The Boston Symphony Orchestra announced an 11-week 2009 summer season, longer than in past years, and featuring Lenox native James Taylor four successive nights.    Highlights also include two opera programs conducted by James Levine, two Mark Morris dance premieres, three birthday celebrations and the return of Michael Tilson Thomas, after a 20-year absence.

And keeping with recent tradition, the BSO season will be preceeded by Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" and ended with the Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival.   IMPORTANTLY, all ticket prices are being frozen at last season's rates ($18 for lawn seats and up to $99 for the Shed)….and free lawn tickets for children are being extended from age 12 up through age 17.   As the parents of twin 15-year-old boys, we are personally excited about that.

Public ticket sale begins February 15th, but most of you know that early purchases are available by being a "Friend of Tanglewood" at various donation levels.   Even for an annual donation of just $50, it is possible to purchase tickets in advance of the public sale date.   To get a brochure mailed, call 617-638-9467, or 617-266-1492.   Information about supporting Tanglewood and becoming a "friend" can be found on the website at www.tanglewood.org.

For a detailed listing of the 2009 schedule: CLICK BELOW

2009 TANGLEWOOD SCHEDULE

But in the interim, some highlights:

June 27     "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor

July 3        BSO Opening Concert:  Tchaikovsky Symphony #6 "Pathetique" and Piano Concerto #1 with Yefim Brofman

July 4        Jazz Singer and Pianist Diana Krall

July 11      Wagners "Die Meistersinger von Nurnburg, " Act III (concert presentation)

July 12   ` Joshua Bell, Bruch Violin Concerto #1

July 15    "Stage Music in the Play of William Shakespeare" with actor F. Murray Abraham and Le Concert des  Nations

July 18    Boston Pops Film Night with John Williams:  The Warner Brothers Legacy

July 25     Brahms "A German Requiem," James Levine conducting

July 26     Mozart's "Don Giovanni" (fully staged)

July 28    Tanglewood on Parade

Aug 5,6   Mark Morris Dance Group with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma

Aug 7      Boston Pops with Keith Lockhard, trumpeteer Chris Botti

Aug 7-11   Festival of Contemporary Music

Aug 9    Yo-Yo Ma, cello, Shostakovish Cello Concerto #1

Aug 14    Shostakovitch Symphony #1 and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3, Yefin Brafman, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting

Aug 19    Michael Tison Thomas presents "The Thomashefskys:  Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater"

Aug 23    Beethoven Symphony #9 with Michael Tilson Thomas

Aug 27-30    James Taylor

Sept 4-6    Tanglewood Jazz Festival

Hampton Terrace, the top-rated Lenox inn based on Trip Advisor reviews, has been hosting Tanglewood patrons since 1937…the very year that Tanglewood became the summer home of the Boston Symphony.  We are located one mile from the Tanglewood gate and less than two blocks from all Lenox restaurants and shops.   More than 50% of our summer guests are repeat, so if you are considering a stay with us, please contact us early.   For the 2007 and 2008 summers, we held our rates level, and plan to offer the same rates for the 2009 summer until February, 2009.   At that point, we will implement a 5% across the board increase, so we encourage our existing guests…and those of you who want to give us a try, to contact us as soon as you have chosen a weekend.

We will continue to offer our popular mid-week special, which brings a multiple-night stay down to $190/night, a 30% discount.

Sun, Dec 7th '08, The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts

7:30PM A: $40 B: $25

With Special Guests Susan McKeown and Boo Reiners

The Klezmatics have forever transcended genres, blending klezmer with aching shtetl melodies, raucous Latin stomps, wild jazz riffs and provocative Arabic, African, American and Balkan rhythms. The Klezmatics present a contagious celebration of Hanukkah—a marriage of the group’s soulful and ebullient Jewish roots to Woody Guthrie’s poignantly mesmerizing and newly discovered lyrics. This program highlights the band’s two most recent CD releases: the multicultural folk sounds of Wonder Wheel and the ecstatically danceable, hoedown-worthy Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah. Special guests include acclaimed Celtic singer Susan McKeown and multi-instrumentalist Boo Reiners.

