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 
Offers Family Events & Activities
Throughout the Summer

TANGO FOR THE FAMILY to take place on Sunday, July 6 at 4:30pm

Four Caramoor Al Fresco concerts scheduled

Free tours of the House Museum for ages 16 and under

Katonah, New York - The Caramoor International Music Festival isn't just for grown-ups; there are events and activities for youngsters and families throughout the summer, including special Family Music Programs, Caramoor Al Fresco concerts for families to enjoy picnicking and music under the sun, and free admission to the House Museum for young people.

Family Music Programs - Sonidos Lantinos II

The vibrancy, rhythm and excitement of the Tango will dazzle youngsters and their families in two programs, Tango for the Family for youngsters ages 6 and up and Tango for Tots for those under 6 on Sunday, July 6 at 4:30pm.  Leading Tango for the Family in the Venetian Theater will be narrator Jamie Bernstein and flutist Marco Granados, along with the Sonidos Latinos Festival Ensemble:  Pablo Aslan, bass; Emilio Solla, piano; Raul Jaurena, bandoneón; Nicolas Danielson, violin.  This interactive and energetic event will take youngsters on a musical journey to the Latin American countries of Argentina and Uruguay through the sounds and dance of the Tango.  According to Ms. Bernstein, whose father, composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, created legendary Young People?s Concerts in the 1950s, "Those who attend can expect to see children onstage."

At the same time as Tango for the Family, teaching artist Katie Kresek along with bandoneonist Hector del Curto and pianist Gustavo Casanave, will introduce very young children to the both the music and dance of Tango in Tango for Tots in the Reception Tent at Caramoor.  Engaging children through musical games, storytelling, activities, and performances with professional Tango dancers and live music, the program will promote active listening and an imaginative concert-going experience for all.

Both programs are part of Sonidos Latinos, Caramoor's Latin American music initiative, made possible by generous support from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Tickets for both Family Music Programs are $15

Caramoor Al Fresco

Caramoor Al Fresco offers parents, grandparents and others with youngsters in their lives the opportunity to share their love of music with the kids in the informal environment of Caramoor's picnic grounds at four Sunday afternoon concerts.  The kids will enjoy the traditional music of American bluegrass when Chatham County Line performs on Sunday, June 22.  The rhythms of Tango music, played by Paquito D'Rivera, clarinet, Marco Granados, flute and a star-studded cast of Latin musicians, will add an international flavor to young people's musical experience in Buenos Aires Now on Sunday, July 13, as part of the Sonidos Latinos initiative.  Finally, Caramoor Al Fresco offers the opportunity to introduce youngsters to classical music in concerts by the Emerson String Quartet on Sunday, July 20 and the Caramoor Virtuosi on Sunday, July 27.

All Caramoor Al Fresco concerts are at 4:30pm and tickets are $9.00 each.

Tours of the House Museum

Children 16 and under are admitted free to tours of the magnificent House Museum at Caramoor, the former summer home of Caramoor's founders, Lucie and Walter Rosen.  The House Museum contains a vast collection of Renaissance, 18th-century, and Eastern art objects, including furniture, tapestries, sculpture, paintings, textiles, porcelain, and jade in twenty rooms that are open to the public.  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. 

During the Caramoor International Music Festival guided tours are provided from Wednesday through Sunday, 1:00pm-4:00pm with the last tour at 3:00pm.  On Saturdays tours are given from 1:00pm-5:00pm, with the last tour at 4:00pm.  Tickets are $10 for those over the age of 16.

TICKETS

Tickets may be ordered by calling the Caramoor Box Office at 914.232.1252 or online at www.caramoor.org.

ARTISTS

Jamie Bernstein
Jamie Bernstein is a narrator, writer and broadcaster who transformed a lifetime of loving music into a career of sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with others.  Her father, composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein, together with her mother, the pianist and actress Felicia Montealegre and their legions of friends in the arts, created a spontaneous, ebullient household that turned Jamie into a dyed-in-the-wool cultural enthusiast.  Replicating her father's lifelong passion of sharing and teaching, Ms. Bernstein has devised several ways of communicating her own excitement about classical music, including The Bernstein Beat, a concert for young people about her father, modeled after his groundbreaking Young People's Concerts, and many programs for youngsters at Caramoor. 

