The Knights & Chris Thile
2025-07-20 16:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
The Knights join forces with mandolinist, composer, and singer Chris Thile for a program including his brilliant songwriting and storytelling, instrumental virtuosity, and ever-present sense of humor.

Artists

Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director and Conductor Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director and Violin Chris Thile, Mandolin and Vocals

Program

Philip Glass: Symphony No. 3 (Movements 1 and 4) Caroline Shaw: “And So” from Is a Rose J. S. Bach: Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043 (transcr. Chris Thile) Chris Thile: ATTENTION! A narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra

About the Artists

Chris Thile
Acclaimed Grammy Award-winning mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and MacArthur Fellow recipient of the prestigious “Genius Grant,” Chris Thile is a multifaceted musical talent, described by The Guardian as “that rare being: an all-round musician,” and hailed by NPR as a “genre-defying musical genius.” Thile is a founding member of the highly influential string bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek, and has collaborated with countless luminaries from Yo-Yo Ma to Fiona Apple to Brad Mehldau.

For four years, Thile hosted public radio favorite Live from Here with Chris Thile (formerly known as A Prairie Home Companion). With his broad outlook, Thile creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike, giving the listener “one joyous arc, with the linear melody and vertical harmony blurring into a single web of gossamer beauty” (New York Times).

Over the last year, Thile has been touring with Nickel Creek in support of the critically acclaimed 2023 release Celebrants, and captivating audiences with a playfully ambitious biographical composition entitled ATTENTION! (a narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra). Additionally, he has been focused on the production of a new musical variety show, “The Energy Curfew Music Hour.” Created with Claire Coffee and featuring Punch Brothers, season one is available on Audible and all podcasting platforms. Most recently, Chris debuted a new one-man show “The Manhattan Variations” in NYC’s Little Island about finding oneself in a little cocktail bar on the Lower East Side.

Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director/Conductor
Already well-established as one of classical music’s most exciting and innovative conductors, Eric Jacobsen combines fresh interpretations of the traditional canon with cutting-edge collaborations across musical genres. Hailed by the New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” Eric, as both a conductor and a cellist, has built a reputation for engaging audiences with creative and collaborative programming.

Eric is artistic director and co-founder of The Knights, the uniquely adventurous NYC-based chamber orchestra. The ensemble, founded with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, grew out of late-night music reading parties with friends, good food and drink, and conversation. Current projects include a multi-year Rhapsody project as well as a residency at Carnegie Hall.

Eric also currently serves as Music Director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as he continues to pioneer both orchestras’ programming and community engagement in new and exciting directions.

A frequent guest conductor, Eric has established continuing relationships with the Colorado Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Oregon Bach Festival, and the Dresden Musikfestspiele. Recent engagements also include concerts with the Omaha Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Grant Park Festival.

Eric brings joy, storytelling, and a touch of humor to what he describes as “musical conversations” that delight audiences around the world, including those who do not traditionally attend classical music concerts. Jacobsen is married to Grammy-Winner singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan and together they have a daughter.

Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director/Concertmaster
Violinist and composer Colin Jacobsen is “one of the most interesting figures on the classical music scene” (Washington Post). Since the early 2000’s, Jacobsen has forged an intriguing path in the cultural landscape of our time, collaborating with an astonishingly wide range of artists across diverse traditions and disciplines while constantly looking for new ways to connect with audiences. For his work as a founding member of two innovative and influential ensembles – the string quartet Brooklyn Rider and orchestra The Knights – Jacobsen was selected from among the nation’s top visual, performing, media, and literary artists to receive a prestigious and substantial United States Artists Fellowship. He is also active as an Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning soloist and has toured with Silkroad since its founding by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 at Tanglewood. As a composer he has written pieces for an eclectic mix of artists including pianist Emanuel Ax, singers Anne-Sofie Von Otter and Jamie Barton, banjo player Bela Fleck, mandolinist Avi Avital, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, choreographers John Heginbotham and Brian Brooks, theater group Compagnia de’ Colombari and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Starting in the 2022-23 season, Jacobsen assumed the position of Artistic Director of Santa Fe Pro Musica, an organization with which he has had a fruitful long-term association as a guest soloist and leader.

The Knights
The Knights are a collective of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music. Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs rooted in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery. The Knights evolved from late-night chamber music reading parties with friends at the home of violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Eric Jacobsen. The Jacobsen brothers together serve as artistic directors of The Knights, with Eric Jacobsen as conductor.

Proud to be known as “one of Brooklyn’s sterling cultural products… known far beyond the borough for their relaxed virtuosity and expansive repertory” (The New Yorker), the orchestra has toured extensively across the United States and Europe since their founding in 2007. The Knights’ roster boasts musicians of remarkably diverse talents, including composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers, who bring a range of musical influences to the group, from jazz to indie rock music. The Knights are celebrated globally, appearing across the world’s most prestigious stages, including those at Tanglewood Music Center, Ravinia Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, the Vienna Musikverein, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. The orchestra has collaborated with many renowned soloists including Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Béla Fleck, and Gil Shaham.

The Knights’ 2025-26 season at Carnegie Hall blends timeless tradition with bold innovation, in the orchestra’s signature style. Collaborators will include poet J. Mae Barizo, performing alongside The Knights in a reimagined presentation of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 3, and clarinetist Anthony McGill, for the New York premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s If love will not swing wide the gates, commissioned as part of The Knights’ Rhapsody project. The Rhapsody project, a multi-year commissioning initiative inspired by the 2024 centennial of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, continues through 2027.

https://theknightsnyc.com/

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Premium Lounge

Our Premium Lounge allows you to relax or connect with friends in our historic Pavilion Tent. Sip a complimentary drink or enjoy delicious small bites prepared by our local partners.

The Premium Lounge opens two hours prior to the scheduled performance. Access is available to patrons who purchase reserved seating for this performance. Additional details will be sent by email in advance of the event.

Seating Options

Seating for this Concert / This concert is general admission seating, with premium reserved seating available.

Garden Listening / For those who prefer a more casual concert environment, Garden Listening tickets are $20, and are free for Members and children under 18 years old. Enjoy a picnic, admire a starry sky, or relax with the family. Please Note! This ticket option has no view of the stage or access to the theater. The concert will be broadcast onto Friends Field with audio only. We ask that you bring your own seating for Garden Listening. If you like this seating option, check out all of the summer concerts that have Garden Listening.

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. However, this performance is under our fully covered Venetian Theater tent.

Make the Most of Your Time at Caramoor

Have an Afternoon Tea before the concert / Tea is served at 1:00pm in the Music Room of the Rosen House. The service includes a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with créme fraiche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Purchase tickets here.

Explore the Rosen House / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Timo Andres, piano
2025-07-24 19:00 - 22:00
Please note: due to forecasted extreme heat, this concert has been moved to the Music Room at the Rosen House.

Program

Robert Schumann: Canonic Etudes op. 56 (arr. Timo Andres) Timo Andres: It takes a long time to become a good composer Aaron Copland: Piano Sonata

READ THE CONCERT PROGRAM

A Note about the Program from Timo Andres
When I’m working to understand a piece of music, I find it helpful to think about its balance of complexity versus simplicity—which aspects operate on which levels, how do they relate to each other, how do they define the piece’s language and structure? My favorite pieces are usually a calculated mix of the two, rather than being all to one side or the other. This dialectic might be a useful way to approach tonight’s program, whose contents might, at first glance, seem only tangentially related.

Robert Schumann’s music is usually associated with a kind of hyper-Romantic emotional complexity, hinging on dramatic contrasts, idiosyncratic forms, and dense webs of personal and literary references. I’ve long admired his Canonic Etudes, in part because they play against these stereotypes so strongly. Composed originally for the Pedalflügel, a special piano fitted with an organ-like foot-operated keyboard connected to the bass register, the Etudes are beautifully understated studies in the contrapuntal possibilities enabled by two extra appendages (they are most often heard today in their four-hand or two-piano arrangements). All six etudes are, in fact, perfect canons, with the canonic voice sometimes at the unison and sometimes at the fifth, for a more fugal effect. Schumann’s steadfast commitment to counterpoint sometimes results in unexpected harmonic twists, yet the music never feels haphazard or underworked. Just beneath the wild Romanticism, Schumann turns out to have been every bit as rigorous a technician as Bach or Brahms; it’s just that he usually chose to emphasize the complexity of other aspects of his music. In the Canonic Etudes, he knew to keep the rhetoric simple: all are short, A-B-A forms with clearly-delineated and traditionally-phrased melodies and neatly resolved endings, relating to each other in shared attitude and compositional process, rather than any sort of overarching drama or shared themes.

When I composed the suite It takes a long time to become a good composer in 2010, I was thinking about Schumann. The piece is an attempt to fuse some of Schumann’s more radical structural ideas (the telescoping, nesting doll forms of pieces like Carnaval and Kreisleriana) with a pared-down, anti-virtuosic piano language derived from Copland and Stravinsky. The resulting music is, in some ways, less committed to structural rigor than anything I’ve written. I didn’t compose it with an overall through-line or process in mind. Instead, its developmental engine comes from its odd cocktail of jump-cuts and stylistic references jostling against each other. The core of the piece is its long central movement, Everything is an onion, which gradually surrounds a somber passacaglia with buzzing activity before dismantling it (fittingly) into layers. As the piece progresses, it moves generally from the idea of music as “material”—small, abstract chunks of harmony, texture, or figurations—to music as melody, and, finally, song. The effect is a gradual de-tensioning of the structure, a progressively freer interrelation of materials, like falling asleep directly into a strange dream.

It’s been remarked that the Piano Sonata represents Copland at his sparest, most severe, most aspiringly “modernist”; its language is all planes and angles, harmonies stripped to their essence, ornament eliminated. The sense of “placeness” associated with Copland’s music is absent here, or perhaps it places itself in an imaginary realm halfway between the American West and a 1920s Paris salon. The musical texture is notable for its absence of counterpoint, instead often focusing on unadorned melodic lines. Chords seem as though they have big chunks of missing notes, the yawning gaps between their intervals creating startling and uncomfortable dissonances. Tempos change frequently, and phrases fill uneven numbers of bars, cutting each other off without warning. Essentially, Copland has found the reverse balance of complexity and simplicity of Schumann’s; the richness of his Sonata lies in the contrast of its surface and its rhetoric. It communicates complex ideas in admirably clear language. The effect is dramatic, almost in a theatrical sense as if musical material were playing different characters (perhaps it’s not coincidental that the piece is dedicated to the playwright Clifford Odets). Sometimes the music is a dialogue, as it is between the right hand and the left in the second movement, and other times a monologue, in the long, discursive, ultimately tragic arias of the third. In the end, we feel as if we’ve absorbed a story much grander than the piece’s 23 minutes could possibly contain, full of vivid settings, plot twists, intersecting character arcs, and sharply-observed details.

About Timo Andres
Timo Andres is a composer and pianist who grew up in rural Connecticut and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Recent highlights have included a solo recital debut for Carnegie Hall and the world premiere of a piano concerto for Aaron Diehl at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by John Adams. Andres’s orchestrations and arrangements for Justin Peck’s 2024 production of Sufjan Stevens’s Illinoise completed an acclaimed limited run on Broadway at the St. James Theater following sold-out runs at The Fisher Center at Bard, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and at New York City’s Park Avenue Armory. For his work on the production, Andres was nominated for 2024 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

In 24–25, Timo Andres performs at Stanford Live with Conor Hanick, and at the Phillips Collection with Aaron Diehl. He also reunites with the Calder Quartet to perform his new piano quintet The Great Span in New York City for the People’s Symphony.

Andres continues with performances of Philip Glass’s Piano Etudes internationally; he is a trusted collaborator of Philip Glass, serving as advisor and editor of a 2023 edition of the Etudes published by Artisan. Andres performed these works last season at Lincoln Center, the Chicago Humanities Festival, the Music Academy of the West, for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, and elsewhere.

