LENOX, Mass. -- Some of the biggest names in music gathered at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood in the Berkshires for a daylong celebration. Tanglewood on Parade is a chance for young musicians to play alongside seasoned professionals.

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Newscenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that this year's Tanglewood on Parade featured a rare chance to hear singer and songwriter James Taylor as a narrator, rather than a singer. Taylor read The Reevers by William Faulkner set to music composed by former Boston Pops conductor John Williams.

Despite a lifetime of performing, the humble Taylor admitted he was nervous.

"You know with any luck, I'll make it through without humiliating myself too much or making the audience actually injure themselves," said Taylor.

"James is a treasure you know. He's interrupted his tour to be with us here, and we're very lucky that he's such a good friend of Tanglewood and of the BSO family," said conductor and composer John Williams.

It is the kind of big star artistry that Tanglewood on Parade has become famous for.

With its great history, Tanglewood has often been called hallowed ground for music making. Students come from all over the world to study at the Tanglewood Music Center, an education that goes a long way when they are looking to break into a very tough business.

"I think for a musician to go out into the working world, to have the fact that he or she has been a student at Tanglewood is a big time bonus," said Williams.

"It has a track record and an alumni list that you just wouldn't believe and I think that's what speaks of its success, that and its longevity since the late 1930s, starting with the class that included Leonard Bernstein, it has gone on to produce some of the greatest orchestral players and soloists that this world knows," said Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart.

The canons are in place and the Parade will end with a bang on Tuesday night with Tanglewood students sharing the stage with BSO musicians for a performance of the beloved piece, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture."