CARAMOOR FACT SHEET

What:                 Caramoor is home to metropolitan New York's largest annual outdoor music festival. 
                           It is also known for its year-round concerts, lectures and educational programs. 
                           Caramoor maintains a world-class collection of fine and decorative art in its House
                           Museum.

                           Every summer, amidst its 90 acres of fragrant gardens and towering trees,
                           Caramoor's two outdoor theatres - the Spanish Courtyard and the Venetian Theater -
                           resonate with the glorious sounds of orchestral music, bel canto opera, chamber music,
                           jazz and American music from bluegrass to cabaret, performed by the world's finest
                           artists.

Who:                 Michael Barrett is Caramoor's Chief Executive and General Director.  Peter Oundjian is
                          Caramoor's Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor.  Will Crutchfield is Caramoor's
                          Director of Opera.  Joe Lovano is Artistic Director of Caramoor's Jazz Festival.  Edward
                          Arron is the Artistic Director of the Caramoor Virtuosi.  The Orchestra of St. Luke's
                          enjoys an official residency at Caramoor.  The 2007-2008 Caramoor Composer-in-
                         Residence is Paquito D'Rivera.  Marco Granados is the Music Advisor for Sonidos
                         Latinos, Caramoor's Latin American Music Initiative.  The 2006-2007 Ernst Stiefel 
                         Quartet-in-Residence is the Parker String Quartet.

Directions:      Caramoor is located in Katonah, New York (45 miles from midtown Manhattan), and is
                          easily accessible by car and by the Harlem Division of the Metro-North Railroad
                          operating out of Grand Central Terminal. For more detailed directions call the Box Office
                          (914-232-1252) or visit www.caramoor.org.
 
                          By bus from Manhattan:  Take the Caramoor Caravan and ride comfortably in a luxurious,
                          air-conditioned coach. Round trip service is available for all Saturday and most Sunday
                          performances during the summer music festival. The Caravan departs from the Port
                          Authority Bus Terminal and Upper West Side and East Side locations.

Important        Box Office:  914-232-1252
Telephone      House Museum tours, Performer's Showcases (Wednesday mid-morning recitals),
Numbers:        Afternoon Tea (Thursday and Fridays) and Garden Tours: 914-232-5035 ext. 221
                          General Information: 914-232-5035
                          Caramoor's Website: caramoor.org

Venetian          On the evening of June 21, 1958, thunder rumbled overhead and rain poured down.
Theater:           The audience at the inaugural concert of the newly completed Venetian Theater
                          remained in their seats, huddled beneath umbrellas. Soprano Marian Anderson sang
                          Orfeo - the first and only time she performed the role - in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. 
                          The show went on despite the rain, and the Venetian Theater was launched. 
 
                          The 1700 seat outdoor theater was designed by Frederick Kiesler around a set of Greek  
                          and Roman pink marble columns purchased and imported by Caramoor founder Walter  
                          Rosen. The Venetian Theater was built to accommodate the increasing audiences at the
                          fledgling Music Festival and became the third and largest performing space, along with
                          the Spanish Courtyard and the Music Room.
 
                          In 1986, a new tent was erected in the Venetian Theater which, for the first time,
                          protected all seats from inclement weather. An improved tent and the installation of a 
                          wooden floor in 1989 brought noticeably improved acoustics to the already resonant
                          Theater.

                         Today, Caramoor is one of the foremost venues on the international concert music scene
                          and metropolitan New York's largest annual outdoor summer music festival. On summer
                         evenings, the white tent flutters in the breeze. The stage lights illuminate the Venetian  
                         arches and marble columns, and the audience enjoys another concert of spectacular
                         music.
 
Spanish          For over sixty years, the colonnaded Spanish Courtyard has resounded with the voices
Courtyard:     and music of such artists as Jennie Tourel, Jan Peerce, Alicia de Larrocha, Frederica von
                        Stade, Beverly Sills, and many more.
 
                         With a capacity of six hundred and thirty, the Spanish Courtyard provides an intimate
                         concert experience in which every strand of music can be clearly discerned. It is the
                         perfect venue for chamber music, early music ensembles, vocal recitals, pre-concert
                         lectures, and candle-lit post concert parties.
 
                        The Spanish Courtyard is the core of Lucie and Walter Rosen's home, a maize stucco
                        villa with red-tiled roof and complicated angles.

Diane Moss   On November 4, 2001, the new Diane Moss Education Center at Caramoor was officially
Education       opened.  This colorful, lively, informal space in one of the estate's original
Center:           Mediterranean-style buildings has enabled Caramoor to double the number of education 
                        program-days scheduled each year.  The building has two floors: the downstairs
                        consists of a workshop area, performance space, an art space, and restrooms; upstairs
                        there is anadditional 1200 square feet that are used as smaller classroom spaces,
                        rehearsal  rooms, and office space.  The facility complies with the Americans with
                        Disabilities Act.
 
House            The large, rambling Mediterranean-style villa contains a priceless collection of
Museum:      Renaissance and Eastern art objects and entire rooms imported from European palaces. 
                       Twenty rooms are open to the public.  The Museum is the former summer home of
                       financier Walter and his wife Lucie Bigelow Dodge Rosen, Caramoor's founders.  The
                       house was built around the Spanish Courtyard, where concerts are held outdoors during
                       the summer.