Notable works include Everything Happens So Much for the Boston Symphony; Strong Language for the Takács Quartet, commissioned by Carnegie Hall and the Shriver Hall Concert Series; Steady Hand, a two-piano concerto commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia premiered at the Barbican by Andres and David Kaplan; and The Blind Banister, a concerto for Jonathan Biss, which was a 2016 Pulitzer Prize Finalist.

As a pianist, Timo Andres has appeared with the LA Phil, North Carolina Symphony, the Albany Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Metropolis Ensemble, among others. He has performed solo recitals for Lincoln Center, and Wigmore Hall. Timo’s collaborators include Becca Stevens, Jeffrey Kahane, Gabriel Kahane, Brad Mehldau, Nadia Sirota, and—of course—Philip Glass, who selected Andres as the recipient of the City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize. He was nominated for a Grammy award for his performances on 2021’s The Arching Path, an album of music by Christopher Cerrone. Andres’s collaborations with Sufjan Stevens also include his May 2023 recording with Conor Hanick of Stevens’s latest album, Reflections; arrangements of ballets for New York City Ballet, and a solo piano album, The Decalogue.

A Nonesuch Records artist, Andres has multiple albums on the label, including 2024’s The Blind Banister with Metropolis Ensemble. A Yale School of Music graduate, he is a Yamaha/Bösendorfer Artist and is on the composition faculty at the Mannes School of Music at the New School. He was recently awarded the 2025 Stoeger Prize by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

andres.com

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. In the event of bad weather, this Spanish Courtyard concert will move under the Venetian Theater tent (with open-air sides) or into the Music Room (fully indoors).

Make the Most of Your Time at Caramoor

Explore the Rosen House / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Afternoon Tea
2025-07-25 13:00 - 17:00, 2025-07-27 13:00 - 17:00, 2025-08-01 13:00 - 17:00
Afternoon Tea was one of the English traditions Lucie Rosen, founder of Caramoor, enjoyed during her time living in England in the early 1910s. She kept up the practice of inviting friends and guests to tea for many years, using the time for conversation and for planning concerts and other social events.

Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity for you to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting, featuring a large portrait of Lucie herself. The service includes a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with créme fraiche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Please scroll down to see the menus we offer!

Harney & Sons has generously donated the tea for our Afternoon Tea program.

Rosen House Tours

Self-Guided Rosen House Tours (included with ticket) / Following the tea, you will also have a chance to visit select rooms of the Rosen House starting at 2:00pm, until 3:30pm. The rooms showcase fine examples of decorative arts from Europe and China including jade, porcelain, and textiles that the Rosens admired and collected.

Docent-Guided Rosen House Tours (additional fees may apply) / Preceding the tea, docent-led tours are available by appointment only; they tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to book in advance by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252. Advance Registration Required. Docent-led tours are free for Members and Children 18 & Under.

Menu

Adult Menu

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on a Mini Brioche Bun

Roasted Tomato, Ricotta, and Avocado on Crostini Toast

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Rye Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries in a Phyllo Cup

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Children’s Menu (suitable for ages 4–12)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roast Beef and Cheddar on Wheat

Ham and Swiss on Rye

Turkey and American Cheese on Rye

Mozzarella and Tomato on Mini Brioche Buns

Peanut Butter and Jelly on White Bread

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Dietary Restrictions: With advance notice at the time of booking, we are able to accommodate the following dietary restrictions: vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Please let us know if you have any severe allergies and we will do our best to accommodate. Please note, all foods are prepared off-site therefore we cannot provide day-of requests.

Vegetarian Menu

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Crostini Toasts

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Fresh Mozzarella, Pesto, and Arugula on Whole Grain Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Curried Vegetarian “Chicken” Salad and Arugula on Mini Brioche Bun

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Vegan Menu

Upon Arrival

Vegan Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Crostini Toast

Vegan “Chicken Salad” and Arugula on Whole Wheat Bread

Vegan Mozzarella, Tomato, and Arugula with Balsamic Vinaigrette on Crostini Toast

*uses nut-based cheese substitutes

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry

An Assortment of Vegan Dessert Bites

Gluten-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Gluten Free Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Gluten Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Gluten Free Bread

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Gluten Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Gluten Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Gluten Free Bread

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Gluten Free Desserts

Dairy-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Dairy-Free Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Dairy Free Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Dairy Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Vegan Cream Cheese, Capers, Dairy Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Dairy Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Dairy Free Bread

*Uses Nut-Based Cheeses

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Dairy Free Desserts

Takács Quartet
2025-07-25 19:30 - 22:30
Known across the globe for their unmatched artistry and expressive depth, The Takács Quartet returns to Caramoor for a thrilling performance that commemorates their 50th season as an ensemble. Winners of three Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, and the Wigmore Hall Medal among many other prestigious honors, the quartet will perform masterpieces by Haydn and Beethoven, alongside a new work – about the very beginning of time – commissioned by Takács.

Read the concert program

Artists

Takács QuartetEdward Dusinberre, violinHarumi Rhodes, violinRichard O’Neill, violaAndrás Fejér, cello

Program

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G Minor, H.III: 74, “Rider” Nokuthula Ngwenyama: Flow Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, “Razumovsky”

“Classical music doesn’t get much more life-enhancing than this.” – The Guardian

About the Takács Quartet
In recognition of its fiftieth anniversary, the world-renowned Takács Quartet was recently the subject of an in-depth profile by the New York Times and featured on the cover of Strad magazine. The Takács released two anniversary season albums in 2025 for Hyperion Records to glowing reviews. ‘Flow’ by Ngwenyama, composed for the ensemble, was followed by an album of piano quintets by Dvořák and Price with Marc André Hamelin. In August 2025 for Musica Viva in Australia, the ensemble plays a new work ‘Sonnet of an Emigrant’ for quartet and narrator by Cathy Milliken with texts by Bertolt Brecht.

Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill (viola) and András Fejér (cello) are excited about upcoming projects including performances throughout the USA of Mozart viola quintets with Jordan Bak and a new string quartet, NEXUS, written for them by Clarice Assad, co-commissioned by leading concert organizations throughout North America. The group’s North American engagements include concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Boston, Princeton, Ann Arbor, Washington DC, Duke University, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Cleveland, Phoenix and Portland.

The Takács enjoys a busy international touring schedule. As Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall, the group will present four concerts featuring works by Haydn, Assad, Debussy, Beethoven and two Mozart viola quintets with Timothy Ridout that will also be recorded for Hyperion. Other European appearances include the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Florence, Bologna and Rome.

The members of the Takács Quartet are Christoffersen Fellows and have been Artists in Residence at the University of Colorado, Boulder since 1986. During the summer months the Takács join the faculty at the Music Academy of the West, running an intensive quartet seminar. This season the ensemble begins a new relationship as Visiting Artists at the University of Maryland.

The Takács has recorded for Hyperion since 2005 and all their other recordings are available to stream at https://www.hyperion-streaming.co.uk In 2021 the Takács won a Presto Music Recording of the Year Award for their recordings of string quartets by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, and a Gramophone Award with pianist Garrick Ohlsson for piano quintets by Beach and Elgar. Other releases for Hyperion feature works by Haydn, Schubert, Janáček, Smetana, Debussy and Britten, as well as piano quintets by César Franck and Shostakovich (with Marc-André Hamelin), and viola quintets by Brahms and Dvořák (with Lawrence Power). For their CDs on the Decca/London label, the Quartet has won three Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, three Japanese Record Academy Awards, Disc of the Year at the inaugural BBC Music Magazine Awards, and Ensemble Album of the Year at the Classical Brits. Full details of all recordings can be found in the Recordings section of the Quartet’s website.

The Takács Quartet is known for its innovative programming. In July 2024 the ensemble gave the premiere of Kachkaniraqmi by Gabriela Lena Frank, a concerto for solo quartet and string orchestra. Since 2021-22 the ensemble has partnered regularly with bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro in a program featuring new works by Clarice Assad and Bryce Dessner, commissioned by Music Accord. In 2014 the Takács performed a program inspired by Philip Roth’s novel Everyman with Meryl Streep at Princeton, and again with her at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 2015. They first performed Everyman at Carnegie Hall in 2007 with Philip Seymour Hoffman. They have toured 14 cities with the poet Robert Pinsky, and played regularly with the Hungarian Folk group Muzsikas.

In 2014 the Takács became the first string quartet to be awarded the Wigmore Hall Medal. In 2012, Gramophone announced that the Takács was the first string quartet to be inducted into its Hall of Fame. The ensemble also won the 2011 Award for Chamber Music and Song presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London.

The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejér, while all four were students. The group received international attention in 1977, winning First Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. The Quartet also won the Gold Medal at the 1978 Portsmouth and Bordeaux Competitions and First Prizes at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition in 1978 and the Bratislava Competition in 1981. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Members of the Takács Quartet are the grateful beneficiaries of an instrument loan by the Drake Foundation. They are grateful to be Thomastik-Infeld Artists.

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. In the event of bad weather, this Spanish Courtyard concert will move under the Venetian Theater tent (with open-air sides) or into the Music Room (fully indoors).

Make the Most of Your Time at Caramoor

Explore the Rosen House / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Jazz Festival
2025-07-26 12:30 - 22:00
Tap here for artist bios!

The annual Caramoor Jazz Festival offers the ideal environment for a celebration of jazz in all its brilliance! This highly anticipated event is infused with life by phenomenal artists performing in every available space across Caramoor’s lush gardens and distinctive open-air stages. Make it a family day of musical exploration, and cap it off with an unforgettable headlining performance by Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Grounds open at 12:00pm, music starts at 12:30pm, headliner starts at 7:30pm.

We suggest bringing your own seating for the daytime performances, as all sets on Friends Field and in the Sunken Garden do not have seating. All sets in the Spanish Courtyard and Venetian Theater have seating provided. All daytime sets are general admission. The evening headliner performance is in the Venetian Theater with reserved seating only.

Evening Headliner

Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Daytime Artists

Jerron PaxtonObed Calvaire: 150 Million Gold FrancsLuther Allison TrioAdam O’Farrill & Maeve GilchristImani Rousselle QuartetCharles TurnerHannah GillDabin Ryu TrioSisonke XontiJazz House Legacy Band Pays Tribute to Sarah VaughanJazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy Big BandsJazz Chat with Seton Hawkins: A History of Latin Jazz

Schedule

Daytime & Evening Headliner Ticket Includes (Full Festival):

Reserved seat in the Venetian Theater for evening headliner, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

All daytime artist sets starting at 12:30pm.

The price of your ticket determines where you will sit for the evening headliner.

Daytime Only Ticket Includes:

All daytime artist sets starting at 12:30pm.

This ticket does not include concert tickets to Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

“O’Farrill has long furthered the tradition his father helped forge but also has deepened and broadened any notion of Afro-Latin jazz to embrace many cultures and stylistic possibilities.” — Wall Street Journal

About the Artists

Arturo O’Farrill
Arturo O’Farrill, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Arturo’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte.

In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music. Learn more about ALJA here: http://www.afrolatinjazz.org

In December 2010 Arturo traveled with the original Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra to Cuba, returning his father’s musicians to his homeland. He continues to travel to Cuba regularly as an informal Cultural Ambassador, working with Cuban musicians, dancers, and students, bringing local musicians from Cuba to the US and American musicians to Cuba.

Arturo has performed with orchestras and bands including his own Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O’Farrill Sextet, as well as other Orchestras and intimate ensembles in the US, Europe, Russia, Australia, and South America.

An avid supporter of all the Arts, Arturo has performed with Ballet Hispanico and the Malpaso Dance Company, for whom he has written three ballets. In addition, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company has in its repertoire a ballet entitled “Open Door,” choreographed by Ron Brown to several of Arturo’s compositions and recordings. Ron Brown’s own Evidence Dance Company commissioned Arturo to compose New Conversations, which premiered in the Summer of 2018 at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, MA.

