FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    
Contact:  David Mayhew for Cohn Dutcher Associates
March 14, 2008                  
(203) 533-5621     david@davidmayhew.net

CARAMOOR CENTER FOR MUSIC AND THE ARTS
ANNOUNCES SPRING 2008 PROGRAMS IN THE HOUSE MUSEUM

Notte Italiana - House Museum benefit and exhibition preview party to be held on
May 17 - Honorary Chairs are Hollywood luminaries Chazz and Gianna Palminteri

Special exhibition - A Journey in Maiolica: Italian Renaissance
to American Contemporary -opens May 18

Elegant Afternoon Teas and Performer's Showcase series of morning recitals resume

Katonah, New York - The incomparable House Museum at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, the former summer home of Caramoor?s founders Walter and Lucie Rosen, begins its 2008 season of exhibition tours, daytime recitals, elegant afternoon teas, and special events in May.  This year's special exhibition, A Journey in Maiolica: Italian Renaissance to American Contemporary, opens on Sunday, May 18 and will be preceded by Notte Italiana, a special exhibition preview and House Museum benefit with Hollywood luminaries Chazz and Gianna Palminteri as Honorary Chairs.

Twenty magnificent rooms of the House Museum are open to the public, filled with the extraordinary collection the Rosens amassed through the years:  Renaissance, 18th-century, and Eastern art objects and furnishings; tapestries, sculptures, paintings, textiles, furniture, exquisite wall coverings, stained glass, Urbino maiolica, and a major jade collection.  This remarkable museum is one of only five famous mansions in the United States that incorporate entire rooms from European palaces and country manors.

2008 Special Exhibition:
A Journey in Maiolica: Italian Renaissance to American Contemporary

The House Museum's 2008 special exhibition, A Journey in Maiolica: Italian Renaissance to American Contemporary, opens on Sunday, May 18 and continues during regular museum hours through December 19.  The guest curator is Liz Quakenbush, Associate Professor of Art at Penn State.  The exhibition of maiolica, an Italian tin-glazed earthenware brilliantly colored in vivid yellow, blue, green, and beautiful ochre hues, features an array of fanciful scenes.  The objects on view, drug jars or "Albarelli", flasks, large plates and vases are all fancifully decorated with crowned goddesses flanked by winged cherubs and serpents swarming in a turbulent sea, horned satyrs dancing in the forest, and Adam and Eve tempted in the garden.  These biblical, historical, and mythological images, selected from the Museum's outstanding permanent collection, are all the more remarkable because they exist on the face of 16th-century Italian maiolica pottery.

The exhibition also includes a set of twelve Catalan tiles from the 18th to early 19th-century, designed by Francisco Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) and depicting whimsical musicians.  A related outdoor exhibition with works by Kathy Ruttenberg is scheduled for the autumn.  Both exhibitions are part of All Fired Up!  - A  Celebration of Clay in Westchester, an all-county effort organized by the Westchester Arts Council and the Clay Art Center to explore the versatility of ceramics.  Caramoor's fine examples of the popular Renaissance art form maiolica will be displayed along with artwork by several of today's top ceramic artists working on contemporary majolica.  The name maiolica refers to Majorca, where the Spanish Moors sailed with pottery to Pisa.  Europeans, believing the brilliantly colored Urbino pottery originated in Spain, referred to the Italian works as maiolica.  A Victorian-era revival changed the name from maiolica to majolica.  The contemporary majolica artists are Rosie Wynkoop, Terry Seibert, and the exhition?s guest curator, Liz Quakenbush.  The artists will have several pieces for sale in the Museum Shop.

Notte Italiana - Special Exhibition preview party and House Museum benefit

The exhibition?s opening will be preceded on Saturday, May 17, by Notte Italiana, an exhibition preview party and House Museum benefit.  Honorary Chairs for this evening of Italian-style exuberance will be Chazz and Gianna Palminteri.  Actor Chazz Palminteri is best known for the films The Usual Suspects and his Oscar-nominated performance in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway.  He recently completed a critically-acclaimed run on Broadway of his one-man-show, A Bronx Tale.  Benefit co-chairs are Barbara DuPont of Pound Ridge and Nina Stanton of Bedford.

Notte Italiana will begin with hors d'oeuvres at 7:00 pm while a harpist plays and marionettes perform in the style of Commedia dell?arte.  A tour of A Journey in Maiolica: Italian Renaissance to American Contemporary, led by curator Liz Quakenbush, precedes dancing with music performed by the Alan Simon Band, dinner catered by Ann Neto Catering, performances of Italian arias, a scrumptious dessert and champagne table, and a spectacular silent auction.

