For Immediate Release
Contact: Cohn Dutcher Associates
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Dan Dutcher, 917.339.7157, ddutcher@cohndutcher.com
Laura Malick, 917.339.7183, lmalick@cohndutcher.com
David Mayhew, 203.533.5621, david@davidmayhew.net

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC AND ALAN GILBERT with EMANUEL AX
TO MAKE CARAMOOR DEBUT
OPENING CARAMOOR'S FIRST FALL FESTIVAL

Alan Gilbert	Emanuel Ax

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009
IN THE VENETIAN THEATER
Alan Gilbert to Conduct an All-Beethoven Program
Featuring Symphony No. 7 and
Piano Concerto No. 4 with Guest Soloist Emanuel Ax, Piano

Katonah, N.Y. - Michael Barrett, General Director of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, has announced that the New York Philharmonic and music Director Alan Gilbert will make its Caramoor Debut as the premier event in Caramoor's first Fall Festival on Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8:00pm. The orchestra and legendary pianist Emanuel Ax will perform an all-Beethoven program, featuring Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 7 at the Venetian Theater. The concert at Caramoor is a highlight of the first several weeks of Alan Gilbert's inaugural season as the 25th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, which begins in September 2009.

"Conducting one of the inaugural concerts at Caramoor's Fall Festival will be a highlight of the first weeks of my tenure at the New York Philharmonic," said Alan Gilbert. "I look forward to extending the Orchestra's reach beyond our home at Avery Fisher Hall and to connect with people throughout New York City and the region, so it is an honor to lead the Philharmonic's first-ever performance at Caramoor. The beauty of early autumn in the Hudson Valley will be a perfect backdrop for these Beethoven masterpieces."

"This is a most welcome and long-overdue Caramoor debut of one of the finest symphony orchestras in the world," said Michael Barrett. "I am delighted that Alan has scheduled this performance as one of the early events in his tenure as the Philharmonic's new Music Director.  This Fall Festival is a natural extension to our annual summertime Caramoor International Music Festival and comes at a time when the weather is still pleasant and our magnificent gardens are beginning their colorful autumn season. As with our summer Festival, these three days offer concert-going opportunities for all ages and for audiences with diverse musical interests."

Caramoor's Fall Festival continues on Saturday afternoon, October 3, with three consecutive concerts in three different locations and all appropriate for family audiences. Beginning at 1:00pm in the Spanish Courtyard the hilarious Polygraph Lounge performs their original material on dozens of home-made instruments. The afternoon continues at 2:30pm with Fun with Words and Music on the lawn at the Tapestry Hedge featuring the bassist Robert Black and friends in works with narrator by Gerald Busby and Jon Deak, followed at 4:00pm with chamber music in the Sunken Garden featuring Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp. On Saturday evening at 8:00pm jazz giant Chick Corea will perform in a rare solo appearance in the Venetian Theater.  The internationally acclaimed opera diva, Sumi Jo, will bring the Festival to a vibrant close in the Music Room of the historic Rosen House on Sunday afternoon, October 4, in recital with Will Crutchfield, Caramoor's Director of Opera, collaborating on piano.

About the Artists - Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8:00pm in the Venetian Theater

Alan Gilbert, conductor
In June 2007 Alan Gilbert was named Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, beginning in the 2009-10 season, the only native New Yorker to hold the post. He also becomes the first to hold the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies at the Juilliard School, a position that will include coaching, conducting, and performance master classes. Mr. Gilbert was chief conductor and artistic advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra from 2000 to 2009, and was subsequently named conductor laureate. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra (NDRSO) since 2004.  Mr. Gilbert made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2001 as the Diamond American Conductor, and has returned to conduct the Orchestra numerous times, including during the acclaimed Philharmonic Festival:  Charles Ives-An American Original in Context in 2004.  In June 2004 the Orchestra announced that he was one of three conductors who would be engaged to lead multiple weeks per season, leading to a series of programs that included the March 2008 World Premiere of Marc Neikrug's Quintessence: Symphony No. 2, a New York Philharmonic Commission. In the 2008-09 season Mr. Gilbert's activities with the Philharmonic included leading the November 14, 2008, Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall as part of the citywide festival, Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds, in collaboration with Carnegie Hall.  Also as part of that celebration the Philharmonic presented Mr. Gilbert with the Juilliard Orchestra in a special concert on November 24, 2008, featuring Bernstein's Symphony No. 3, Kaddish.  In May 2009 Mr. Gilbert will conduct a program that includes the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson's The World in Flower, a New York Philharmonic Commission.  He returns in July 2009 for his second consecutive summer leading the New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks. Mr. Gilbert made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut on October 13, 2008, conducting John Adams's Dr. Atomic.  His recording of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