Arturo has received commissions from Meet the Composer, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Music Project, The Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Young Peoples Chorus of New York, Columbia University and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Arturo’s well-reviewed and highly praised “Afro-Latin Jazz Suite” from the album CUBA: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) took the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition and the 2016 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. His powerful “Three Revolutions” from the album Familia-Tribute to Chico and Bebo was the 2018 Grammy Award (his sixth) winner for Best Instrumental Composition. Arturo’s album “Four Questions” (ZOHO) is the first to embody all original compositions, including the title track, which features the brilliant orator Dr. Cornel West. This album won a Grammy in 2021. Most recently, in February of 2023, Arturo was awarded his eighth Grammy for the album “Fandango at the Wall in New York.”

Arturo was Artist in Residence for The Greene Space in New York City, for which he created a four-concert series including a newly commissioned composition. The series title was “Radical Acts and Musical Deviancy.”

In 2020 Arturo’s weekly concerts with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, dubbed “Virtual Birdland,” top the list of 10 Best Quarantine Concerts in the New York Times.

Arturo is Professor of Global Jazz Studies and Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been honored as a Steinway Artist for many years, and is a Blue Note Records Recording Artist.

To learn more about Arturo O’Farrill, please visit his website.

Dabin Ryu Trio
Dabin Ryu is an award-winning jazz pianist and composer based in New York City, originally hailing from Seoul, South Korea. She boasts an impressive educational background, having graduated from renowned institutions such as Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Music (BM) degree, followed by earning her Master of Music (MM) from the Manhattan School of Music. Currently, she continues her musical pursuits as a participant in the Artist Diploma program at the prestigious Juilliard School. Throughout her illustrious career, Dabin has had the privilege of collaborating with world-renowned artists, including Ralph Peterson, David Virelles, Billy Harper, Jonathan Blake, Godwin Louis, Neal Smith, Rodney Jones, and Jaleel Shaw, among others. Her versatility and skill as a pianist have led her to lead her own band and contribute to various projects such as Ralph Peterson’s Next Gen Big Band, The SNJO, and Happi Medium, to name a few. Notably, Dabin shines as both a bandleader and composer, showcasing her talents in guiding musical ensembles and crafting original compositions. Her leadership has been exemplified through tours, most notably with the Dabin Ryu Quintet during their successful 2019 tour in Seoul, South Korea. Dabin’s contributions to the jazz community and her dedication to her craft continue to leave an indelible mark on the world of music.

Imani Rousselle Quartet
Imani Rousselle is a Texas-born vocalist with a love for interpreting and delivering the message of lyric. Whether covering jazz standards or contemporary compositions, her voice invites you to follow along as she fills the spaces between the silence with carefully crafted sound. Imani’s musical journey started at Concord Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas, Tx in the lambs ministry choir. As soon as children were able to speak, they were able to join the choir and this is where Imani’s love for music began. As she moved through the different church choirs, church leaders heard something powerful in her voice and she was eventually invited to join the praise team that led the choir and congregation in worship. During this time, Imani also sang in school choirs as well as the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas where she developed an affinity for European classical vocal music. She soon began attending the prestigious Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and became a leader in the choir while there. It was at Booker T. that jazz educator Kent Ellingson invited Imani to sing with the school’s award winning vocal jazz ensemble and thus began her exploration of jazz as a means of personal expression.

After graduating, Imani left Texas to attend Columbia College Chicago where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Voice as well as a double minor in environmental science and management. While in Chicago she was named a Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellow. It was in Chicago where Imani met Jackson Shepard, a fellow CCC student, and soon after joined his band, Human Bloom. Human Bloom has since performed extensively and released singles and an album that have gained lots of traction in the experimental/pop-fusion listening spheres, and are set to be releasing more music later in 2025. In Chicago Imani performed at the legendary Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill, Buddy Guy’s, Sleeping Village, Subterranean and others, becoming a deeply rooted part of the Chicago music scene.

Imani is currently based in New York City, having graduated the Manhattan School of Music with a master’s degree in Jazz Voice in the spring of 2021. At MSM she was under the amazing tutelage of Stefon Harris, Jean Baylor, Buster Williams, Marc Carey, Jo Lawry, Theo Bleckman, Ingrid Jenson, and Damien Sneed. Since moving to New York just a few months before the global shutdown, Imani has been able to sing on stages such as the world famous Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Clements Place, The Schomburg Center in Harlem, The Joyce Theater, The Jazz Club and more. Rousselle’s talents have taken her across the globe, most recently as the feature vocalist in the tour of SW!NG OUT spearheaded by tap dance phenom Caleb Teicher, and in LaTasha Barnes’ Bessie winning production of The Jazz Continuum. She has also performed alongside great musicians including Stefon Harris, Casey Benjamin, Marc Carey, Jaleel Shaw, Cory Henry, Ben Williams, Roger Boykin, Jon Thomas, Jillian Grace, Gabby Garo, and Domo Branch. Imani is now working toward the completion of several music and interdisciplinary projects, and is excited to continue performing and sharing in a world with renewed fervor for connection and creation.

Obed Calvaire: 150 Million Gold Francs
A Obed Calvaire, a native of Miami and of Haitian descent is a graduate with both a master and bachelor degree of music from one of America’s premiere private music conservatories in the nation, Manhattan School of Music. He received his bachelor’s degree in 2003, completing the undergraduate degree requirements in three years and receiving his master’s in 2005.

Mr. Calvaire has performed and recorded with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Seal, Eddie Palmeri, Vanessa Williams, Dave Holland, David Foster, Mary J. Blige, Stefon Harris, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Peter Cincotti, Music Soulchild, Nellie McKay, Yellow Jackets, Joshua Redman, Steve Turre, and Lizz Wright to name a few. He has also performed with large ensembles such as the Village Vanguard Orchestra, Metropole Orchestra, The Clayton Brothers, The Mingus Big Band, RoyHargrove big band, and the Bob Mintzer Big Band.

Currently, Obed Calvaire can be found playing with the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Dave Holland, Monty Alexander, Sean Jones, Yosvany Terry, Mike Stern among others.

Luther Allison

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina Luther S. Allison is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in both piano and drum set. As a sideman, he has performed on both piano and drums alongside Rodney Whitaker, Michael Dease, Etienne Charles, Greg Tardy, and is currently the pianist with Ulysses Owens Jr.’s Generation Y Quintet. In addition to being featured on several albums for Posi-Tone Records, he has also worked internationally as a clinician and performer in Mexico, China, Japan, St. Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago. Allison is currently on faculty in the Jazz department at The Calhoun School in New York, NY and the Brevard Jazz Institute summer camp in Brevard, NC.

Hannah Gill

Hannah Gill is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and performer based in Bushwick, Brooklyn in New York City. Currently signed with Turtle Bay Records, her debut jazz album “Everybody Loves A Lover” came out in September 2023. She has over 10 million streams on Spotify, and her YouTube videos have exceeded 22 million views. She has been covered by The New York Times, Teen Vogue, and NPR, among others, and has toured internationally with her own jazz band, Postmodern Jukebox, and jazz pianist Gordon Webster. While on tour, she has performed at legendary venues and Lindy Hop events such as the Sydney Opera House in Australia, l’Olympia in Paris, Jeju Swing Camp in South Korea, The Snowball in Sweden, Marian’s Jazzroom in Switzerland, and the Jazzablanca Music Festival in Morocco. When not on tour, you can catch her performing at Company XIV, a Baroque Burlesque Theater in Bushwick. You can also find her performing her original music as well as leading her jazz band all over the city. She can also be seen performing with various outfits in NYC, including The Hot Toddies, Gordon Webster and Friends, and The Glenn Crytzer Orchestra.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy Big Bands
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy is the premier high school program for advanced high school jazz students. This two-week program, designed and instructed by a select team of faculty, serves as a rigorous training institute for 42 of the most advanced and dedicated high school jazz students (grades 9–12). Students will apply by audition and participate in one of two big bands, perform in small combos, receive private lessons, and experience classes in aesthetics, culture, history, performance practice, and pedagogy. In addition to this educational component, the institute will also feature several public performances featuring the student combos, student big bands, along with the members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Bard College during the summer of 2025.

Seton Hawkins

Seton Hawkins is a prominent figure in the jazz world, known for his multifaceted roles as an educator, curator, and advocate for South African jazz. He serves as the Director of Public Programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he curates and oversees a variety of educational and performance initiatives. Additionally, Hawkins is the host of the “South African Jazz” program on SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel, showcasing his deep commitment to promoting South African jazz artists and their music. His academic contributions include teaching positions at institutions like Juilliard and Rider University, where he shares his expertise with the next generation of musicians and scholars.

Hawkins’ passion for South African jazz is further evident through his curation of the AfricArise record series and his involvement with platforms like southafricanjazz.org and africarise.bandcamp.com, which aim to bring greater visibility to this rich musical tradition. His work not only celebrates the genre’s history but also supports its contemporary evolution, making him a vital connector between global jazz communities.

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will run from 11:00am–7:30pm. It will then pause during the evening concert and will resume running at the end of the concert until 30 minutes thereafter.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. If there is dangerous weather, we will move all concerts under our Venetian Theater tent and/or in the Music Room of the Rosen House.

Explore the Rosen House from 12:30pm–6:30pm / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Thank you to our media partner for lending their support for this event.

Caramoor is grateful to the team at Jazz at Lincoln Center for their curatorial inspiration and collaboration.

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Bang on a Can Festival Ensemble plays Terry Riley's In C
2025-07-27 16:00 - 18:00
Please note: due to forecasted thunderstorms in the area, this performance will now take place under the tent at the Venetian Theater.

A specially-chosen ensemble of players from Bang on a Can visit Caramoor for a celebration of legendary composer Terry Riley’s 90th birthday with a dynamic spatial-specific performance of Riley’s minimalist classic In C, a magical music adventure designed for the grounds of Caramoor. This landmark piece, written in 1964, kicked off a revolution and introduced the musical style now known as Minimalism to a mainstream audience. The piece inspired many classical composers including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams, as well as those in the rock world, such as John Cale and Brian Eno.

3:00pm / Pre-concert conversation with members of Bang on a Can.

read the program

Learn More About Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is dedicated to making music new. Since its first Marathon concert in 1987, Bang on a Can has been creating an international community dedicated to innovative music, wherever it is found. With adventurous programs, it commissions new composers, performs, presents, and records new work, develops new audiences, and educates the musicians of the future. Bang on a Can is building a world in which powerful new musical ideas flow freely across all genres and borders. Bang on a Can plays “a central role in fostering a new kind of audience that doesn’t concern itself with boundaries. If music is made with originality and integrity, these listeners will come.” (The New York Times)

Bang on a Can has grown from a one-day New York-based Marathon concert (on Mother’s Day in 1987 in a SoHo art gallery) to a multi-faceted performing arts organization with a broad range of year-round international activities. “When we started Bang on a Can, we never imagined that our 12-hour marathon festival of mostly unknown music would morph into a giant international organization dedicated to the support of experimental music, wherever we would find it,” write Bang on a Can Co-Founders Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe. “But it has, and we are so gratified to be still hard at work, all these years later. The reason is really clear to us – we started this organization because we believed that making new music is a utopian act – that people needed to hear this music and they needed to hear it presented in the most persuasive way, with the best players, with the best programs, for the best listeners, in the best context. Our commitment to changing the environment for this music has kept us busy and growing, and we are not done yet.”

