One of the greatest things about summer is the abundance of diverse music festivals and opportunities to experience your favorite bands and musicians. Tanglewood Music Festival in Western Massachusetts’ famed Berkshires is one of the best festivals. This year, the Tanglewood Musical Festival Lineup 2025 offers an exciting opportunity to experience the Boston Pops and Nas collaboration, an unparalleled sensory experience, fusing the rawness of hip-hop with the exquisiteness of a legendary orchestra.

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What is Tanglewood?

Tanglewood is a spectacular music venue and learning center that spans a 500-acre estate donated in 1937 to host a yearly classical concert series. Tanglewood traverses Lenox and Stockbridge, MA, making it perfectly situated in western Massachusetts’ stunning Berkshire Hills. This gorgeous venue not only offers superior acoustics in the center of some of the state’s most beautiful scenery, but it’s also been the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home since 1937.

A Renowned Learning Center

Tanglewood has two music schools, including the Boston University Tanglewood Learning Institute and Tanglewood Music Center. The venue hosts several beloved music festivals, including the Festival of Contemporary Music and the Tanglewood Music Festival. Annually, over 350,000 summer visitors experience Tanglewood performances and recitals and take in countless inspirational seminars at this remarkable venue.

What is the 2025 Tanglewood Music Festival?

Since its inception in 1937 as a classical music series, the Tanglewood Music Festival has expanded to include a variety of popular music genres, from jazz, R&B, pop, rock, and countless others. Like every year, music lovers from across the country and beyond have been waiting in anticipation for the announcement of the Tanglewood Musical Festival lineup 2025 and other Tanglewood Music Festival events. In this year’s lineup, you can expect celebrated international composers and conductors, luminary soloists, innovative contemporary music, and timeless classics by some of your favorite musicians. Here’s a sneak peek at the Tanglewood Musical Festival lineup 2025:

• Top Gun: Maverick in Concert (June 20)
• Nas with the Boston Pops (June 27)
• James Taylor (July 3–4)
• Barenaked Ladies—LAST SUMMER ON EARTH (July 8)
• Festival of Contemporary Music: The Natural World
• John Williams’ Film Night (Aug. 9)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd (Aug. 30)
• John Legend (Sept. 5)

What Are the Boston Pops?

For more than 135 years, the Boston Pops orchestra has provided audiences in Boston and beyond with breathtaking sensory experiences, featuring renowned conductor Keith Lockhart as the driving force since 1995.

History

Born out of Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson’s vision and lifetime dream of creating a series of summer music performances that featured lighter classics and popular music, the Boston Pops made their debut in 1881. Initially dubbed as Promenade Concerts, they were eventually known as Popular Concerts, which became Pops, a name officially adopted in 1900.

Present

Today, the Boston Pops performs the greatest classics and current music, spanning a wide range of genres, “from jazz to pop, indie rock to big band, memorable music from films to the great American songbook, and Broadway favorites to classical masterpieces.” This extensive musical variety reaches a broader audience and makes the Boston Pops the ideal orchestra for “people who don’t know they like orchestras!” You’ll find the Boston Pops at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Who Is Nas?

If you like hip-hop, you probably already know Nas as a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning rap artist and music producer. In 1994, Nas released his first album, Illmatic, dropping 14 more albums since, eight being multi-platinum and platinum, with iconic titles like God’s Son, Nastradamus, Street’s Disciple, and Stillmatic. He’s received 16 Grammy nominations, but King’s Disease finally nabbed him the coveted award for Best Rap Album in 2021. Nas has since released King’s Disease II and III, and Magic 3, all self-produced with fellow rap artist Hit-Boy. You’ll find Nas at Tanglewood Music Festival on June 27.

Nas With the Boston Pops at the Tanglewood Music Festival

A Boston Pops and Nas collaboration will be an epic concert experience. Imagine the convergence of Nas’ lyrical genius and the intense explosion of the Boston Pops’ full orchestra, and you’ll have Nas and Boston Pops Tanglewood 2025, an unforgettable sensory experience in Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Music Shed.

Looking for an Enhanced Tanglewood Music Festival Experience?

Visit Canna Provisions, just 14 minutes from Tanglewood Music Festival, for all your festival-going weed. You’ll find your favorite weed strains and cannabis products to pair with your concert experience. Need recommendations? Ask a professional at the Lee or Holyoke dispensary or explore the online menu to pre-order to ensure you’re stocked up!

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