For Immediate Release
Contact: David Mayhew
 203.453.4275    david@davidmayhew.net

CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL
 MUSIC FESTIVAL
Opens Summer Season
on June 23

With pianist Helene Grimaud and
the Orchestra of St. Luke's

Led by Artistic Advisor and
Principal Conductor Peter Oundjian

Opening Night Includes Gala Benefit
Celebration Honoring Maestro Oundjian

Katonah, New York - Caramoor International Music Festival opens its seven-week 2007 summer festival on June 23rd at 8:30 p.m. in the Venetian Theater.  Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Peter Oundjian leads the Orchestra of St. Luke's and renowned pianist Helene Grimaud in Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83.  The Opening Night program also includes Rossini's Overture to Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Kodaly's Dances of Galanta.

"We are proud to open our 62nd season by celebrating the evening's conductor, Peter Oundjian, and his decade of artistic leadership at Caramoor," said Michael Barrett, Caramoor's Chief Executive and General Director.  "For 10 years it has been our privilege to benefit from his artistry and expertise in an official leadership position at Caramoor, but his relationship with us began much earlier.  He first played at Caramoor in 1981 as first violinist with the Tokyo String Quartet and made his formal conducting debut here in 1995 when he shared the podium with Andre Previn conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's.  We are also honored to open the season with our Westchester County neighbor, Helene Grimaud, who is truly at the peak of her artistic genius."

This concert launches the Caramoor International Music Festival's 2007 wide-ranging summer concert season, which runs through August 5 and includes the 10th anniversary of the Bel Canto at Caramoor opera program; a vibrant new Latin American Music Initiative, Sonidos Latinos; five world premieres commissioned by Caramoor; cabaret performances; and a two-day Jazz Festival.
 
Opening Night Non-Gala Tickets

Tickets for the Opening Night concert range from $42-$87 and may be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252 or online at caramoor.org.

Opening Night Gala

The Opening Night Gala on June 23 begins at 6:00 p.m. with cocktails in the Reception Tent and Italian Pavilion in Caramoor's magnificent gardens, followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m. in a tent on Friends' Field.  The 8:30 p.m. concert will be followed by dessert and dancing.  Opening Night Gala co-chairs are Patricia and Edward Falkenberg of Manhattan and Scarsdale, and Kathy and Peter Scaturro of Bedford.  Tickets are $600, $1,250 or $2,500 and tables of ten are available.  For Gala information and reservations email events@caramoor.org or call 914.232.1492.

ARTISTS

Peter Oundjian

A dynamic presence in the orchestral world, Peter Oundjian continues to make his mark as one of today's most exciting faces on the conducting scene.  He became Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra during the 2004-2005 season and also serves as the Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Detroit Symphony.  His relationship with Caramoor began when he was first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet, a position he held for fourteen years.  His formal conducting debut was at Caramoor in 1995.  In his debut concert with the Orchestra of St. Luke's he shared the podium with Andre Previn.  2007 marks his tenth year of artistic leadership at Caramoor, where he is a regular presence, providing artistic guidance and appearing as a guest conductor and lecturer.  In addition to the Opening Night concert with Helene Grimaud, his summer highlights at Caramoor will include the July 1 premiere of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, and a concert on July 7 featuring the Caramoor Virtuosi in Beethoven's Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra.  He will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke's in all of these programs.

Mr. Oundjian's 2007-08 season features return visits to many of the orchestras with which he has built ongoing relationships including the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he served as the Director of the Absolutely Mozart Festival for the four years of its existence, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Colorado Symphonies, and the Aspen Festival.  Abroad, he will conduct two weeks with the Zurich Tonhalle, as well as the Radio Philharmonique in Paris.  In addition to several weeks in Toronto and Detroit, the next two seasons also feature Peter Oundjian's returns to lead the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester at the Konzerthaus as well as the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, and the Houston, Dallas and Pittsburgh Symphonies, among others.

Born in Toronto, Mr. Oundjian was educated in England, studying the violin with Manoug Parikian. He was chosen to participate in three recording sessions with Benjamin Britten, which sparked his enthusiasm for conducting. He attended London's Royal College of Music, earning the Gold Medal for Most Distinguished Student and Stoutzker Prize for excellence in violin playing. He continued violin studies at the Juilliard School, studying with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy Delay. In 1980 he received first prize at the International Violin Competition in Vina Del Mar, Chile. He currently teaches at the Yale School of Music.

Helene Grimaud

Pianist Helene Grimaud, a member of Caramoor's Board of Trustees, last appeared at the Festival in 2005.  She performs regularly in leading concert halls and with major orchestras worldwide, including the Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Tonhalle Zurich and St Petersburg Philharmonic. She appears with the world's renowned conductors such as Boulez, Ashkenazy, Eschenbach and Neeme Jarvi. Today she balances her acclaimed international performing and recording career with a less public avocation:  raising wolves at her Westchester County, New York home.