Projects include the annual LONG PLAY (Brooklyn) and LOUD Weekend (MASS MoCA) festivals; the People’s Commissioning Fund, a membership program to commission emerging composers; the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who tour to major festivals and concert venues around the world every year; recording projects; the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA – a professional development program for young composers and performers led by today’s pioneers of experimental music; Asphalt Orchestra, Bang on a Can’s extreme street band that offers mobile performances re-contextualizing unusual music; OneBeat, an acclaimed exchange program for American and International musicians; cross-disciplinary collaborations and projects with DJs, visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers and more. Bang on a Can has also launched an extensive public digital archive, CANLAND, including recordings, videos, posters, program books, and more.

Each new Bang on a Can program has evolved to answer specific challenges faced by today’s musicians, composers and audiences, in order to make innovative music widely accessible. Bang on a Can’s inventive and assertive approach to programming and presentation has created a large and vibrant international audience made up of people of all ages who are rediscovering the value of contemporary music.

To learn more about Bang on a Can and to see where they are performing next, visit their website.

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Please bring your own seating for this performance in the Sunken Garden.

Make the Most of Your Time at Caramoor

Explore the Rosen House / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Emanuel Ax, piano Leonidas Kavakos, violin Yo-Yo Ma, cellowith guest Nicholas Cords, viola
2025-07-30 19:00 - 22:00
Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma joins forces with his dear friends, violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Emanuel Ax, to bring the latest instalment of their “Beethoven for Three” project to Caramoor for a rare and thrilling appearance. Their program distills the essential elements of Beethoven’s musical language into the trio format for a presentation of his most iconic symphonies in arrangements that maintain the power and immediacy of his orchestral works.

Artists

Emanuel Ax, pianoLeonidas Kavakos, violin Yo-Yo Ma, cellowith guest Nicholas Cords, viola

Program

ALL-BEETHOVEN PROGRAM“Leonore Overture” (arranged for piano quartet by Shai Wosner)Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” (arranged for piano quartet by Shai Wosner)

Read the program notes

“We all feel that being able to participate in a symphony is such a wonderful thing to do. One of the things that has separated people since recording began is the categories that we put people in, in which chamber musicians, orchestra players, people who play concertos, people who do transcriptions, people who compose, people who conduct, are all viewed as separate categories with no overlap. That siloed thinking discourages actual creativity and collaboration between people. And so we feel that one of the things that is really important to do today is to actually go back to the first principles of music, the simple interaction between friends who want to do something together.” – Yo-Yo Ma

About the Music
In 1802 Beethoven wrote an odd letter to the music publisher Breitkopf and Härtel, thanking them for turning down the idea of putting out transcriptions of his music. “Concerning the arrangements of the pieces,” he wrote, “I am heartily glad that you rejected them. The unnatural rage now prevalent to transplant even pianoforte pieces to stringed instruments, instruments so utterly opposite to each other in all respects, ought to come to an end. I insist stoutly that only Mozart could arrange his pianoforte pieces for other instruments, and also Haydn.”

This is a measured statement of artistic philosophy, but in coming years Beethoven contradicted it regularly. For one example, his early Septet in E-flat, Opus 20, a minor work but the most popular thing he ever wrote, was issued as a piano trio. The reason had mainly to do with money. Transcriptions of pieces were regularly published in those days and later, for practical more than artistic reasons: if a work could be issued in multiple versions, its composer could be paid over and over for the same notes.

Later transcriptions of Beethoven in his lifetime were generally advertised as done by “the author himself,” but they generally were not. As his pupil Ferdinand Reis recalled: many pieces “were arranged by me, revised by Beethoven, and then sold as Beethoven’s by his brother.” Part of Beethoven’s annoyance in the letter above was because his brother Carl, acting as agent, had offered a transcription to Breitkopf without asking him. (Another occasion of Carl offering things to a publisher behind Beethoven’s back led to a public fistfight between them.)

So transcriptions are an old tradition in music, and they exist for various reasons. There is the art and aesthetics of transcription, and the economics of transcription. Multiple versions meant more income for the composer, but also more exposure of the work and more material for musicians, especially in a time when most music was played, often by amateurs, in private settings. In those days chamber music was never heard in public. If you had a good piano player in the house, having a string quartet arranged for piano trio was good material for your parlor concerts.

This concert has two familiar orchestral pieces arranged for piano quartet by pianist Shai Wosner: the Leonore No. 3 Overture and the Third Symphony, Eroica. Orchestral music boiled down to four players might come as a surprise, but there is a lot of precedent for that too. Several Mahler symphonies have been arranged for chamber groups. Works can also be reworked in the other direction, like Leopold Stokowski’s inflations of Bach organ works into grandiose versions for orchestra. Music is more malleable than we might imagine. What ended up as Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F minor went through a series of avatars, one of them for orchestra (which he contemplated but never attempted), and is published both in quintet form and in a version for two pianos. Schoenberg arranged Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G minor for full orchestra, partly just because, as he said, “I like this piece,” and partly because the quartet really does seem to reach beyond its medium.

There is also a tradition of works done with suggested alternatives, such as the Brahms Clarinet Quintet that the composer said could be done with viola rather than clarinet. On our program, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B-flat, Opus 11, was published as playable with either clarinet or violin on the top part. It’s a minor early work in three compact movements, generally neglected but entirely agreeable. One word for the trio’s spirited first movement might be the German gemütlich, which translates as an occasion of cozy, wine-enhanced good cheer among friends. Next comes a serene, lyrical, a touch poignant but still gemütlich slow movement. The finale is variations on a popular opera tune of the day, which led to the piece’s sometime nickname, Gassenhauer, which means “street song.” Starting with the perky and gay theme, the variations go on to be surprisingly forceful and diverse in the context of a generally unassuming piece.

The two transcriptions on the program are quite another matter, both of them condensing monuments of the orchestral repertoire. One of those, the epic Eroica, had a seminal impact on the whole of Western music to come. The number three on the Leonore Overture reflects the situation that over the course of the history of Beethoven’s sole opera, which included two thorough revisions, Beethoven wrote four overtures for it. No. 3 was actually the second written, and is the best known as a concert work. (We know the opera as Fidelio, but Beethoven preferred the original title Leonore, after its heroine.)

Why four tries for the Fidelio overture? The essential reason is that, on the one hand, Beethoven was determined to write opera because that was another genre that he wanted to master, and because if you wanted acclaim and profit as a composer in Vienna, opera was the best route. The trouble was, neither in temperament nor experience was Beethoven an opera composer. By the time Mozart reached his mature operas he had written a row of them in his teens, and he was fundamentally a man of the theater. Neither of those things applied to Beethoven. Nor did he share Mozart’s fascination with human foibles.

So, after Beethoven’s revisions and three failed attempts at an overture, the opera still has its issues in terms of musical and dramatic consistency, and in pacing. Fortunately, it also has some of the greatest music in all opera. In addition to his dicey sense of the stage, meanwhile, Beethoven didn’t want to write a conventional overture. As shown in Leonore No. 3, in the first three tries what he did instead was to write, in essence, tone poems that tell the story, from Florestan languishing in the dungeon dreaming of love and freedom, to the dramatic unveiling of the heroine, to the trumpet announcing the fall of the tyrant, to the triumphant conclusion. Finally, Beethoven realized that he was compromising his story by anticipating it, and anyway the pieces were too expansive to be overtures. In the final Fidelio overture he gave in to convention and wrote a showy curtain-raiser with little connection to the story.

In paring down a big, kaleidoscopic orchestral work the piano has the critical role, because it can cover and represent far more of the texture than a violin or cello. The goal, in this sort of endeavor, is to produce a piece that as much as possible sounds like it was written for that ensemble in the first place. As a pianist who has studied composition, Shai Wosner begins from that understanding. He’s helped by the fact that much of the overture is highly melodic, which can be well handled by the strings. The orchestral accompaniment to the melodies has to be turned into idiomatic piano writing. Here Wosner echoes the kinds of figuration you find in Beethoven’s violin and cello sonatas.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, Eroica, was at its premiere the longest, most complex, most intense, most ambitious symphony ever written. Essentially it set the model for most symphonies to come, showing that a work for instruments alone could have the emotional power, the drama, even the poetry of a literary work or a piece with voices. Much of that quality came from the inspiration: it was written as a symphony called Bonaparte. So it was based on the French conqueror, who in those years was the most powerful man in the world, after whom the Napoleonic age is named. A mighty theme demanded a mighty work, and Beethoven supplied it. When it was done, hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself emperor of France despite having declared himself a champion of democracy, a furious Beethoven scratched his name off the title page and renamed it Eroica, “heroic.”

From early on the complex, searching, surging first movement has been understood as a picture of a battle or a military campaign, with its main theme representing the Hero. Second is the aftermath of the battle, a mournful and profound funeral march. The return to life and joy is represented by a scintillating scherzo. In a series of variations, the finale transforms a simple dance tune into an eloquent evocation of human aspiration and triumph.

In transcribing such an essentially orchestral work for piano quartet, Wosner had to create a varied, intense, often two-fisted and virtuosic piano part to reflect the relentless searching quality of the music, particularly the first movement where nothing settles down, all is in flux. The result is not a feeling of a chamber piece, rather a work of epic scope for four people, all of them required to be outsized in their playing. With their celebrated history as chamber musicians and collaborators, this evening’s performers are more than up to the task.

— Jan Swafford

Jan Swafford is a prizewinning composer and writer whose most recent book, published in December 2020, is Mozart: The Reign of Love. His other acclaimed books include Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, Johannes Brahms: A Biography, The Vintage Guide to Classical Music, and Language of the Spirit: An Introduction to Classical Music. He is an alumnus of the Tanglewood Music Center, where he studied composition.

Caramoor is grateful to Boston Symphony Orchestra for permission to reprint the above program notes, which were originally written for the Tanglewood Festival.

About The Artists

Emanuel Ax, piano
Born to Polish parents in what is today Lviv, Ukraine, Emanuel Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. Mr. Ax made his New York debut in the Young Concert Artists Series, and in 1974 won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975 he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists, followed by the Avery Fisher Prize. In the 2024/25 season he will appear as guest soloist during the New York Philharmonic’s opening week which will mark his 47th annual visit to the orchestra. He will return to the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, National, San Diego, Nashville and Pittsburgh symphonies and Rochester Philharmonic. A fall recital tour will culminate in the spring in Chicago and his annual Carnegie Hall appearance. Additional performances include a special project in duo with clarinetist Anthony McGill, chamber music with Itzhak Perlman and Friends, and an extensive European tour. Mr. Ax has been a Sony Classical exclusive recording artist since 1987 and following the success of the Brahms Trios with Kavakos and Ma, the trio launched a multi-year project to record all the Beethoven Trios and Symphonies arranged for trio of which the first three discs have been released. He has received GRAMMY® Awards for his cycle of Haydn’s piano sonatas and for recordings with Yo-Yo Ma. In the 2004/05 season Mr. Ax contributed to an International EMMY® Award-Winning BBC documentary commemorating the Holocaust. In 2013, Mr. Ax received the Echo Klassik Award for Solo Recording of the Year. Mr. Ax is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds honorary doctorates of music from Skidmore College, New England Conservatory of Music, Yale University, and Columbia University.

For more information about Emanuel Ax, please visit his website.

Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Leonidas Kavakos is recognized across the world as a violinist and artist of rare quality, acclaimed for his matchless technique, his captivating artistry and his superb musicianship, and the integrity of his playing. He works regularly with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and plays as recitalist in the world’s premier halls and festivals. Kavakos has developed close relationships with major orchestras and has succeeded in building a strong profile as a conductor. Highlights of the 24/25 season in North America include a recital tour performing Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas, and recitals with Daniil Trifonov. Elsewhere, he takes his ApollΩn Ensemble on tour to Asia and conducts the Israel Philharmonic. He continues his partnership with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma in trio concerts at major European venues. In 2025, Kavakos will be the new Artistic Director of the classical music festival of the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, Korea. Kavakos is an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classics. Recent releases include Bach: Sei Solo and the re-release of his 2007 recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Enrico Pace, for which he was named Echo Klassik Instrumentalist of the year. He also released Beethoven for Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97 ‘Archduke,’ the third in a new series of Beethoven recordings with Ax and Ma. Born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber music masterclass in Athens, which attracts violinists and ensembles from all over the world. He plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivarius violin of 1734.

