LENOX, Mass. — The Tanglewood experience would be nothing without its lawn, a great place to listen to the concerts, picnic, and take in bucolic views. The lawn is where Tanglewood memories are formed. The lawn also gives Tanglewood its large capacity, 18,000, which means that Tanglewood draws more people in a few nights than other cultural institutions in the Berkshires do the whole summer season.

The lawn, however, comes with its own costs. Revenue from tickets and concessions — which is projected to cover more than half of Tanglewood’s multi-million dollar annual budget — automatically drops when it rains, as it did on July 4, and again on the night of the season’s opening gala on July 6. (The New York Philharmonic also lost out to the rain last night — thought not on ticket sales — when its first free concert of the summer in Central Park was cancelled.)

But the 400 guests attending the gala took little notice of the rain. They had their cocktails and halibut under a tent and heard the concert, conducted by Maestro James Levine, in the protected Koussevitzsky Shed.

The rain also didn’t register because their focus was on another unfortunate weather event: A wind storm on December 1, 2006 that damaged or uprooted nearly 300 trees, leading to a $300,000 bill for facilities repairs, tree removal, and clean-up.

The gala raised more than enough to cover the expense, aided by décor that cleverly reminded the guests, who included John Travolta, Andre Previn, James Taylor, and Yo Yo Ma, of the cause: The centerpieces were made from slices of the fallen trees, topped by fur, spruce, and pine saplings that will be planted to replace them that were donated by Ward’s Nursery in Great Barrington.

As important as the trees are to Tanglewood’s identity, its supporters know that one must still tend the forest. Tanglewood’s budget this year is $20.4 million, including $5.8 million for musician and staff salaries and benefits, $2.7 million for the education activities of Tanglewood Music Center, and $8.1 million for production, guest artists, marketing, and promotion.

New Yorkers, who account for more than one-third of the audience, are major contributors to the $5.7 million in private donations Tanglewood receives from annual contributions and endowment funds. But the managing director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mark Volpe, would be happy to see more New York money.

“It makes sense because there are probably more New Yorkers experiencing Tanglewood than Bostonians,” Mr. Volpe said.

Tanglewood is reaching out to New Yorkers by offering weekend bus service from Grand Central Terminal and the Wassaic and Albany train stations. It has also hired the New York-based Patina Restaurant Group to run its food service. And it is considering opening a development office in New York.

The orchestra, whose Boston-based chairman, Edward Linde, is a partner of real estate and publishing mogul Mortimer Zuckerman, is also looking to increase the number of New Yorkers in its governance, as trustees and overseers. There’s plenty of room. Mr. Volpe said that currently only 12 to 15 members of the board of overseers, which has 115 members, are New Yorkers.

New Yorkers have reasons other than Tanglewood to support the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Volpe noted. Both the symphony and the Boston Pops play a regular season in Manhattan, and of course there is the fierce loyalty and affection New Yorkers have for Maestro Levine, who is also the music director of the Metropolitan Opera.

A couple from suburban New York, Dr. Raymond and Hannah Schneider, served as the gala’s chairmen. They are celebrating their 66th wedding anniversary this year.

agordon@nysun.com