For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Cohn Dutcher Associates
Lois Cohn, 917.339.7187, lcohn@cohndutcher.com
Dan Dutcher, 917.339.7157, ddutcher@cohndutcher.com   
Katherine Barna, 917.339.7189, kbarna@cohndutcher.com

Katonah, New York - The U.S. Premiere of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), an entirely new choral work for orchestra, soloists and chorus written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, the duo that unleashed Spamalot on the world, will have its U.S. premiere at the Caramoor International Music Festival on Sunday, July 1, 2007.  Performances will be at 3:30 and 7:30 pm in the Venetian Theater.

Eric Idle, baritone-ish and narrator, will be joined onstage in this comic oratorio inspired by Monty Python's The Life of Brian by the Collegiate Chorale and featured soloists Shannon Mercer, soprano; Jean Stilwell, mezzo-soprano; Christopher Sieber, tenor; and Theodore Baerg, bass-baritone.  Peter Oundjian, Caramoor's Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor and Eric Idle's first cousin in real life, will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke's.

"We are proud to present this major U.S. premiere at Caramoor," said Michael Barrett, Caramoor's Chief Executive and General Director.  "These are the only performances scheduled in the United States for 2007 and our audiences are in for a real treat with this delightful and hilarious oratorio written by and starring an internationally-renowned comic genius." 

"As the Messiah was to the Bible, so Not the Messiah is to Life of Brian," said Eric Idle.  "It is shorter than Handel, funnier than Handel, but obviously not as good theologically."

Movement titles for Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) include "What Have the Romans Ever Done For Us?," "The People's Front of Judea" and "The Chosen One Has Woken!"  Not the Messiah concludes with the now-classic "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life," which can also be heard on Broadway in the long-running his musical Spamalot by Idle and Du Prez.

Tickets are $125.00, $95.00, $75.00, $55.00 and $40.00 and are available online at www.caramoor.org or by calling 914-232-1252.  A limited number of premium tickets at $250 are available for the evening performance.  Premium seats are in the first six rows and include admission to a post-concert Meet-the-Artists reception.

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

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Eric Idle, baritone-ish, narrator and writer
Eric Idle has multi-hyphenated his way through life assiduously avoiding a proper job, from a writer and actor in the legendary Monty Python TV series and movies, to the creator and director of "The Rutles," the pre-fab four, whose legend will last a lunchtime.  He has appeared on stage in drag singing rude songs at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl as well as performing in two highly successful tours, Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003), for which he journeyed 15,000 miles across North America in a bus.  His Greedy Bastard Diary of that tour is published by Harper Collins.  His play Pass the Butler ran for five months in London's West End; he has written two novels, Hello Sailor and The Road to Mars; a children's book, The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat; and a bedside companion, The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book.  He made his Broadway debut as book writer and lyricist of the current long-running musical, Spamalot.

John Du Prez, writer
A Trevelyan Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, and Associate of the Royal College of Music, John Du Prez entered the film industry in 1978 composing additional music for Monty Python's Life of Brian.  This began a long association with Eric Idle, leading eventually to their current writing partnership.  He has scored more than twenty feature films including The Meaning of Life, A Private Function, A Fish Called Wanda, Once Bitten, UHF and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I, II and III.  Other Python projects include the Contractual Obligation Album, Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl and The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book. He was musical director for Eric Idle's two North American stage tours, Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003). The current Broadway his Spamalot marked his Broadway composing debut.

Peter Oundjian, conductor
Peter Oundjian's relationship with Caramoor began in 1981 as the first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet, a position he held for 14 years.  He made his formal conducting debut at Caramoor in 1995, sharing the podium with André Previn in a concert with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.  In 1997 he formalized his artistic relationship with Caramoor, where he currently serves as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor.  Peter Oundjian has been Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since the 2004-2005 season.

Theodore Baerg, bass-baritone
Baritone Theodore Baerg made his New York Philharmonic debut as Count Homonay in Strauss' Zigeunerbaron, conducted by Kurt Masur, and has subsequently performed Fidelio there.  He first appeared at the Glyndebourne Festival as Ramiro in Rave's L'Heure Espagnole.  For San Francisco Opera he has sung Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Ping in Turandot and Ned Keene in Peter Grimes among other roles. 

Shannon Mercer, soprano
An alumnus of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Merola Opera Summer Program, Shannon Mercer began her operatic career as a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Program.  She has since gone on to perform major roles with the COC, l'Opéra du Québec, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Opera Ontario, Opera Atelier and the Toronto Operetta Theatre.  In July 2006 Shannon made her London debut under the auspices of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in The Midnight Court with Toronto's Queen of Puddings Music Theatre.

Christopher Sieber, tenor
Christopher Sieber is currently starring as Sir Galahad on Broadway in Spamalot.  His other Broadway credits include Chicago, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast, Triumph of Love and A Christmas Carol.  He has also performed in the New York City Opera production of Cinderella and Off-Broadway in Avow, The Boys in the Band, and Pal Joey.  His regional theater credits include Randy Newman's Faust, Paper Moon at Paper Mill, Company and The Boys From Syracuse at Reprise! Television audiences have seen him on Sex and the City, Ed, Guiding Light, All My Children and Another World.

Jean Stilwell, mezzo-soprano
Jean Stilwell has portrayed Carmen to critical acclaim on three continents, including performances at Minnesota Opera, Opera Ontario, the Buxton Festival, Welsh National Opera, Opera Zuid of Holland, and many others. She has sung a wide variety of roles throughout Canada including Amneris in Aida and Jennie in The Threepenny Opera for Vancouver Opera, Marie in Wozzeck for Pacific Opera and the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd for Calgary Opera. Her U.S. concert debut was at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.

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.

The Collegiate Chorale
The Collegiate Chorale, among New York's foremost vocal ensembles, has added to the richness of the City's cultural fabric for more than 60 years. Founded in 1941 by legendary conductor Robert Shaw, The Chorale has achieved national and international prominence under the leadership of Music Director Robert Bass, who recently celebrated his 25th Anniversary season. The Chorale has established a preeminent reputation for its interpretations of the traditional choral repertoire, vocal works by American composers and rarely heard operas-in-concert, as well as commissions and premieres of new works by today's most exciting creative artists.

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, including the Sunday, July 1 performances of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy).  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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Not the Messiah was commissioned by Luminato: Toronto Festival of Arts & Creativity, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

World Premiere performance in Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada on June 1, 2007, conducted by Toronto Symphony Orchestra Music Director Peter Oundjian.

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NOT THE MESSIAH
(HE'S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY)

July 1                        Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)
Sunday, 3:30            An Entirely New Choral Work for Orchestra, Soloists and Chorus
And 7:30 pm             By Eric Idle and John Du Prez
Venetian Theater     Orchestrated by John Du Prez and Larry Hochman
$125, $95, $75         Orchestra of St. Luke's
$55, $40*                  Peter Oundjian, conductor
                                 Collegiate Chorale
                                 Shannon Mercer, soprano
                                Jean Stilwell, mezzo-soprano
                                 Christopher Sieber, tenor
                                 Eric Idle, baritone-ish
                                 Theodore Baerg, bass-baritone

*A limited number of premium tickets at $250 are available for the evening performance.  Premium seats are in the first six rows and include admission to a post-concert Meet-the-Artists reception.
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TICKETS
Tickets may be ordered by calling the Box Office at 914-232-1252 or online at www.caramoor.org.