For more information about Leonidas Kavakos, please visit his website.

Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Yo-Yo Ma’s multi-faceted career is testament to his belief in culture’s power to generate trust and understanding. Whether performing new or familiar works for cello, bringing communities together to explore culture’s role in society, or engaging unexpected musical forms, Yo-Yo strives to foster connections that stimulate the imagination and reinforce our humanity. Most recently, Yo-Yo began Our Common Nature, a cultural journey to celebrate the ways that nature can reunite us in pursuit of a shared future. Our Common Nature follows the Bach Project, a 36-community, six-continent tour of J. S. Bach’s cello suites paired with local cultural programming. Both endeavors reflect Yo-Yo’s lifelong commitment to stretching the boundaries of genre and tradition to understand how music helps us to imagine and build a stronger society. Yo-Yo Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese parents living in Paris, where he began studying the cello with his father at age four. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, where he continued his cello studies before pursuing a liberal arts education. Yo-Yo has recorded more than 120 albums, is the winner of 19 Grammy Awards, and has performed for nine American presidents, most recently on the occasion of President Biden’s inauguration. He has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of the Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize. He has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2006, and was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.

For more information about Yo-Yo Ma, please visit his website.

Premium Lounge

Our Premium Lounge allows you to relax or connect with friends in our historic Pavilion Tent. Sip a complimentary drink or enjoy delicious small bites prepared by our local partners.

The Premium Lounge opens two hours prior to the scheduled performance. Access is available to patrons who purchase tickets in the top price level for this performance. Additional details will be sent by email in advance of the performance.

Seating Options

Garden Listening / For those who prefer a more casual concert environment, Garden Listening tickets are $20, and are free for Members and children under 18 years old. Enjoy a picnic, admire a starry sky, or relax with the family. Please Note! This ticket option has no view of the stage or access to the theater. The concert will be broadcast onto Friends Field with audio only. We ask that you bring your own seating for Garden Listening. If you like this seating option, check out all of the summer concerts that have Garden Listening.

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. However, this performance is under our fully covered Venetian Theater tent.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The Garifuna Collective - CANCELLED
2025-08-01 19:30 - 21:30
Due to flight delays, tonight’s performance from The Garifuna Collective is cancelled. All tickets will be refunded with no further action required.

If you are interested in donating your tickets to Caramoor, or receiving a credit for a future performance, please contact the Box Office at boxoffice@caramoor.org or 914-232-1252.

Like many of you, we were very excited to experience this performance from these wonderful artists and apologize to all for the inconvenience. For those who still want to see The Garifuna Collective perform, please consider attending their show tomorrow night — Saturday, August 2 — at the Bronx Music Heritage Center. For tickets and info, visit bronxmusichall.org.

Making a stop at Caramoor on their 20th Anniversary world tour, this multi-generational collective brings Garifuna’s soulful and vibrant music — a unique genre originating from the Garifuna people of the Caribbean and Central America, characterized by lively rhythms, call-and-response vocals, traditional instruments like the drum and maracas and storytelling lyrics that preserve their cultural heritage and history.

Full of surging seaside rhythms and yearning, soulful melodies that hang in the memory — BBC Music

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. In the event of bad weather, this Friends Field concert will move under the fully covered Venetian Theater tent. This is a large tent with open sides and seating already provided. You will no longer need to bring your own seating to this concert in this scenario.

Learn More About The Garifuna Collective
The Garifuna Collective has performed in over 30 countries in 5 continents and have been part of the most celebrated Garifuna albums of all time, including the critically acclaimed Wátina, recipient of the Womex and BBC World Music Award and voted by Amazon as the Number One World Music Album of All Time.

They are a seasoned collective of musicians from across different generations, with a dynamic that comes from of playing and traveling the world together, sharing their music and stories with global audiences. Their performances spark the history and soul of Garifuna culture into vivid life. While their recordings dip into the massive well of Garifuna songs to create new compositions — some of the singers in the band know hundreds of songs!

The group has maintained its strength despite incredible adversity but the history of the Garifuna people is one of struggle. The Collective take their place in a long line of ancestors, maintaining and growing the Garifuna cultural identity, in a conversation between generations and traditions.

To learn more about The Garifuna Collective, visit their website.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Claire Bourg, violin Jinhee Park, piano
2025-08-02 17:00 - 19:00
Renowned violinist Claire Bourg is enchanting audiences worldwide with her heartfelt artistry and dazzling virtuosity. A laureate of numerous competitions including the prestigious 2021 Luminarts Fellowship and the New England Conservatory Competition, she has graced the stages of many of the world’s premier venues as both a soloist and chamber musician. We are delighted to welcome this distinguished alumna of our 2021 and 2022 Evnin Rising Stars mentoring program back to the Music Room for her debut solo recital.

ProgramWolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 526Vivian Fung: BirdsongMaurice Ravel: Violin Sonata, Op.Posth.Johannes Brahms: Scherzo in C minor for Violin and Piano

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. However, this performance is indoors.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band
2025-08-02 19:30 - 21:30
Lyle Lovett makes his debut at Caramoor after decades of delighting audiences around the globe with his eclectic stylings and incisive songcraft. Backed by his 14-piece Large Band, he delivers heartfelt ballads and toe-tapping tunes, creating an atmosphere of warmth and authenticity.

Seating Options

Garden Listening / For those who prefer a more casual concert environment, Garden Listening tickets are $20, and are free for Members and children under 18 years old. Enjoy a picnic, admire a starry sky, or relax with the family. Please Note! This ticket option has no view of the stage or access to the theater. The concert will be broadcast onto Friends Field with audio only. We ask that you bring your own seating for Garden Listening. If you like this seating option, check out all of the summer concerts that have Garden Listening.

“Few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration.” — Pitchfork

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. However, this performance is under our fully covered Venetian Theater tent.

Make the Most of Your Time at Caramoor

Explore the Rosen House / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Afternoon Tea
2025-08-03 13:00 - 17:00
Afternoon Tea was one of the English traditions Lucie Rosen, founder of Caramoor, enjoyed during her time living in England in the early 1910s. She kept up the practice of inviting friends and guests to tea for many years, using the time for conversation and for planning concerts and other social events.

Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity for you to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting, featuring a large portrait of Lucie herself. The service includes a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with créme fraiche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Please scroll down to see the menus we offer!

Harney & Sons has generously donated the tea for our Afternoon Tea program.

Rosen House Tours

Self-Guided Rosen House Tours (included with ticket) / Following the tea, you will also have a chance to visit select rooms of the Rosen House starting at 2:00pm, until 3:30pm. The rooms showcase fine examples of decorative arts from Europe and China including jade, porcelain, and textiles that the Rosens admired and collected.

Docent-Guided Rosen House Tours (additional fees may apply) / Preceding the tea, docent-led tours are available by appointment only; they tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to book in advance by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252. Advance Registration Required. Docent-led tours are free for Members and Children 18 & Under.

Menu

Adult Menu (Subject to Change)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on a Mini Brioche Bun

Roasted Tomato, Ricotta, and Avocado on Crostini Toast

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Rye Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries in a Phyllo Cup

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Children’s Menu (suitable for ages 4–12)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roast Beef and Cheddar on Wheat

Ham and Swiss on Rye

Turkey and American Cheese on Rye

Mozzarella and Tomato on Mini Brioche Buns

Peanut Butter and Jelly on White Bread

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Dietary Restrictions: With advance notice at the time of booking, we are able to accommodate the following dietary restrictions: vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Please let us know if you have any severe allergies and we will do our best to accommodate. Please note, all foods are prepared off-site therefore we cannot provide day-of requests.

Vegetarian Menu

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Crostini Toasts

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Fresh Mozzarella, Pesto, and Arugula on Whole Grain Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Curried Vegetarian “Chicken” Salad and Arugula on Mini Brioche Bun

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Vegan Menu

Upon Arrival

Vegan Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Crostini Toast

Vegan “Chicken Salad” and Arugula on Whole Wheat Bread

Vegan Mozzarella, Tomato, and Arugula with Balsamic Vinaigrette on Crostini Toast

*uses nut-based cheese substitutes

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry

An Assortment of Vegan Dessert Bites

Gluten-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Gluten Free Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Gluten Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Gluten Free Bread

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Gluten Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Gluten Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Gluten Free Bread

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Gluten Free Desserts

Dairy-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Dairy-Free Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Dairy Free Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Dairy Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Vegan Cream Cheese, Capers, Dairy Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Dairy Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Dairy Free Bread

*Uses Nut-Based Cheeses

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Dairy Free Desserts

Orchestra of St. Luke's & Garrick Ohlsson, piano
2025-08-03 16:00 - 18:00
As the summer draws to a close, don’t miss the grand finale of our 80th season with Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year Teddy Abrams, celebrated for his vibrant energy and electrifying performances. Maestro Abrams will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in a captivating program featuring the incomparable pianist Garrick Ohlsson, who will bring to life one of Beethoven’s most powerful and poetic piano concertos. Join us to bid farewell to summer in spectacular style!

3:00pm / Pre-concert conversation with Teddy Abrams

“Maestro of the People … breaking the mold of modern conductors.”– The New York Times on Teddy Abrams

Artists

Orchestra of St. Luke’s Teddy Abrams, conductor Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Program

Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15

Intermission

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

Read the program notes

About the Music
CAROLINE SHAW

Entr’acte

Composer, violinist, vocalist, and producer Caroline Shaw became the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 with her groundbreaking Partita for 8 Voices. Today, Shaw is a sought-after composer/performer in multiple genres, including classical music, film and television scores, and contemporary popular music. She has received numerous awards, including several Grammys, and her work has been performed by leading musicians and ensembles around the world.

Shaw’s compositions defy the common belief that contemporary music is by definition obscure, esoteric, or comprehensible only to musical cognoscenti. Instead, Shaw creates music that appeals to audiences of all ages and backgrounds, with its fresh approach to established forms, accessible sounds, and moments of pure joy.

Shaw writes, “Entr’acte was written in 2011 [while Shaw was a graduate student at Princeton University] after hearing the Brentano Quartet play Haydn’s Op. 77 No. 2 – with their spare and soulful shift to the D-flat major trio in the minuet. It is structured like a minuet and trio, riffing on that classical form but taking it a little further. I love the way some music (like the minuets of Op. 77) suddenly takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass, in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolor transition.”

Although it is now often performed by string orchestras, Entr’acte was originally composed for string quartets, and specifically for string quartets with no prior experience playing new music. Entr’acte’s straightforward, expressive themes appeal to players and audiences alike and the piece has become popular with young ensembles. “People say [Entr’acte] is like a gateway drug for new music,” Shaw says jokingly.

Entr’acte begins simply, with a catchy repeated rhythmic motif. Shaw juxtaposes the Minuet’s signature ¾ rhythm with the less regulated, improvisatory quality of the Trio. When she composed Entr’acte, Shaw wanted the players to collaborate in the way the music unfolds; to this end, she provides detailed instructions in the score regarding how to execute certain passages. In the Trio, for example, the cellist’s part includes the following directions: “Notes with fall-off gesture are basically that. Slide down from the written pitch (which does not have to be absolutely exact, except where tenutos are marked), maybe a half or whole step, with a slight coming away. Like a little sigh.”

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op.15

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is a musical portrait of the composer in his 20s: a self-confident young man on his way to becoming the most sought-after musician in Vienna. As the 19th century dawned, Beethoven’s reputation rested on his skill as an excellent pianist who played for the most select audiences. Beethoven’s virtuosity also brought him many pupils, and his connections among the aristocracy and other important leaders in Vienna assured him entry into the most desirable strata of society. At this point in his life, Beethoven had had yet to make an indelible name for himself as a composer, and he bore little resemblance to the Romantic persona – deaf, iconoclastic, temperamental, and disheveled – most familiar to today’s audiences.