In 2002 Helene Grimaud signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Gramophone, and her first highly successful release on the label, entitled Credo, featured works by Beethoven and Part with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.  A recording artist since the age of 15, her catalogue includes works by Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Strauss and Gershwin.  Her recording of Brahms' Concerto No. 1 with Berlin Staatskapelle Orchester and Kurt Sanderling received the 1999 Classical Award.  At the French 'Victoires de la Musique' she also received the 'Victoire d'honneur' in 2004, and in January 2002 she was appointed an Officier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministere de la Culture.  Grimaud's first book, Variations Sauvages, was published by Editions Robert Laffont and has been translated into several languages.

Orchestra of St. Luke's

Formed at the Caramoor International Music Festival in the summer of 1979, where it serves as the Festival's orchestra-in-residence each summer, the orchestra evolved from the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble (founded in 1974), with Ensemble members forming the orchestra's artistic core as principal players.  In addition to being presented by Carnegie Hall in an annual series in the Isaac Stern Auditorium, the Orchestra of St. Luke's continues a 20-year collaborative relationship with Carnegie Hall that currently includes participation in such Carnegie events as the Choral Workshop, Family Concerts, concert presentations of musical theater, including the recent presentation, recording, and telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, and others.  In chamber music, St. Luke's performs three concert series annually: a series that in 2006-07 launches the inaugural concert season of the new Gilder Lehrman Hall in the newly-renovated Morgan Library and Museum; a three-concert series at the Brooklyn Museum; and Second Helpings, a contemporary music series taking place both at the Chelsea Art Museum and at Dia:Beacon in upstate New York.  St. Luke's Arts Education Program comprises free education performances and year-long in-school residencies supported by professional development for teachers and standards-based curriculum materials.

About Caramoor

Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built the great house 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 the International Music Festival today. 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 - the Rosens established a Foundation to open Caramoor to the public in perpetuity.

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. Under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

Caramoor is a Garden of Great Music. "We invite people to come early, explore our beautiful grounds, take a tour of the House Museum, visit our gift shop, enjoy a pre-concert picnic and discover beautiful music in a relaxed setting," advises Paul Rosenblum, Caramoor's Managing Director. 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

Art and Gardens
Concerts take place in two outdoor theaters - the large, acoustically superb Venetian Theater, and the more intimate, romantic Spanish Courtyard.  Caramoor is more than just music - there is beauty at every turn.  The House Museum, the former summer home of Caramoor's founders, Lucie and Walter Rosen, contains a vast collection of Renaissance, 18th-century and Eastern art objects - furniture, tapestries, sculpture, paintings, textiles, porcelain and jade. There are entire rooms that were imported from European palaces and villas.  In fact, Caramoor is one of just five mansions in the country that incorporate entire rooms into its collection, twenty of which are open to the public.  On Thursdays and Fridays, Afternoon Tea is served in the Summer Dining Room, overlooking the charming Spanish Courtyard.

Caramoor's gardens are also well worth the visit. Nine unique perennial gardens - including a Sense Circle for the visually handicapped, a Butterfly Garden, a Medieval Mount and two gardens whose special characteristics are enjoyed primarily at night - may be seen on a guided tour or on one's own.

House Museum
Guided tours of the House Museum are provided from Wednesday through Sunday, 1-4 p.m., with the last tour at 3 p.m. On Saturdays during the Festival, tours are given from 1-5 p.m., with the last tour at 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 (children 16 and under free).

Getting to Caramoor

Caramoor is easy to get to by car, mass transportation or the Caramoor Caravan.

From Manhattan, take the Caramoor Caravan and ride comfortably in a luxurious, air-conditioned coach.  Round trip service is $22 and is available for all Saturday and Sunday performances during the Festival, as well as the July 20 performance of Il Trovatore and the August 3 performance featuring pianist Mitsuko Uchida.  The Caravan departs from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Upper West Side and East Side locations. Call the Box Office (914-232-1252) for further information and reservations.

By train, take the Harlem Division of the Metro-North Railroad to Katonah, New York. Taxi service from the station to Caramoor (5 minutes away) is available.

By car from the West Side of Manhattan and New Jersey, take the Saw Mill River Parkway north to Katonah.  Exit at Route 35/Cross River.  Turn right, and at the first traffic light make a right turn onto Route 22 south. Travel 1.9 miles to the junction of Girdle Ridge Road. Follow the signs to Caramoor.  (For detailed directions call 914.232.5035 and press 2, or online at caramoor.org).

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

June 23                         Gala Opening Night
Saturday, 8:30 pm        Orchestra of St. Luke's
Venetian Theater          Helene Grimaud, piano
$87, $72                        Peter Oundjian, conductor
$57, $42                   
                                     Rossini ~ Overture to Il Barbiere di Siviglia
                                     Kodaly ~ Dances of Galanta
                                     Brahms ~ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83
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TICKETS
Tickets may be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914-232-1252 or online at www.caramoor.org.