Combine this special show with a visit to the Berkshires….just 2 hours from Boston and less than 3 hours from New York City.   Hampton Terrace is considered the top-rated Lenox inn by Trip Advisor rankings and one the leading Berkshire bed and breakfasts.   Our off-season rates apply until mid-June 2009, and a weekend stay includes a $30 Gift Certificate to Nejaimes, the gourmet wine and food shop in Lenox.

We've had relatively well-known people stay here before.   But this was different.   As someone who worked for Dick Clark, spent 20+ years in the concert promotion business, and was affiliated with the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the National Music Foundation, it is not as if I have not met plenty of "celebrities."   I have.

And it is not that Ken Jennings wants to be a celebrity, or acts like one.   He does not, although he continues to maintain a high profile with books and television show appearances.

But I am among the millions who became addicted to the nightly drama of Ken's relentless march through six months of daily victories and $2.6 million in earnings.   Ken Jennings is someone whom I RESPECT.

And he and his wife Mindy were as nice and unassuming as the persona he projected while appearing on your television screen every night.   Winning at Jeopardy is not about guessing cases or spinning a wheel.  Over the months, you KNOW that some of the most intelligent people in the country sought out the challenge of being the one to wrestle the buzzer out of Ken's hand….    As it turns out, the person who beat him ended up losing the next night…so if an occasional mulligan were ever allowed, he'd probably still be on the show.

So when I took a reservation from a Ken Jennings for a fall foliage mid-week stay, I made a mental note that the caller had the same name as the Jeopardy winner and then I forgot about it.   But when Ken walked in the inn, and I pulled out the Ken Jennings paperwork, I knew it was him.   We know that everyone who stays at our inn is here for a reason, and that reason NEVER includes being made to feel uncomfortable…..so I never let on that I knew who he was….and if any of our guests recognized him, they did not let on to me (or hopefully not to him).

After he left, however, I did e-mail him to see if he would mail a personalized and signed copy of his book, Brainiac, to us as a gift for my mother-in-law, one of the Jeopardy faithful since before Alex Trebek.   It came today.

I do feel okay about putting him in my blog, however.   If you look at his blog, you'll find a list of the celebrities he saw during his vacation to the East Coast.   Turnabout is fair play…

If anyone reading this would like to get an autographed copy of Ken's books, read his daily blog, or hear of his upcoming appearances, I recommend his website, www.ken-jennings.com.

It's too late to turn back now.   For at least 6 years, we have offered a $30 Gift Certificate to our local wine/gourmet food shop to every couple who stays at Hampton Terrace for 2 weekend nights (or more) from November 1 to June 20, plus September.  For starters, Nejaimes is a GREAT shop, full of the best choices in wine, beer and spirits and a trained staff that can help our guests find exactly what they want.   But more than that, Nejaimes is also 50% gourmet food….a by-product of the fact that it is a key place for people who are shopping for their lawn picnics at Tanglewood.   Huge selection of cheeses, breads, home-made sides and other things that compliment your bottle of wine.

What I mean, "it's too late to turn back now" is that this is such a popular amenity, that people come back year after year to Hampton Terrace because they feel the gift certificate is such an integral part of their stay.   We have a family heirloom bar that is open only to our guests and is stocked with glasses, openers, plates, knives, etc., and we have four public room fireplaces where our guests can settle in and enjoy their bounty.

The owners of Nejaimes told us that another local inn asked if they could start offering the gift certificates as well.   The inn said that one of their inquirers had chosen Hampton Terrace over them because of the promotion.   But that was several years ago, we know we are still the only ones doing it.

So the Romantic Weekend Package is here to stay and we welcome anyone who is looking for a Lenox bed and breakfast to give us a call and lock in your weekend.   Most of our rooms feature fireplaces and Jacuzzis and we are very proud to be currently rated #1 in the Trip Advisor rankings from over 30 Lenox inns.  