Despite its numeric designation, Beethoven’s C major piano concerto is not the first concerto he wrote, but the third, and was composed after the Piano Concerto in B-flat, known as No. 2; Beethoven caused this discrepancy in the numbering by publishing the B-flat concerto before the C major. Nonetheless, the C major concerto is clearly the more mature work; its overall substance and the rhythmic energy of its final movement reveal Beethoven’s emerging musical personality.

The Allegro con brio is confidently assertive, buoyed by trumpets and timpani. Humor characterizes the Rondo, whose rhythmic energy borders on rowdiness.

Of particular note are the two completed cadenzas Beethoven wrote for this movement, as well as an unfinished third. When performing the concerto himself, Beethoven improvised the cadenzas; the written versions were committed to paper some years after the concerto’s premiere.

Beethoven’s 1798 performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in Prague moved a fellow composer, Johann Tomášek, who remarked, “Beethoven’s grand style of playing, and especially his bold improvisation, stirred me strangely to the depths of my soul; indeed, I found myself so profoundly shaken that I did not touch my piano for several days.”

Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

“There are fewer things heavier than the burden of a great potential.” – Linus van Pelt, Peanuts

In 1853, Robert Schumann wrote a laudatory article about an unknown 20-year-old composer from Hamburg named Johannes Brahms, whom, Schumann declared, was the heir to Beethoven’s musical legacy. Schumann wrote, “If [Brahms] directs his magic wand where the massed power in chorus and orchestra might lend him their strength, we can look forward to even more wondrous glimpses into the secret world of the spirits.” At the time Schumann’s piece was published, Brahms had composed several chamber pieces and works for piano, but nothing for orchestra. Schumann’s article brought Brahms to the attention of the musical world, while at the same time dropping a crushing weight of expectation onto the young man’s shoulders. “I shall never write a symphony! You have no idea how it feels to hear behind you the tramp of a giant like Beethoven,” Brahms grumbled.

Brahms took almost 20 years to complete the Symphony No. 1. It is commonly supposed that Brahms was intimidated by the idea of writing a symphony worthy of the Beethovenian ideal (he was), and this fear kept him from finishing the symphony more quickly. However, this theory, on its own, does him a disservice. Brahms wanted to take his time, a reflection of the serious regard he felt for the symphony as a genre. “Writing a symphony is no laughing matter,” he remarked.

Brahms began composing the first movement when he was 23, but recognized he was handicapped by his lack of experience writing for orchestra. Over the next 19 years, as he continued working on Symphony No. 1, Brahms wrote several other orchestral works, including his groundbreaking German Requiem and Variations on a Theme of Haydn. The enthusiastic response to both works bolstered Brahms’ confidence in his ability to write effectively for orchestra.

In 1872, Brahms was offered the conductor’s post at Vienna’s Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of Friends of Music). This position gave Brahms an invaluable first-hand understanding of how the different sections of an orchestra interact. 23 years after Schumann’s article first appeared, Brahms premiered his Symphony No. 1 in C minor. It was worth the wait.

Brahms’ friend and critic, Eduard Hanslick, summed up the feelings of many: “Seldom, if ever, has the entire musical world awaited a composer’s first symphony with such tense anticipation … The new symphony is so earnest and complex, so utterly unconcerned with common effects, that it hardly lends itself to quick understanding … [but] even the layman will immediately recognize it as one of the most distinctive and magnificent works of the symphonic literature.”

Hanslick’s reference to the symphony’s complexity was a polite way of saying the music was too serious to appeal to the average listener, but Brahms was unconcerned. Uninterested in wooing the public with pretty sounds, Brahms declared, “My symphony is long and not exactly lovable.”

The symphony is carefully crafted; one can hear Brahms’ compositional thought processes throughout, especially his decision to incorporate several overt references to Beethoven. The moody, portentous atmosphere of the first movement, the short thematic fragments from which Brahms spins out seemingly endless developments, are all hallmarks of Beethoven’s style, as is the choice of C minor, a key closely associated with several of Beethoven’s major works, including the Symphony No. 5, the Egmont Overture and the Piano Concerto No. 3. And yet, despite all these deliberate references to Beethoven, this symphony is not, as conductor Hans von Bülow dubbed it, “Beethoven’s Tenth.” The voice is distinctly Brahms’, especially in the inner movements.

The tender, wistful Andante sostenuto contrasts the brooding power of the opening movement. Brahms weaves a series of dialogues among different sections of the orchestra, and concludes with a duet for solo violin and horn. In the Allegretto Brahms slows down Beethoven’s frantic scherzo tempos. The pace is relaxed, easy, featuring lilting themes for strings and woodwinds. In the finale, a strong, confident horn proclaims Brahms’ victory over the symphonic demons that beset him. Here Brahms also pays his most direct homage to Beethoven, with a majestic theme, first heard in the strings, that closely resembles the “Ode to Joy” melody from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. When a listener remarked on this similarity, Brahms, never one to suffer fools, snapped irritably, “Any jackass could see that!”

© Elizabeth Schwartz. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Schwartz is a musician and music historian based in Portland, OR. She has been a program annotator for more than 25 years, and provides notes to musicians, ensembles, and music festivals around the world. Schwartz has also contributed to NPR’s “Performance Today,” (now heard on American Public Media).

classicalmusicprogramnotes.com

About the Artists

Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frederic Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire which ranges over the entire piano literature ecompassing more than 80 concerti.

With Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Ohlsson returns to Carnegie Hall in the fall and throughout the 2024-25 season can be heard with orchestras in Portland, Madison, Kalamazoo, Palm Beach and Ft. Worth. In recital programs including works from Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin to Barber and Scriabin he will appear in Santa Barbara, Orange County, Aspen, Warsaw and London.

Collaborations with the Cleveland, Emerson, Tokyo and Takacs string quartets have led to decades of touring and recordings. His solo recordings are available on British label Hyperion and in the US on Bridge Records. Both Brahms concerti and Tschaikovsky’s Second piano concerto have been released on live recordings with the Melbourne and Symphony symphonies on their own labels and Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 with the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Spano.

A native of White Plains, N.Y., Garrick Ohlsson began piano studies at the age of eight at the Westchester Conservatory of Music and at 13 he entered the Juilliard School in New York City. He was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and the University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, MI in 1998. He is the 2014 recipient of the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music and in August 2018 the Polish Deputy Culture Minister awarded him with the Gloria Artis Gold Medal for cultural merit. He is a Steinway Artist and makes his home in San Francisco.

Teddy Abrams, conductor
Teddy Abrams, Grammy Award winner and Musical America’s 2022 Conductor of the Year, has been the galvanizing force behind the Louisville Orchestra (LO)’s artistic renewal since his appointment as Music Director in September 2014.

Following summer performances across Kentucky of the “In Harmony” tour – a multi-season initiative funded by the Commonwealth that takes the orchestra to every corner of the state – Abrams and the LO begin their 2024–25 season with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Louisville Chamber Choir, followed by Ray Chen performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, debut works from members of the 2024–25 Creators Corps, Valerie Coleman’s Concerto for Orchestra, and a staged production of Viktor Ullmann’s one-act chamber opera Der Kaiser Von Atlantis. Abrams also continues to be in high demand as a guest conductor, making his conducting debut this season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and returning to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he will be joined by pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic, and Curtis Symphony Orchestra.

In April 2023, Abrams premiered his own composition Mammoth with the LO and Yo-Yo Ma in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, and in 2024 his piano concerto for Yuja Wang won a Grammy Award. Abrams is now at work on ALI, a musical about Muhammad Ali; and—as part of the Emerson Collective Fellowship—an orchestral work that tells the story of the state of Kentucky, to premiere in the 2025–26 season.

Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) performs and produces in a variety of formats throughout New York City, including orchestral and chamber music series on each of Carnegie Hall’s iconic stages, programs focused on contemporary composers presented throughout the five boroughs, collaborations with Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center, a composition institute, and much more. Many of OSL’s performances are presented for free through its education and community engagement programs, reaching over 12,000 students and families annually with accessible, interactive student concerts, a thriving youth orchestra, and mentorship programs for emerging players. OSL built and operates The DiMenna Center in midtown Manhattan — the city’s only rehearsal, recording, and performance space built specially for classical music — where it hosts thousands of musicians and audience members year-round.

For more information and where they are playing next, please visit their website.

Seating Options

Garden Listening / For those who prefer a more casual concert environment, Garden Listening tickets are $20, and are free for Members and children under 18 years old. Enjoy a picnic, admire a starry sky, or relax with the family. Please Note! This ticket option has no view of the stage or access to the theater. The concert will be broadcast onto Friends Field with audio only. We ask that you bring your own seating for Garden Listening. If you like this seating option, check out all of the summer concerts that have Garden Listening.

Know Before You Go

Summer Season Shuttle / Take the FREE shuttle from Metro North’s Katonah train station to and from Caramoor! The shuttle runs before and after every summer afternoon and evening concert. There is no RSVP to get on the shuttle, it will be there when you arrive (in the parking lot side of the station). If it’s not there, it’s just making the loop and should be back within 5–10 minutes. The shuttle will start running 2.5 hours before the concert, and 30 minutes after the concert ends.

Rain or Shine / All events at Caramoor take place rain or shine. However, this performance is under our fully covered Venetian Theater tent.

Make the Most of Your Time at Caramoor

Explore the Rosen House from 2:00pm–3:30pm / Select rooms of the Rosen House are free to explore during our Open House hours. No RSVP is required; feel free to attend and discover more about Caramoor’s history and founders.

have questions? visit the q&a page

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

2025 Rosen House Focus Tour: Caramoor & World War II
2025-08-15 10:00 - 2025-09-19 12:00
In honor of Caramoor’s 80th anniversary season—and the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory—this year’s Rosen House Focus Tour is Caramoor & World War II. The joys and tragedies of the war years deeply impacted both the Rosen family and the Caramoor community. Without the events of 1941–1945, however, Caramoor would not be the special place it is today. We invite you to discover the personal experiences of the Rosen family and their friends, see artworks not usually on view, and hear about the wartime benefit dance under the stars, among many other stories.

Duration: Approximately 45 minutes.

Advanced Registration Required.Members and Children 18 and Under: Admission is free!

Time Slots:August 8, 15, 22, 29, and September 5, 12, 19: 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00.

Afternoon Tea
2025-09-05 13:00 - 17:00
Afternoon Tea was one of the English traditions Lucie Rosen, founder of Caramoor, enjoyed during her time living in England in the early 1910s. She kept up the practice of inviting friends and guests to tea for many years, using the time for conversation and for planning concerts and other social events.

Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity for you to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting, featuring a large portrait of Lucie herself. The service includes a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with créme fraiche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Please scroll down to see the menus we offer!

Rosen House Tours

Self-Guided Rosen House Tours (included with ticket) / Following the tea, you will also have a chance to visit select rooms of the Rosen House starting at 2:00pm, until 3:30pm. The rooms showcase fine examples of decorative arts from Europe and China including jade, porcelain, and textiles that the Rosens admired and collected.

Docent-Guided Rosen House Tours (additional fees may apply) / Preceding the tea, docent-led tours are available by appointment only; they tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to book in advance by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252. Advance Registration Required. Docent-led tours are free for Members and Children 18 & Under.

Menu

Adult Menu (Subject to Change)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on a Mini Brioche Bun

Roasted Tomato, Ricotta, and Avocado on Crostini Toast

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Rye Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries in a Phyllo Cup

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Children’s Menu (suitable for ages 4–12)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roast Beef and Cheddar on Wheat

Ham and Swiss on Rye

Turkey and American Cheese on Rye

Mozzarella and Tomato on Mini Brioche Buns

Peanut Butter and Jelly on White Bread

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Dietary Restrictions: With advance notice at the time of booking, we are able to accommodate the following dietary restrictions: vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Please let us know if you have any severe allergies and we will do our best to accommodate. Please note, all foods are prepared off-site therefore we cannot provide day-of requests.

