For Immediate Release
Contact: Cohn Dutcher Associates
 Lois Cohn, 917.339.7187, lcohn@cohndutcher.com
Dan Dutcher, 917.339.7157, ddutcher@cohndutcher.com
Laura Malick, 917.339.7183, lmalick@cohndutcher.com
David Mayhew, 203.533.5621, david@davidmayhew.net

CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS
63RD ANNIVERSARY SUMMER FESTIVAL
WITH A
GALA OPENING NIGHT
JUNE 21st
Americans in Paris
FEATURING
The Orchestra of St. Luke's led by Michael Barrett
 

photo by Gabe Palacio

Katonah, New York -- The Caramoor International Music Festival launches its summer season with a gala evening in a "garden of great music."  The 63rd annual summer festival opens Saturday, June 21st in the Venetian Theater with Michael Barrett leading the Orchestra of St. Luke's with guest artists Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Igor Begelman, clarinet; and Jon Kimura Parker, piano, playing works by Copland, Bernstein, Fauré, and Gershwin.

The June 21st Gala begins at 6:00 p.m. with cocktails in the Reception Tent and Italian Pavilion in Caramoor's magnificent gardens, followed by a French-inspired dinner, created by Great Performances, at 7:00 p.m. in a garden tent on Friends' Field.  The evening continues with the 8:30pm concert followed by a reception and dancing at "Club Caramoor."

A new addition to the Gala this year is the availability of "Caramoor After Dark" tickets, offering admission to the concert and to "Club Caramoor."  According to Christine Bosco, Director of Special Events, "Caramoor After Dark is geared toward parents and others whose busy lives prevent them from participating in the entire evening, but who still want to support our mission and enjoy a wonderful concert followed by an evening of dancing."

The attire for the entire evening is Paris Chic.

The Opening Night Gala honorees are long-time advocates for the American arts in Paris, Samuel and Judith Pisar of Manhattan and Paris.  Co-chairs are Patricia and Edward Falkenberg of Manhattan and Scarsdale, and Pamela and John Hervey of Katonah.  Opening Night is sponsored, in part, through the generous support of ReachCapital Management, LP.

Tickets for the entire Gala are $600, $1,250 or $2,500 and tables of ten are available.  "Caramoor After Dark" tickets are $250 which include priority concert seating and access to "Club Caramoor."  For Gala information and reservations email events@caramoor.org or call 914.232.1492.  General admission tickets for the concert only are also available through Caramoor's Box Office at 914.232.1252 or online at www.caramoor.org.

Michael Barrett
Michael Barrett is Chief Executive and General Director of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, where he is responsible for year-round administration and programming and for the Caramoor International Music Festival each summer.  In 2003, building on a career of twenty-five years of artistic programming and performing experience, Mr. Barrett assumed his position at Caramoor, where he leads the artistic mission of the organization.  In the last four seasons, Mr. Barrett has reaffirmed his reputation as an innovator.  He has enhanced and implemented programming for a wide variety of ambitious music rarely heard in a festival setting.  In 1988, he co-founded, with Steven Blier, the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), which presents a diversity of thematic song recitals in New York City and beyond and, in 1992, co-founded the Moab Music Festival (MMF) with his wife, violist Leslie Tomkins.  Mr. Barrett has been a guest conductor with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France, among others.  He also has served as conductor, producer, and music director of numerous special projects, among them the world premiere of Volpone by John Musto, at Wolf Trap in 2004; Hopper's Wife by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie at the Long Beach Opera; and, most recently, Lucrezia and Bastianello, a double bill of one-act comic operas by William Bolcom and John Musto at Carnegie Hall and Caramoor.

Orchestra of St. Luke's
The Orchestra of St. Luke's is America's foremost and most versatile chamber orchestra. Formed at the Caramoor International Music Festival in the summer of 1979, the Orchestra evolved from the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble (1974), with Ensemble members forming the Orchestra's artistic core as principal players. The Ensemble and the Orchestra still co-exist today, and the collaborative chamber aesthetic that is the St. Luke's hallmark has resulted in consistent critical acclaim, both for mastery of a diverse repertoire spanning the Baroque to the contemporary, and for vibrant music-making of the highest order.

In addition to serving each summer as the Orchestra-in-Residence at the Caramoor Festival, the Orchestra of St. Luke's participates in such Carnegie Hall events as four-concert series in the Isaac Stern Auditorium, the Choral Workshop and Carnegie Family Concerts, in addition to numerous artistic collaborations with other New York City cultural organizations.

Igor Begelman
Winner of the year 2000 Avery Fisher Career Grant, a prize awarded to outstanding American artists, clarinetist Igor Begelman has appeared as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bienne Symphony Orchestra, Odense Simfoniker, and the New Haven, Savannah, and Greenwich Symphonies.  He has also performed recitals in western and eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Israel.  In addition to Caramoor, he has appeared at numerous festivals throughout the world, including Marlboro, Tucson, Tanglewood and Schleswig-Holstein.  Mr. Begelman was awarded top prizes at the First Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition in Denmark and the 53rd Geneva International Competition in Switzerland.

Jon Kimura Parker
Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker's career has taken him from Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House to Baffin Island and Zimbabwe.  A true Canadian ambassador of music, the Vancouver native has given two command performances for Queen Elizabeth II, special performances for the United States Supreme Court, and has performed for the Prime Ministers of Canada and Japan.  Mr. Parker has performed as guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and every major orchestra in Canada.  Jon Kimura Parker was a Distinguished Artist with the Caramoor Rising Stars in 1999.

Alisa Weilerstein
Cellist Alisa Weilerstein has performed with the nation's top orchestras, given recitals in music capitals throughout the U.S. and Europe, and regularly participates in prestigious international festivals, including past performances at Caramoor.  She is also dedicated to performing chamber music, having grown up in a family of musicians with whom she collaborated from an early age.  Alisa Weilerstein is continually engaged by orchestras across the U.S. and has performed as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, as well as major European orchestras.  She was the winner of the 2006 Leonard Bernstein Award, which she received at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany.  Alisa Weilerstein was a Caramoor Rising Star in 1999.

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.

"We invite people to come early, explore our beautiful grounds, take a tour of the House Museum, visit our gift shops, 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 a Garden of Great Music. "Caramoor is the loveliest Festival of them all." - The New York Times.

GETTING TO CARAMOOR

Caramoor is easy to get to by car and mass transportation. 

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 www.caramoor.org).  Parking at Caramoor is free.

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.

JUNE 21st OPENING NIGHT GALA
 Venetian Theater
 with
Orchestra of St. Luke's, Michael Barrett, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Igor Begelman, clarinet; and Jon Kimura Parker, piano

6:00 p.m. Cocktails
7:00 p.m. Dinner
8:30 p.m. Concert in the Venetian Theater
10:30 p.m.  Post-concert Dessert & Dancing Reception with the Artists at "Club Caramoor"

For more information email events@caramoor.org or call 914-232-1492

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CREDITS

Performances are made possible, in part, by Westchester Arts Council, with funds from Westchester County Government.
 

Performances are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
 

Opening Night is sponsored, in part, through generous support
from ReachCapital Management, LP.