Gustavo Casanave
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1971, Gustavo Casenave began his piano studies at age six.  In 1994, he received the prestigious OEA (Organization of American States) scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston where he was received "Professional Music Achievement" award and his composition "Fragiltimer for the Past Future" was named the one of ten best original compositions from Berklee College of Music in last 30 years.  Hailed by Jazz Times for playing "with distinct straight-a-head jazz feeling at times and melds into the elaborate voicings of the tango" pianist Gustavo Casenave performed and recorded with numerous acclaimed artists in New York City since 1997.  He has been touring throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Central America and United States, performing in the prestigious festivals and concert halls such as Lincoln Center in New York, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, Hypo Jazz Festival in Austria, Jazz Festival Seeon in Germany, and International Jazz Festival at Kempten, Germany, to name a few.

Caramoor Virtuosi
Caramoor Virtuosi are alumni of the Caramoor Rising Stars and are now well-established professionals with international careers.  The Virtuosi, under the artistic direction of Edward Arron, return to Caramoor each season to create performances of unusual intimacy and extraordinary depth of expression.  Returning for the 2008 Festival are Andrew Armstrong, piano; Jennifer Frautschi, Laura Frautschi, Karen Gomyo, violins; Nicholas Cords, Max Mandel, violas; and Alexis Pia Gerlach, Edward Arron, cellos.

Chatham County Line
Chatham County Line, hailing from North Carolina, fuses old-time, gather-'round-the-microphone bluegrass with a love for the progressive sounds of American-made music.  The quartet ? Dave Wilson, guitar, vocals; John Teer, mandolin, fiddle, vocals; Chandler Holt, banjo, vocals; Greg Readling, ¾ bass, pedal steel guitar, and vocals ? continues the Caramoor International Music Festival's tradition of presenting the best in American Roots: Bluegrass.

Paquito D'Rivera
Caramoor's 2007-08 Composer-in-Residence, Paquito D'Rivera was a child prodigy on the clarinet and saxophone and performed with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra at a very early age.  He founded the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna and Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical and traditional Cuban music was a groundbreaking addition to the Cuban musical milieu.  His discography includes over 30 solo albums, and he has appeared in solo performances throughout the world.  In 2005, the multi-Grammy Award winner was the recipient of the National Medal of the Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government.  D'Rivera's Concerto for Double Bass, Clarinet/Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (Conversations with Cachao), commissioned by Caramoor, received its world premiere during last summer's Caramoor International Music Festival.

Héctor Del Curto
Praised by The New York Times as a "splendid player," Argentinean bandoneónist Héctor Del Curto has captivated the audiences around the world as a soloist and chamber musician, sharing the stage with the world-renowned tango legends Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Pugliese, pianist Pablo Ziegler, clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, ballet dancer Julio Bocca, National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra and Teatro Colón Ballet among many others.  After a Carnegie Hall concert in April 1999 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and outstanding artists such as Gary Burton, Joe Lovano, Pablo Ziegler, famous tango singers José Angel Trelles and Maria Graña, The New York Times highlighted Mr. Del Curto's artistry, making special mention of his "wistful, piercing solos on the bandoneón."  Besides his own projects, Héctor Del Curto is an active member of Pablo Ziegler Trio and Quintet for the New Tango, Fernando Otero's X-Tango and Paquito D'Rivera's Panamericana Ensemble.

Emerson String Quartet
Acclaimed for its insightful performances, dynamic artistry and technical mastery, the Emerson String Quartet - Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violins; Lawrence Dutton, viola; and David Finckel cello - has amassed an impressive list of achievements: a brilliant series of recordings exclusively documented by Deutsche Grammophon since 1987; eight Grammy® Awards including two for "Best Classical Album," an unprecedented honor for a chamber music group; three Gramophone Magazine Awards, and performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven, Bartók and Shostakovich quartets in major concert halls throughout the world.  The ensemble is lauded globally as a string quartet that approaches both classical and contemporary repertoire with equal mastery and enthusiasm.  For three decades, the group has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Misha Dichter, Leon Fleisher, the Guarneri String Quartet, Thomas Hampson, Lynn Harrell, Barbara Bonney, Barbara Hendricks, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Paul McCartney, Menahem Pressler, David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman and the late Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern and Oscar Shumsky.