Vegetarian Menu

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Crostini Toasts

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Fresh Mozzarella, Pesto, and Arugula on Whole Grain Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Curried Vegetarian “Chicken” Salad and Arugula on Mini Brioche Bun

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Vegan Menu

Upon Arrival

Vegan Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Crostini Toast

Vegan “Chicken Salad” and Arugula on Whole Wheat Bread

Vegan Mozzarella, Tomato, and Arugula with Balsamic Vinaigrette on Crostini Toast

*uses nut-based cheese substitutes

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry

An Assortment of Vegan Dessert Bites

Gluten-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Gluten Free Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Gluten Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Gluten Free Bread

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Gluten Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Gluten Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Gluten Free Bread

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Gluten Free Desserts

Dairy-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Dairy-Free Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Dairy Free Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Dairy Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Vegan Cream Cheese, Capers, Dairy Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Dairy Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Dairy Free Bread

*Uses Nut-Based Cheeses

Teas

Paris Black Tea

Palm Court Oolong Tea

Mint Verbena Tea (Decaf)

Blood Orange Iced Tea (Decaf)

Desserts

An Assortment of Dairy Free Desserts

Afternoon Tea
2025-09-12 13:00 - 17:00, 2025-09-19 13:00 - 17:00
Afternoon Tea was one of the English traditions Lucie Rosen, founder of Caramoor, enjoyed during her time living in England in the early 1910s. She kept up the practice of inviting friends and guests to tea for many years, using the time for conversation and for planning concerts and other social events.

Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity for you to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting, featuring a large portrait of Lucie herself. The service includes a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with créme fraiche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Please scroll down to see the menus we offer!

Rosen House Tours

Self-Guided Rosen House Tours (included with ticket) / Following the tea, you will also have a chance to visit select rooms of the Rosen House starting at 2:00pm, until 3:30pm. The rooms showcase fine examples of decorative arts from Europe and China including jade, porcelain, and textiles that the Rosens admired and collected.

Docent-Guided Rosen House Tours (additional fees may apply) / Preceding the tea, docent-led tours are available by appointment only; they tend to fill up quickly, so be sure to book in advance by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252. Advance Registration Required. Docent-led tours are free for Members and Children 18 & Under.

Menu

Adult Menu (Subject to Change)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on a Mini Brioche Bun

Roasted Tomato, Ricotta, and Avocado on Crostini Toast

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Rye Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries in a Phyllo Cup

Teas

An Assortment of Teas

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Children’s Menu (suitable for ages 4–12)

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roast Beef and Cheddar on Wheat

Ham and Swiss on Rye

Turkey and American Cheese on Rye

Mozzarella and Tomato on Mini Brioche Buns

Peanut Butter and Jelly on White Bread

Teas

An Assortment of Teas

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Dietary Restrictions: With advance notice at the time of booking, we are able to accommodate the following dietary restrictions: vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Please let us know if you have any severe allergies and we will do our best to accommodate. Please note, all foods are prepared off-site therefore we cannot provide day-of requests.

Vegetarian Menu

Upon Arrival

Cranberry-Orange Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Crostini Toasts

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Fresh Mozzarella, Pesto, and Arugula on Whole Grain Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Curried Vegetarian “Chicken” Salad and Arugula on Mini Brioche Bun

Teas

An Assortment of Teas

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Vegan Menu

Upon Arrival

Vegan Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Black Bread

Hummus and Roasted Veggies on Rye Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Crostini Toast

Vegan “Chicken Salad” and Arugula on Whole Wheat Bread

Vegan Mozzarella, Tomato, and Arugula with Balsamic Vinaigrette on Crostini Toast

*uses nut-based cheese substitutes

Teas

An Assortment of Teas

Desserts

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry

An Assortment of Vegan Dessert Bites

Gluten-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Gluten Free Scone with Crème Fraiche and Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Roasted Tomato, Avocado, and Ricotta on Gluten Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Cream Cheese on Gluten Free Bread

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Gluten Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Chive Cream Cheese, and Capers on Gluten Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Gluten Free Bread

Teas

An Assortment of Teas

Desserts

An Assortment of Gluten Free Desserts

Dairy-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Dairy-Free Scone with Jam

Tea Sandwiches

Curried Chicken Salad and Arugula on Dairy Free Bread

Avocado, Roasted Tomato, and “Ricotta” on Dairy Free Bread

Smoked Salmon, Vegan Cream Cheese, Capers, Dairy Free Bread

Cucumber and Mint Vegan Cream Cheese on Dairy Free Bread

Turkey Salad with Apples and Cranberries on Dairy Free Bread

*Uses Nut-Based Cheeses

Teas

An Assortment of Teas

Desserts

An Assortment of Dairy Free Desserts

Destination 39.3 Presents: Bedford Music Festival at Caramoor
2025-09-13 14:00 - 20:00
Destination 39.3 Presents: Bedford Music Festival at Caramoor is a celebration of live music and local community spirit, featuring a headlining performance by Big Head Todd and the Monsters. With performances set for Caramoor’s Friends Field and amidst our beautiful gardens and grounds for the first time, this festive day showcases a dynamic lineup of artists, food and drink offerings, and a welcoming atmosphere for friends, families, and music lovers of all ages.Early Bird and VIP tickets are available now. VIP tickets include concert tickets, access to an exclusive, covered area with food, drinks, and seating, and guaranteed seating for each performance in the event of rain. Tickets are free for all children under the age of 15. In the event of inclement weather, performances will take place in the covered Venetian Theater.

Schedule

2:30pm Rock & Roll Playhouse Plays Music of Grateful Dead & More for Kids ft. Color TV3:45pm Wendlo5:15pm Fantastic Cat7:00pm Big Head Todd and the Monsters

We are excited to feature local community restaurants serving the best food and drink at the Festival! Please support our local friends and leave any outside food and beverage at home for this occasion. Bazodee Street Foods Red Velvet NYCBark & Brine BBQMana ThaiPizza Girls Mexican Fiesta Taqueria Great Performances Concessions…and more to come!

VIP Section

Includes

Food & Open BarVIP Tented Lounge & BarPreferred ParkingReserved Priority Seating Area

Big Head Todd and the Monsters

Since their formation in the mid-’80s, Big Head Todd & the Monsters have continued to evolve and explore, moving beyond their Colorado club circuit roots to become one of the most adventurous, respected and durable bands in America. Through constant touring and a zeal to travel down new musical avenues in the studio, BHTM (as their dedicated fans call them) have honed their collective stew of influences into a trademark hybrid sound that’s immediately recognizable. Now, with Black Beehive, their maiden release on Shout! Factory (February 4, 2014), the quartet has made its most personal and poignant album to date, a collection of new studio tracks that, says co-founder and figurehead Todd Park Mohr, “allows us to truly reach our audience through the language of the blues.”

Recorded at Butcher Boy Studios in Chicago, Mohr’s hometown of the past seven years, and produced and mixed by Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Steve Jordan (whose previous production credits include John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke and Robert Cray), Black Beehive arrives a quarter-century after the group’s debut album, Another Mayberry, first put Big Head Todd & the Monsters on the map beyond their home base. Today, the original trio—Mohr on guitar and vocals, Brian Nevin on drums and vocals and Rob Squires on bass and vocals—along with keyboardist/pedal steel guitarist Jeremy Lawton, who joined in 2004, are still opening themselves to new possibilities even as they further explore their roots. “It has some contemporary elements that bridge a gap between alternative pop and traditional blues,” says Mohr about Black Beehive, whose title refers to the late British soul singer Amy Winehouse, the inspiration behind the album’s title track.

The band approached the recording in an old-school organic fashion, playing together in the studio, which Mohr describes as “a big open space,” and sticking to the basics. “I played resonator guitar on almost every song and most of the album is kind of simple: guitar, slide guitar, drums and bass,” he says. “We only had two guests on the album. One was Eddie Shaw, who was Howlin’ Wolf’s harmonica player for many years, and Ronnie Baker Brooks, who played guitar. And Steve Jordan played on almost every track—various things, percussion, rhythm guitar.”

Jordan, whose incredible career began when he joined Stevie Wonder’s band as a teenager, later going on to perform in the Saturday Night Live band, Paul Shaffer’s World’s Most Dangerous Band on Late Night with David Letterman, and backing John Belushi and Dan Akroyd when they toured as The Blues Brothers, has an unbelievable production roster but is also well-known as a drummer. A member of the John Mayer Trio, Jordan also toured and recorded with Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos, joined Eric Clapton for his 2006 European tour, and has also worked with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, James Brown and more.

Mohr first met Jordan through the legendary guitarist Hubert Sumlin, who died in 2011. “We were planning to have an 80th birthday party for Hubert,” says Todd, “and Steve was the musical director. When Hubert passed away it ended up being a tribute at the Apollo Theater: Eric Clapton and Billy Gibbons and Keith Richards—there were probably 35 incredible musicians at this thing. I was immediately awestruck by Steve’s command of the material and his understanding of it and his ability to get it done on short notice with all these people. I thought this guy would be an unbelievable producer for me to work with. I sent him some demos and he was up for it.”

As he began writing material for the album, Mohr drew from both his own life experiences and events in the news. The title track was written following Winehouse’s death. “I love her voice and her performances, and obviously her shenanigans were part of her persona,” says Mohr. Several other songs were also ripped from the headlines, including “We Won’t Go Back,” which Mohr penned about the 2010 Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East, and “Fear, Greed and Ignorance,” whose topical lyrics declare that it’s those three dishonorable traits that are “driving you America off the edge of the road.”

Not every track is quite so pointed, however. “Hubert’s Dream,” is a nod to the late Mr. Sumlin, while album opener “Hey Delila” is Mohr’s tribute to another blues giant, Memphis Minnie. “I happened to acquire a great example of her instrument, which was a 1941 Spanish National resonator guitar. Plus, she has an incredible life story,” he says. “Everything About You” is dedicated to NASA, who called upon BHTM to awaken the Discovery space shuttle crew with their song “Blue Sky” in 2011, marking the first time live music was ever used for that purpose.

Among the album’s other tunes, “Josephina” and “Seven State Lines” are what Mohr describes simply as “blues-based themes,” while “I Get Smooth” is “a comedy piece.” The cautionary tale “Travelin’ Light” is the story of lovers who “threw away our hearts and fled” and the moving “Forever Bonnie” is based on a true story of a “gentleman who got a love letter delivered to him 53 years later by the Postal Service.” Black Beehive also includes, as a bonus track, Big Head Todd & the Monsters’ burning take on the Jimmy Reed blues classic “Baby What You Want Me To Do,” a song that Jordan requested they cut.

For BHTM, Black Beehive serves as both a reaffirmation of the band’s roots and a step into the next 25 years. Founded as a trio in Boulder, Colorado in 1986, Big Head Todd & the Monsters quickly built a strong reputation on the local club circuit. As word of their soulful and intense live show traveled around the nation they found themselves filling larger and larger venues. BHTM have now played Denver’s historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre more than 20 times, and are embedded in the fabric of Colorado’s music scene.

Beginning with Another Mayberry in 1989, critics noticed what audiences at BHTM live shows already knew. The All Music Guide praised the “subtlety of Mohr’s lyrics” and his “individual world view.” But it was the follow-up, 1990’s Midnight Radio, that truly established the band as a creative force to be reckoned with. Its popularity led to a major label contract and the release of the platinum-selling Sister Sweetly in 1993. With subsequent albums such as 1994’s Strategem and 1997’s Beautiful World, the band earned a place among the top names on the jam band circuit, solidified by 1998’s Live Monsters, the first official concert recording by Big Head Todd & the Monsters. Riviera was released in 2002, followed by 2004’s Crimes of Passion, of which The London Times stated “American rock doesn’t get anymore classy than this.” Later that year, Live at the Fillmore was released to critical praise. All Music Guide called the release, the band’s first with Jeremy Lawton, “loud, proud, and full of righteous raw ambience.”