                       Tours of the Museum are offered Wednesday through Sunday, May through October (and
                       by appointment at other times). Group tours can be arranged. Afternoon Tea is served in
                       the Summer Dining Room overlooking the Spanish Courtyard on Thursday and Fridays
                       at 3:00 pm, May through December.  The teas are preceded by a tour of the House
                       Museum at 1:45 pm, and reservations are required.

Gardens:       The Caramoor estate sprawls over 90 acres and contains six major garden areas. Unlike
                        other gardens in the area, Caramoor's were planned to enhance the site's Renaissance 
                        sensibility. When the Rosens purchased Caramoor in 1928, they were impressed by its
                        Italianate Gardens, two of which, the Sunken Garden and the Medieval Mount, remain
                        today.

Sense             In 1989, Catherine Ziegler designed this garden for the visually and physically impaired.
Circle:             It is set around a dovecote (now a fountain) that had been on the property for years. The
                        garden is separated into four quadrants and contains plants that appeal to the five senses.
                        Each year a variety of highly scented and brightly colored plants, some of which are
                       edible, are set out along with those with interesting texture. All the plants may be touched 
                       and the fountain may be used as a wishing well, making this a favorite stop for visitors of
                       all ages. The plan of the garden allows easy access for those in wheelchairs, on
                       crutches, and for the visually impaired.
 
Butterfly      Based on a design by Brunelleschi, the Italian Pavilion was formerly used as a point from 
Garden:       which  to view matches on an adjacent tennis court. Today the tent-covered court is paved 
                     with brick and is a popular site for weddings and for dinners during the Festival. Extending 
                     outfrom the Pavilion is the Butterfly Garden consisting of the Lion's Head fountain
                     surrounded  by  plants chosen to encourage all stages of butterfly development. The
                     flower colors of pale orange, yellow and blue match the hues of the antique floor tile of
                     the Pavilion. During the summer months,the splashing of the fountain and the numerous
                     butterflies add a sense of  motion to the garden.

Sunken      In close proximity to Caramoor's Venetian theater are the Venetian Circle, Sunken Garden
Garden:     and Medieval Mount. The Mount is surrounded by tall trees and shade-loving plants and has
                    seating for quiet contemplation. It overlooks the Sunken Garden Close, which consists of 
                    breathtaking perennial borders and several center beds, planted with annuals and 
                    perennials. There are antique containers and statuary in this garden.

                    The flowers' pastel color scheme is intended to be admired by day and especially at
                     night during the concert season, when moonlight causes a shimmering effect on the
                     petals. Off to the side is the Juliet Gate, a 17th century Italian portal opening to the Cedar 
                     Walk - a long, wooded path leading through the Woodland Garden to Caramoor's Italian
                     Pavilion.

Woodland   With its three hundred foot Cedar Walk, lined on both sides with towering 70 year old
Garden:       eastern and  western cedars as its focal point, the woodland garden is anchored in a 
                     network of board lined wood chipped pathways that create a diverse landscape of
                     islands bordered by under growth or open meadow areas. The garden is also home to
                     rhododendrons, dogwoods, sweetbay, hydrangea, styrax and clerodendrum. As well
                     as a variety of flowering wood land perennials such as cone flowers, joe pie weed,
                     columbine  and lilies. In a corner hidden away among the trees and under growth, you
                     can visit the Rosens' old pet cemetery. The woodland garden pathways have soft ground
                     lighting, and like all of Caramoor's gardens during the festival and special events, the
                     pathways are all lighted during the evening hours. 
 

Theater      Started in 2000 and separated from the woodland garden by the Venetian theater, the
Garden:      Theater Gardens cobble stone pathway gently arches its way through the shade of tall
                     trees and shrubs under planted with hostas, ferns, astilbe and lilies. The cobble stone
                     pathway eventually leads to the garden's focal point. Set in the middle of a large circular
                     seating area, complete with old world style benches, stands a very imposing Victorian urn.
                     Ornate in character, with its horse head handles and embossing of gun dog hunting scenes,
                     it was manufactured in the mid-1800s by Bendreth Brothers Ornamentals of New York. 

Venetian    This echoes the pastels of the Sunken Garden. The Circle is framed by the 17th century
Circle:         Swiss Gates where one can see two large Pegasus sculpted by Malvina Hoffman.

Tapestry     Around the corner from the Sense Circle is the Iris and Peony Garden. Started in 1990 and
Hedge:        now filled with ever-increasing amounts of blooms, the peonies and iris are best enjoyed in
                     late May and early June when they are at their peak. Day lilies have been added to extend
                     the season. A bench in the garden affords a splendid view of the Tapestry Hedge, an 
                    immense collection of evergreens that is a popular backdrop for photographs. The twin
                    statues of Zephyr, the Greek god of the west wind, and Flora, the Roman goddess of
                    flowers found there are attributed to the 17th-century Italian sculptor Antonio Bonazzi.

Cutting      Next to the working greenhouse, which is not open to the public, is the Cutting Garden
Garden:     consisting  of a series of eight raised beds used for cut flower production. The nearby
                   compost bins, where used plant material is recycled, provide rich compost which is added
                   to the beds to support the intensive cultivation of a wide range of flowers grown for use at
                   Caramoor. Throughout the summer, the flowers are harvested, arranged in creative ways
                   and placed in the rooms of the House Museum.

To arrange a garden tour call 914-232-5035 ext. 221