$500 Artista Benefactor tickets include a pre-cocktail party at 6:30 pm and photo opportunity with Chazz and Gianna Palminteri.  $275 Artigiano Patron tickets include the pre-cocktail party.  $175 tickets include all aspects of the evening beginning at 7:00 pm.  Tables of ten are also available at $5000 Grande Donatore and $2750 Molto Generoso levels and include the pre-cocktail party and photo opportunity with the Palminteris, as well as special recognition.

Performer's Showcase morning recitals
Performer's Showcase recitals, 45-minute programs featuring an exciting variety of musicians, begin on Wednesday, May 7 and continue on Wednesdays through October.  The 11:00 am recitals are followed by a guided tour of the House Museum.  Audience members are invited to bring their own picnic lunch or make arrangements in advance to have a catered light or buffet lunch.

The springtime Performer's Showcase events are:

May 7 - Max Mandel, viola; Jeewon Park, piano
May 14 - Flamenco in the Courtyard featuring the dances and songs of Spain with Sara Erde, principal dancer for the Met's productions of Carmen and La Traviata; vocals and flute; and Ralph Brunn, guitar.
May 21 - Mediterranean Celebration will transport audiences to the Mediterranean amidst Caramoor?s architecture and with guitarist Michael Cedrec Smith.
May 28 - Amanda Lo, violin; pianist TBD
June 4 - Spring Ritual:  Jennifer Tao, piano
June 11 - Romantic Duets will put romance in the air with soprano Irina Mozyleva and baritone Vladimir Shvets accompanied by pianist Svetelana Gorokhovich.
June 18 - Trio Cavatina:  Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano; Harumi Rhodes, violin; Priscilla Lee, cello

Tickets for the Performer's Showcase recitals and tours of the House Museum are $17.  Package prices that include the recital, House Museum tour, and a buffet lunch are $44.  With a light lunch the package price will be $32.  The package price for May 14, May 21, and June 11 is $43. 

Formal Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea is served grand style in the Summer Dining Room of the House Museum, overlooking the Spanish Courtyard.  Beginning on May 8 and served on Thursdays and Fridays from 1:30 to 4:00 pm throughout the spring, summer, and fall, these events feature a variety of tea sandwiches, scrumptious scones with clotted cream and preserves, delicious desserts, and teas, as well as a guided tour of the House Museum.  On June 5, 12, and 13, the springtime teas and tours will be followed by a guided tour of the gardens with Caramoor?s horticulturist, Clifford Dickson.  Afternoon Tea is $30 for adults and $21 for children ages 16 and under.  Afternoon Tea with a Guided Garden Tour is $35.

Special Event Teas
On Saturday, April 19, Mommy, Dolly & Me...A Tea Party invites youngsters to bring their families and their favorite dolly to a delightful tea party.  The event, from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm begins with a short tour of the House Museum geared toward children and includes the booklet, The Key to Caramoor.  The tour is followed by a tea/hot chocolate party with special treats for youngsters.  Tickets for children 9 and under are $19 and adult tickets are $28.

Celebrate an early Mother's Day with a Mothers & Others Tea Musicale on Saturday, May 10, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.  In addition to tea and a tour of the House Museum, this event includes a recital in the Music Room of favorite songs for mother ? a wonderful way to celebrate mom.  Adult tickets are $43 and tickets for children 16 and under are $32.

A Spring Celebration Tea on Friday, June 6, from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm features the floral beauty of the season.  After a formal tea, floral designer Mary Lou Pappas will provide guests with flowers and the inspiration to create their own lovely floral arrangements to take home.  Tickets, which include the tea and materials, are $36.

House Museum Tours
The House Museum opens its regular hours for the season on Saturday, May 3.  Guided tours are Wednesday through Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm (last tour begins at 3:00 pm).  During the summertime Caramoor International Music Festival Saturday hours are extended to 5:00 pm (last tour begins at 4:00 pm). 

Tickets for tours of the House Museum, including the special exhibition, A Journey in Maiolica: Italian Renaissance to American Contemporary, are $10, children under 16 are admitted free.

Tickets
Tickets for all events except the Notte Italiana benefit may be ordered online at www.caramoor.org or by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252.  Benefit tickets must be ordered by telephone by calling the Box Office or the House Museum at 914.232.5035 ext. 221.

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

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About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts 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 of the Caramoor estate, bringing to reality his dream of building a country home to showcase his decorative arts collection and to entertain friends from around the world.  The Rosens? musical evenings were the seeds of the International Music Festival of today.  Realizing the pleasure their friends took in Caramoor ? the house with its art collection, the gardens, and the musical programs on summer evenings ? the Rosens gave the estate to the public as a center for music and the arts.

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