With so many great concerts in the Hudson Valley in the next few months, it can be easy to fill up those summer weekends fast. With more than 40 performances featuring rising stars and award-winning names in classical, folk, Broadway, jazz, roots, contemporary, and everything in between, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah has a stellar summer lineup that is always worthy of note.
Originally built as the country estate of prominent banker and arts patron Walter T. Rosen and his wife Lucie Bigelow Rosen—a pioneering electronic musician who traveled the world playing the theremin—Caramoor’s sprawling 80-acre property and five venues have become known for hosting many of the region’s most acclaimed musical performances of the year.
This summer, Caramoor kicks off its season with two free events that welcome the public to experience a taste of what’s on offer this season. Soundscapes (June 9) is a day-long sound art event with live performances and workshops that marks the opening of the grounds and Caramoor’s “Sonic Innovations” installation. Another can’t-miss free event is Caramoor’s Celebrating Juneteenth (June 16), with Charles Turner & Uptown Swing playing music from the 1920s to the present in the spacious Friends Field outdoor venue.
Caramoor’s concert season ramps up the following weekend with a rousing performance in honor of Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday by iconic trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (June 22).
Caramoor’s beloved annual all-day music festivals are returning this year, which dive into two rich American genres. The American Roots Music Festival (June 29), presented in collaboration with City Winery, will be headlined by singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham, whose most recent album, Revealer, won a Grammy for Best Folk Album. The annual Jazz Festival (July 27), presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center, is headlined by acclaimed 22-year-old composer, bandleader, and pianist Matthew Whitaker.
Caramoor’s stately all-weather Venetian Theater tent will also host several sensational performers this summer that are sure to draw a crowd. Two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, fresh off a 12-week run in the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, brings her show-stopping talent to the stage for a night of celebrating the Great American Songbook (July 13). With a reputation as one of the world’s foremost Beethoven interpreters, pianist Richard Goode will present a can’t-miss program of the composer’s three final piano sonatas (August 2). The next night, Pulitzer Prize winner and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient Rhiannon Giddens—renowned for her spectacular banjo and fiddle playing—will perform songs from her newest album, You’re the One with her band (August 3). Woodstock native Amy Helm’s beloved rootsy supergroup Ollabelle will also be reuniting for a tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their debut album (August 9).
Caramoor is also highlighting the power of the relationship between music and dance with two new large-scale movement-centered events. A new street-dance-infused production of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen from Les Arts Florissants (July 20) deliciously and dizzyingly blurs the boundaries between dancers, singers, and musicians in the spirit of its source material, a Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Caramoor debut of the renowned contemporary dance company, Mark Morris Dance Group, (August 1) seamlessly weaves together Morris’ extraordinary choreography with live music and compelling storytelling.
Anyone tuned in to the boundary-pushing work of contemporary composers will want to catch Brooklyn ensemble Sandbox Percussion’s world premiere performance of “The Jump Up!” (July 21). The free event, part of Upstate Art Weekend, welcomes volunteer percussionists from the community to join the performance as well. The accomplished string orchestra Sphinx Virtuosi—comprising some of the nation’s top young Black and Latinx professional musicians—also makes their Caramoor debut with their “Generations” program, which features music by today’s most compelling composers (July 7).
For lovers of orchestral music, there’s plenty on offer this season. The Knights return to Caramoor with jazz pianist and composer Aaron Diehl to perform Zodiac Suite by Mary Lou Williams, a landmark work of 20th-century classical-jazz fusion (June 30). Famed Cleveland period ensemble Apollo’s Fire will perform their program “Storms and Tempests,” which combines Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with “tempestuous arias” from Vivaldi and Handel operas (July 28). And Orchestra of St. Luke’s will be returning for two concerts this season. The Orchestra will be joined by celebrated classical guitarist Miloš for a performance of the beloved Concierto de Aranjuez by leading 20th-century Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo (July 14) and a collaboration with acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk that draws from Beethoven’s fourth and symphonic masterpieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Antonin Dvořák (August 4).
On top of the jam-packed slate of concerts, Caramoor also provides plenty of opportunities for visitors to explore the grounds and enjoy music in more intimate settings. For two hours before each performance, guests can explore the picturesque property or enjoy a pre-concert picnic with friends or family. Concerts for Little Ones offers world-class music and dance performances for kids and their caretakers on Friday mornings, and Recitals in the Music Room and Music & Meditation in the Garden provide an intimate setting for listening. Want to experience the property’s Italianate villa up close? Tours of the Rosen House and its famed Afternoon Tea are the perfect way to be immersed in Caramoor’s rich history.
For more information about Caramoor, the full summer season concert schedule, and to purchase tickets, visit Caramoor.org.