Emanuel Ax, piano
Emanuel Ax is renowned not only for his poetic temperament and unsurpassed virtuosity, but also for the exceptional breadth of his performing activities.  One of the most popular and respected pianists in the world, each season Mr. Ax's distinguished career includes appearances with major symphony orchestras worldwide, recitals in the most celebrated concert halls, chamber music collaborations, the commissioning and performance of new music, and adding to his acclaimed discography. One of the most popular and respected pianists in the world, he started his piano career in Warsaw when he was just seven years old.  He was the recipient of the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 1974, and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in 1979.  Numerous Grammy Awards further attest to his achievements.  His exquisite lyricism and brilliant technique allow him to tackle all parts of the repertoire, from Mozart to today's music.  In recent seasons as guest artist with the New York Philharmonic he has premiered John Adams's Century Rolls, Christopher Rouse's Seeing, and Bright Sheng's Red Silk Dance.

New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill, is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world.  It currently plays some 180 concerts a year, and on December 18, 2004, gave its 14,000th concert - a milestone unmatched by any other symphony orchestra in the world.  Alan Gilbert becomes Music Director in September 2009, the latest in a distinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that has included Lorin Maazel (2002 - 2009);  Kurt Masur (Music Director from 1991 to the summer of 2002; named Music Director Emeritus in 2002); Zubin Mehta (1978-91); Pierre Boulez (1971-77); and Leonard Bernstein, who was appointed Music Director in 1958 and given the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor in 1969. Since its inception the Orchestra has championed the new music of its time, commissioning or premiering many important works, such as Dvoøák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3; Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F; and Copland's Connotations. The Philharmonic has also given the U.S. premieres of works such as Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 and Brahms's Symphony No. 4. This pioneering tradition has continued to the present day, with works of major contemporary composers regularly scheduled each season, including John Adams's Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning On the Transmigration of Souls; Stephen Hartke's Symphony No. 3; Augusta Read Thomas's Gathering Paradise, Emily Dickinson Settings for Soprano and Orchestra; and Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto.

About Caramoor
Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home - now known as the historic Rosen House at Caramoor - and filled it with their treasures.  Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world.  Their musical evenings were the seeds of today's Caramoor International Music Festival.  Realizing the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor - the house with its art collection, the gardens, and the musical programs on summer evenings - in 1946 the Rosens established a public charity to open Caramoor to the community.

Lucie Rosen survived her husband by seventeen years.  During those years, she expanded the Music Festival: the Spanish Courtyard was used as a setting for musical events, as it is today, and, under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

Caramoor is a Garden of Great Music where audiences are invited to come early, explore the beautiful grounds, take a tour of the Rosen House, visit the gift shop, enjoy a pre-concert picnic, and discover beautiful music in the relaxed settings of the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Music Room of the Rosen House, and the magnificent gardens.  With its unique heritage, Caramoor remains a place where magical summer days and nights are shared and enjoyed by thousands. "Caramoor is the loveliest Festival of them all." - The New York Times

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road, Katonah, New York.

Tickets
Tickets for the New York Philharmonic on Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8:00pm are $45, $60, $75, $90 and $110 and may be purchased online at www.caramoor.org or by calling the Box Office at 914.252.1252.  Special arrangements may be made for groups of 16 or more.  Contact Matt Scarella at 914.232.5035 ext. 266.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, New York.

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