Marco Granados
Marco Granados' composition, The Venezuelan Suite, received its world premiere last summer at Caramoor, where the acclaimed composer and flutist is Musical Advisor to the Sonidos Latinos initiative.  Since his 1991 New York debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall his performance highlights have included concerts at Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the 1999 British Flute Society International Convention in Manchester, England, as well as his thrilling performance at the closing ceremonies concert for the National Flute Association in Columbus, Ohio in 2000.  In 2001, he made his London debut at the famed Wigmore Hall with a solo recital of classical Latin American compositions, as well as recitals at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and for the British Flute Society at Queens College in London.  Over the past several years, he has been a favorite performer at flute festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Katie Kresek
Violinist Katie Kresek maintains a varied and dynamic musical career that incorporates her eclectic mix of interests in the arts and academia.  Born into an artistic family in Cooperstown, New York, she was raised in Ossining, New York, and obtained her undergraduate degrees summa cum laude in both Music and English Literature from the State University of New York at Purchase, studying violin in the studios of Daniel Phillips and Laurie Smukler and in master classes with Elmar Oliviera and Donald Weilerstein.  Ms. Kresek holds a Master's degree from The Mannes College of Music, where she studied violin with Lucie Robert and chamber music with Felix Galimir, Diane Walsh, and David Krakauer.  As a recitalist, Ms. Kresek has performed at the National Arts Club, Weill Recital Hall, Caramoor, Merkin Hall, and the New York Public Library and has been featured on WQXR's McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase and WNYC's program "Sound Check."  She plays on a violin made in 1748 in Florence, Italy by Lorenzo and Tomaso Carcassi.

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 today's International Music Festival.  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 - in 1946 the Rosens established a Foundation to open Caramoor to the public.

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, and, 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, including furniture, tapestries, sculpture, paintings, textiles, porcelain, and jade in twenty rooms that are open to the public.  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.  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 and include nine unique perennial gardens.  Among them are a Sense Circle for the visually handicapped, a Butterfly Garden, Tapestry Hedge, and an Iris and Peony Garden, which may be enjoyed on one's own or seen on a guided tour.

Enjoy a Picnic at Caramoor
Extend your Caramoor experience by arriving for concerts early and enjoying a picnic amidst the beautiful gardens.  Bring your own picnic or pre-order from Great Performances® by calling 212.337.6055.

House Museum
Guided tours of the House Museum are provided from Wednesday through Sunday, 1:00pm-4:00pm with the last tour at 3:00pm.  On Saturdays, during the Festival, tours are given from 1:00pm-5:00pm, with the last tour at 4:00pm.  Tickets are $10 (children 16 and under free).

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 (five minutes away) is available.

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

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CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
Family Concerts
______________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, June 22            American Roots:  Bluegrass
4:30pm                           Chatham County Line
Al Fresco $9

Sunday, July 6            Tango for the Family:  Sonidos Latinos II
4:30pm                        Jamie Bernstein, narrator 
Venetian Theatre        Sonidos Latinos Festival Ensemble
                                    Marco Granados, flute
                                    Pablo Aslan, bass
                                    Emilio Solla, piano
                                    Raul Jaurena, bandoneón
                                    Nicolas Danielson, violin
                                    Dancers and singers to be announced
 
Sunday, July 6            Tango for Tots: Music and Dance of Argentine Tango
4:30 p.m.                    Family program for children under the age of 6.
Reception Tent           Katie Kresek, violin and host
                                   Héctor Del Curto, bandoneón
                                   Gustavo Casenave, piano

Sunday, July 13         Buenos Aires Now - Tango After Piazzolla - Sonidos Latinos III
4:30pm                       Paquito D'Rivera, clarinet
Al Fresco $9             Marco Granados, flute
                                  Pablo Aslan, bass
                                  Emilio Solla, piano
                                  Fernando Otero, piano
                                  Nicolas Danielson, violin
                                  Raul Jaurena, bandoneón
                                  Ayano Kataoka, marimba

Sunday, July 20       Emerson String Quartet
4:30pm                     Eugene Drucker, violin
Al Fresco $9            Philip Setzer, violins
                                 Lawrence Dutton, viola
                                 David Finckel, cello

Sunday, July 27      Caramoor Virtuosi
4:30pm                    Andrew Armstrong, piano
Al Fresco $9           Jennifer Frautschi, violin
                                Laura Frautschi, violin
                                Karen Gomyo, violin
                                Nicholas Cords, viola
                                Max Mandel, viola
                                Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello
                                Edward Arron, cello 

All Summer             Tours of the House Museum
Wednesday            Wednesday through Sunday, 1:00pm-4:00pm with the last tour at 3:00pm;
through                   On Saturdays tours are given from 1:00pm-5:00pm, with the last tour at
Sunday                   4:00pm. 
$10 over 16
Free 16 and under

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CREDITS

Sonidos Latinos, Caramoor's Latin American music initiative, is made possible by generous support from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

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.
 

Press Tickets:
Laura Malick
917.339.7183
lmalick@cohndutcher.com