A GALA EVENING CELEBRATING MICHAEL BARRETT
Katonah, NY ~ May 14, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Lois Cohn Associates
CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS THE 67th SUMMER SEASON WITH A GALA EVENING CELEBRATING MICHAEL BARRETT
PROGRAM FEATURES MENDELSSOHN’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM AND VIOLIN CONCERTO IN E MINOR, OP. 64
WITH VIOLINIST GIL SHAHAM
THE ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S LED BY ROBETO ABBADO
AND BROADWAY STAR BEBE NEUWIRTH
SATURDAY, JUNE 23 at 6:00 PM
KATONAH, NY – On Saturday, June 23, Caramoor celebrates the Opening Night of its 67th annual Summer Music Festival and toasts Michael Barrett, Chief Executive and General Director, for a decade of exemplary leadership with a festive gala evening. The event begins at 6:00pm with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres followed by a 7:00pm seated dinner provided by Great Performances. At 8:30pm in the Venetian Theater, violinist Gil Shaham opens the program with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Roberto Abbado, will continue the evening with selections from Mendelssohn’s masterful incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Tony and Emmy-Award winner Bebe Neuwirth will read excerpts of Shakespeare’s play to contextualize the symphonic piece.
This year’s Gala festivities will also include After Dark, which is a post-performance party where guests will be able to join Ms. Neuwirth and Mr. Shaham for dessert, specialty cocktails and dancing.
TICKETS
Tickets to the Gala evening start at $600; tables of ten are also available. After Dark tickets for concert and post-performance reception only are $250. For Gala information and reservations please contact events@caramoor.org, or call the Special Events office at 914.232.1492.
Tickets for the concert only are available through Caramoor’s Box Office at 914.232.1252 or online atwww.caramoor.org.
PRESS TICKETS
For press tickets, artist bios and/or images, please contact Brittnee Walker: 917.339.7183, bwalker@lcohnpr.com.
PROGRAM
SATURDAY, JUNE 23 IN THE VENETIAN THEATER
OPENING NIGHT GALA
Tickets starting at $600
6:00 PM – Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 PM – Seated dinner
8:30 PM – Opening Night Concert: Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Gil Shaham, violin
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Robert Abbado, conductor
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream (selections)
Post-performance reception After Dark to follow the Opening Night Concert.
ABOUT MICHAEL BARRETT
This summer, Michael Barrett will begin his tenth and final season as Chief Executive and General Director of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, where he has programmed and conducted world premieres, American premieres, and Caramoor commissions. Mr. Barrett assumed this position in 2003, built on an established reputation of more than twenty-five years of programming and performing experience in the arts. His responsibilities at Caramoor include the administration and year-round programming of the Caramoor International Music Festival, featuring acclaimed programs known for breaking down barriers between musical genres, reflecting today’s musical currents, and attracting internationally renowned performers. Mr. Barrett remains active with both NYFOS and the Moab Music Festival as Associate Artistic Director and Music Director respectively.
In 1988, he co-founded, with Steven Blier, the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), which presents thematic song recitals in New York City and beyond. In 1992, he co-founded the Moab Music Festival (MMF) with his wife, violist Leslie Tomkins. He is also an Artistic Advisor for the Estate of Leonard Bernstein, and from 1994-1997, he was the Director of the Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y in New York.
A protégé of Leonard Bernstein, Mr. Barrett began his long association with the renowned conductor and composer as a student in 1982 and continued to serve as an assistant conductor to the Maestro from 1985 to 1990. Mr. Barrett’s guest conducting engagements include: Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, Israel Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France among others. He also has served variously as conductor, producer, and music director of numerous special projects, including Later the Same Evening by John Musto and Mark Campbell, the world premiere of Volpone by Musto/Campbell at Wolf Trap;Hopper’s Wife by Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie at the Long Beach Opera, and most recently Lucrezia andBastianello – a double bill of one-act comic operas by William Bolcom and John Musto.
Dedicated to bringing music to children and their families, Mr. Barrett is active in the creation of new educational programs. With Jamie Bernstein, he has created over eight narrated young people’s programs for orchestra, ranging from American composers (Copland and Bernstein) to Latin music, and the European classics. These programs have been performed throughout the United States, Asia, Europe, and Cuba.
Mr. Barrett was born in Guam and raised in California. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He did post-graduate work at the Hartt School of Music. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter Emma.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
GIL SHAHAM, VIOLINIST
Gil Shaham, one of the foremost violinists of our time and Avery Fisher Award-winner, is sought throughout the world, appearing with the Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra just last season. In September 2010, he was a special guest artist for the Chamber Music Society’s season-opening concert at Lincoln Center and also appeared on PBS with Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic for Carnegie Hall’s 120th anniversary concert, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Shaham has recorded more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs that have appeared on record charts in the US and abroad and just released a new recording with his sister, pianist Orli Shaham, titled Hebrew Melodies, on his own label, Canary Classics.
BEBE NEUWIRTH, NARRATOR
Over the course of her distinguished career, Bebe Neuwirth has achieved extraordinary success in theatre, television and film. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut in A Chorus Line. She then appeared in Little Me, Dancin’, and Sweet Charity, for which she won her first Tony Award, followed by Damn Yankees and Fosse. Ms. Neuwirth won her second Tony, for her portrayal of Velma Kelly in Chicago and most recently starred as Morticia in the Broadway musical The Addams Family. Her work in film and television earned her two Emmys for the role of Lilith Sternin Crane on Cheers, and an Emmy nomination for her work on Frasier and for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in the TV movie Dash and Lilly. She has appeared in numerous films, including Say Anything, Green Card, Bugsy, Jumanji, Summer of Sam, Liberty Heights, Celebrity, and Tadpole. Her first solo album called, “Bebe Neuwirth PORCELAIN” has just been released.
ABOUT CARAMOOR
Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home – now known as the historic Rosen House at Caramoor – 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 Caramoor 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 public charity to open Caramoor to the community. 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 performing arts center located on a unique 90-acre setting of Italianate architecture and gardens in Westchester County, NY. It enriches the lives of its audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality. Its mission also includes mentoring young professional musicians and providing educational programs for young children centered on music. It is often described as “a Garden of Great Music”, where audiences are invited to come early, explore the beautiful grounds, enjoy a pre-concert picnic, and discover beautiful music in the relaxed settings of the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Music Room of the Rosen House, and the magnificent gardens.
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
Concert Venues and Gardens
Concerts take place in two outdoor theaters: the 1714-seat, acoustically superb Venetian Theater and the more intimate, romantic 558-seat 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 Iris and Peony Garden, which may be enjoyed on one’s own or seen on a guided tour.
GETTING TO CARAMOOR
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.
CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR A FULL FESTIVAL CHRONOLOGY:
https://caramoor.org/pdf/Festival_Listings.pdf
CREDITS
Performances are made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester with funds from
Westchester County Government.
Performances are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of
Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
The 2012 International Music Festival is supported in part by
an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
CARAMOOR CENTER FOR MUSIC AND THE ARTS IS LOCATED AT
149 GIRDLE RIDGE ROAD, KATONAH, NEW YORK.
ALL PROGRAMS AND ARTISTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
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