The history of Tanglewood begins with a series of concerts held on August 23, 25 and 26, 1934, at 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.

[1] 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.

[8] Broad lawns extend beyond the Shed, providing outdoor space for concert goers and sweeping views of Stockbridge Bowl and Monument Mountain in 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.

In 1986, a then 14-year-old Midori would debut with the BSO and snap two E-strings, one on the concertmaster's Stradivarius, playing Bernstein's Serenade after Plato's "Symposium".

In 1940 conductor Serge Koussevitzky initiated a summer school for approximately 300 young musicians, now known as the Tanglewood Music Center.