Hampton Terrace is a proud member of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau,and  the Lenox Chamber of Commerce and was recently chosen by the editors of BedandBreakfast.com as one of the top places to stay for foliage.  

As of the November 1st weekend, our rates drop 30% from the current level and include the $30 gift certificate mentioned and full breakfast buffet.

I was struck this past weekend at how many couples were here for reasons beyond just "getting away."    We had two honeymoons, a 5th anniversary, a 20th anniversary, and a guest who popped the question right in one of our king suites! 

I was thinking, why do people choose us for special occasion weekends?   It could be because virtually all of our rooms have fireplaces and Jacuzzis.   For everyone who stays at least two weekend nights during the off-season we give them a $30 gift certificate to the local wine/gourmet food shop in town to buy their own nice bottle of wine or champagne.   We provide glasses, plates, etc. at our private BYOB heirloom bar.   We also help our couples pre-plan their stay by providing a list of the best restaurants in the area, and lists of activities such as hikes, historic house tours, museums, night-life, theaters, spas…   Speaking of spas, we have a selected list of places to go for massages and spa services…or it is possible to have a massage right in your room.   During warm months we have an outdoor heated pool (always at 87 degrees) and six outdoor porches and decks.   Our breakfast consists of comfort food choices by candlelight, and we have two living rooms consisting of overstuffed or leather couches and chairs…..  During the winter months there are four public roaring fireplaces…. 

I guess I have answered my own question.   For our last anniversary, we stayed on the property and enjoyed one of our own king suites!

I know more are coming.   I received an e-mail from someone a few minutes ago who said friends were coming this Thursday for their 20th anniversary and she wanted to arrange chilled wine waiting in the room.   Happy to oblige.

Internationally celebrated director Irina Brook and her company of talented Shakespeare & Company artists have freely adapted Oscar Wilde's story about a very American family that blusters its way into a haunted English manor, thoroughly annoying the stuffy old ghost who can't seem to scare them a whit. In this roaringly original adaptation, Sir Simon the Canterville Ghost is re-imagined as an over-the-hill illusionist reliving his glory days in the 1940's. Beneath the outrageous veneer of Wilde's achingly funny story is a depth of emotion, as the old ghost's long-delayed salvation rests upon a family's ability to trust, and a young girl's desire to believe.

This show runs from now through November 9th and tickets can be purchased by e-mailing boxoffice@shakespeare.org, going to their website and buying on-line, or calling 413-637-1199.

Hampton Terrace is located a block from Shakespeare & Company and frequently serves as a place the company houses its special guests and actors.   We are ranked #1 by Trip Advisor from among 30 Lenox inns, and recommended by BedandBreakfast.com as one of the top places in the country to stay while viewing fall foliage.

So pick a beautiful fall foliage weekend, choose a fireplace/Jacuzzi room at Hampton Terrace, one of the premier Berkshire inns, and prepare for Halloween with The Canterville Ghost at Shakespeare & Company.

 We know that from time to time, everyone needs the perfect place for a meeting, holiday party, family gathering or even a special celebration.  Chances are you’d rather not worry about having it in your home.

We’d like to suggest you consider holding your next gathering at Lenox’s Hampton Terrace, in the grand setting of an original Gilded Age Berkshires cottage. We are debuting our beautifully appointed public spaces, available for the first time, for your private parties, receptions, holiday gatherings, meetings, showers…you name the occasion, and we have the space.

Hampton Terrace, built in 1897, has been one of Lenox’s premier inns since 1937.   Guest experiences here have been so positive, that we are rated #1 on Trip Advisor from over thirty Lenox inns. Combined with  fourteen plush guest rooms, we also can host family celebrations or reunions, business retreats or extended stays for your visiting business associates.  Because we are open year-round and hosting guests, Hampton Terrace is always beautifully decorated for each season. You may use your own caterer, or, we will provide a list. Feel free to contact us for more information on planning your party here by calling us, or sending an e-mail to info@hamptonterrace.com.