought with an increasingly "illiberal and discriminatory" board. In 1945, 62 of 63 faculty members decided to resign and create Roosevelt University . In 1946 she headed

650-400: Was chairman of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the University of Illinois. She had four older brothers, one of whom died in infancy. One of her brothers was the composer Ernst Bacon , for whom she was a relentless champion. Bacon's mother tutored her at home until she was 11. Bacon never married. As early as the seventh grade, at Chicago's Francis Parker School , Bacon organized

676-619: Was to form what at that time was the country's only boys' opera repertory chorus, the San Francisco Boys Chorus , which became a feeder for the San Francisco Opera and other operas as well as nurturing a number of major international musical talents. Bacon is notable for guiding several important conductors who came through the San Francisco Boys Chorus, including conductors Calvin Simmons and Kent Nagano . An avid swimmer, and swimming teacher and also

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