The band, which has always proudly controlled its own business dealings and marketing, gave away 2007’s All the Love You Need through their email list, radio stations, and magazines. Their ninth studio album, Rocksteady, followed in 2010. Said Examiner.com, “With Rocksteady, the Colorado boys prove they can sprinkle in a plethora of differing music styles and still rock.” 2011’s 100 Years of Robert Johnson, the album preceding Black Beehive, found the group paying tribute to the pioneering bluesman while performing as Big Head Blues Club (along with other notable blues legends, including B. B. King, Charlie Musselwhite, Cedric Burnside, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Sumlin, Ruthie Foster, and Lightnin’ Malcolm). The band toured behind the album with a few of the guest artists, marking some of the final performances by both Edwards and Sumlin. Mohr paid tribute to Sumlin in 2012 when he served as a featured artist at his tribute show at the Apollo Theatre.

With all of that history behind them, it would be easy for Big Head Todd & the Monsters to play the nostalgia card and fall back on past glories, but that’s of no interest to them. BHTM still performs, and devoutly loves, the material that first brought them to their fans – material they now approach with a fresh, seasoned perspective. “As a writer and as a human being there’s a big difference between being 21 and 47,” says Mohr. “Having said that, I think a lot of those compositions are still lyrically sound, even though it’s hard for me to imagine that I would have had the experience to write about the stuff I did. Obviously, I think the band has gotten better over the years because when you develop yourself you continue to improve, and I think we have improved musically. As a writer, I’m really pleased with where I’m at right now.”

“A lot of it had to do with my experience with the Robert Johnson project,” he adds. “That had a large impact on how I looked at music. For a large portion of my career, I’ve been trying to reproduce the success of Sister Sweetly, just as a touchstone of ‘this is a pop song, or rock-pop.’ Pop songs have pretty narrow rules when it comes down to it. Generally you need a chorus and a bridge. The blues material from Robert Johnson’s day, the prewar blues, was so fascinating to me because of the fact that it is pop music but there are no choruses. It’s a different way of having repetition and themes and a different goal for a pop song. The music is shared by everybody because it’s passed down through tradition. The whole spirit of what one is going for is radically different than pop and that really became exciting for me because I could see a new way to reach people.”

When Big Head Todd & the Monsters launch their extensive national tour behind Black Beehive in January—which will continue through the summer and hit most major markets—they will be honing the album’s ageless blues along the way, and simultaneously affirming their own longevity. It’s clear that they possess a rare musical wholeness that has not only survived for 25 plus years, but still has them looking forward to creating music together night after night. “The other guys have shown great support of my songwriting and what I’m able to do, and all of the band members bring a lot to the plate, both musically and as a unit,” says Mohr. “No one ever expects a band to last this long. We’re very, very lucky.”

FAQ
Q: Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

A: Printed or digital tickets will be your fastest way to enter. Your ticket will be checked after you park and enter the event area. Once checked in, you will be given a wristband, which allows for reentry to the Festival.

Caramoor has free WiFi for guests. Look for the Caramoor-Free-Wi-Fi network and click the check box to accept the terms to connect. If for some reason you can’t pull up your ticket, one of our box office staff members can print your ticket on site.

Private security and local police will be on hand to ensure the safety and security of all patrons.

Q: Where will I park?

A: Caramoor has plenty of parking, and parking is always free. Most parking areas are on grass lawns with some paved lots primarily reserved for accessible parking. Once you enter the grounds, our parking team will direct you to the right place. If you require an accessible parking spot, please display a tag on your windshield so you may be best directed.

VIP Parking is reserved for VIP ticket holders. You must display your VIP parking slip in your dashboard for access to this lot.

Q: Where will the performances take place?

A: All performances will take place on Friends Field. Please remember to bring a chair or blanket, as Friends Field has no seating. Note: there are picnic tables available for limited seating near Bedford Bites food vendors and Vendor Village shopping area.

Q: Is the show Rain or Shine?

A: Yes! In case of rain, all performances will be moved into the covered Venetian Theater, where seating is provided. In this case, food vendors will be located on Friends Field so they are much closer to the performance.

Q. Will food and beverages be offered for sale at the Festival?

A. Yes! There will be 10 local food vendors at Bedford Bites, as well as wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages. Outside alcohol and food will not be allowed on site for this event, as we encourage you to support our local business partners at this community event.

Q. Can we bring our own food and beverages?

A. No, guests are not permitted to bring their own food and beverages onto the grounds. At this community event, we encourage you to support our local business partners.

Note: Coolers and cooler bags will not be permitted on the grounds during the Bedford Music Festival.

Q: What is the difference between GA and VIP tickets?

A: VIP tickets include VIP parking, complimentary food and beverages, access to the VIP tent with a dedicated bar and lounge seating, and a priority seating area near the stage (on your own blanket or chair). GA includes entry to the Festival, which includes free parking in our lots.

Q: Can we leave the Festival and come back?

A: All ticket holders may leave and return to the festival throughout the event, though we expect parking to be busy throughout the day. You will need your wristband for reentry. For the best experience, please leave plenty of time for arrival and departure.

Q: Can I bring my dog?

A: Certified service animals to assist the person with a disability are always welcome at Caramoor. While we love animals, for the preservation of our grounds and the safety of other visitors, non-certified service dogs, and other pets are not allowed at Caramoor.

Q: Is smoking permitted while on Caramoor’s grounds?

A: To maintain the beauty and cleanliness of our setting, and to provide a healthier and better experience for all who visit or work at Caramoor, smoking and vaping is prohibited except for designated permitted areas. This pertains to the use of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, electronic cigarettes (or similar systems), and any other smoking device. Caramoor staff and volunteers will be able to direct you to the designated smoking areas in the parking lots.

Q: Where is Caramoor located?

A: Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, New York, 10536 in Westchester County. We are centrally located in the NY metropolitan region, approximately 40 miles northeast of New York City.

Q: How do I get to Caramoor?

A: It’s easy to get here by car or Metro-North train. We provide directions and more information on our Getting to Caramoor page.

Caramoor is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive Ken Jenkins.

All concerts made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Herb Fair & Market
2025-09-20 10:00 - 16:00
For 74 years, the Herb Fair has celebrated the many ways that herbs enrich our lives and promoted the knowledge and use of herbs through educational programs, research, and community engagement. This one-day event will feature an extraordinary roster of makers and artisans as well as an extensive program of demonstrations, talks, and workshops from leading herb experts. We hope you will join us in celebrating 74 years of the Herb Fair’s legacy, uniting herb enthusiasts, artisans, and families in a shared appreciation for nature’s gifts on September 20, 10:00am – 4:00pm. Rain Date: Sunday, September 21

Fair Highlights
Rosen House / Enjoy free Open House access to the Rosen House from 10:00am–1:45pm. Drop in to view select rooms and plenty of treasures! Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Rosen House at Caramoor is a work of living history. The Mediterranean-style House was built during the period between 1929 and 1939 by Walter Rosen, a Berlin-born, Harvard and New York School of Law-educated international banker specializing in railroads, and Lucie Bigelow Dodge Rosen, an independent, spirited, and highly intelligent member of a prominent New York City family.

Marketplace Treasures / Experience a diverse marketplace featuring fresh herbs, artisanal products, and herbal delights. Discover unique wares for the home, garden, and table, along with herb-infused gourmet foods.

Herb Table / Take in the bountiful Herb Table, expertly curated and featuring a selection of dried and fresh cut herbs including fragrant handmade items such as sachets, lavender wands and wreaths.

Educational Workshops / Engage in presentations and hands-on workshops led by experts. Learn about herbs’ versatility and their potential for enhancing health and creativity.

Baked Goods / Savor the taste of delicious baked goods, prepared by Herb Society members. Each treat is made with local herbs, bringing fresh and vibrant flavors to every bite.

Lovage Soup / Enjoy the Herb Fair’s signature Lovage Soup made with potatoes, leeks and broth flavored with lovage. Served with focaccia with local herbs.

Herbal Lunch / Enjoy a delicious boxed lunch featuring local herbs. Vegetarian and vegan options are available. Stay tuned for info on how to pre-order your lunch!

Enriching Activities / Delight in activities for the entire family, including a craft table for kids hosted by the Rye Arts Center where participants can make magic wands with a beautiful butterfly top and ribbons.

Free Presentations

Fantastic Fall Herbs & Perennials / 10:30am

Patrick McDuffee, Well-Sweep Farm​

Patrick McDuffee of Well-Sweep Farm, third-generation grower and plant enthusiast, will share tips on everything from windowsill herbs to striking fall perennials, weaving in native plants, family stories, and his own insights on medicinal herbs and unique plant uses, all rooted in his background in biology and passion for the natural world.

Indigo Dye Bath: Bring Your Own Indigo / 11:30am

Artist Maggie Pate

From India to Japan to Greece, indigo has been the foundation of century-old textile traditions. Artist Maggie Pate will offer a brief intro to indigo then give a demo of how the magic of indigo works. The class is designed for attendees to repurpose old items, cover up stained pieces, or create something original with new purchases. Bring your own freshly cleaned natural fiber items from home. No more than 3 items and no large items like towels or bedding please.

Cooking with Herbs / 12:30pm

Chef Christopher Hawver

Join chef Christopher Hawver for a vibrant and flavorful lesson celebrating the abundance of summer herbs, as he shares creative ways to infuse your cooking with the essence of the season—think aromatic herbed oils, savory salts, and delicious breadings for fish, chicken, vegetables, and more. Featuring garden favorites like thyme, tarragon, sage, chives, marjoram, oregano, basil, cilantro, rosemary, and dill.

Beauty, Nature & Culture of the Rose / 1:30pm

Photographer & Author Ngoc Minh Ngo

Acclaimed photographer and writer Ngoc Minh Ngo will discuss the enduring allure of the rose and her book, Roses in the Garden, exploring her passion for roses and photography, shaped by her experiences as a Vietnamese refugee in California, and highlighting the cultural significance and horticultural artistry of rose gardens around the world.

Old Paths & New Directions in the Herb Garden / 2:30pm

Horticulturist & Plant Historian Deirdre Larkin

Horticulturist and historian Deirdre Larkin will present a brief history of the long evolution of the herb garden as a distinct garden type, and a discussion of contemporary trends in its form and focus, drawing on her experience at The Cloisters, her work with the New York Botanical Garden, and her deep knowledge of historical gardening techniques.

Special Workshops

Kids Activity: Bundle Dyeing Cotton Bandanas | 10:00am – 11:00am

Education Center

Attendees will create a vibrant, kaleidoscopic cotton bandana to take home, using a unique steam-dye technique. In this hands-on workshop, each participant will design their piece with food scraps, flowers, and natural dye pigments, then bundle the fabric into a roll for steaming. After a 20-minute steam bath, the bandanas will unveil richly saturated, atmospheric patterns—each one completely one-of-a-kind.

Workshop / $45

tickets to the workshop

Creating with Cyanotype with Artist Julia Whitney Barnes | 10:15am – 12:15pm

Education Center

Julia Whitney Barnes will give a demonstration on the cyanotype technique along with an inside look into her process of creating Planting Utopia at the Shaker Heritage Society.

The workshop does not require any previous experience in cyanotype.

Workshop / $160

tickets to the workshop

Nature Journaling with Botanical Artist Wendy Hollender | 10:30am – 12:30pm

Rosen House Courtyard

This workshop will be an exploration of the practice of nature journaling to draw plants and all their components that will be growing in the gardens.

Please note: the cost of the workshop includes all essential materials

Workshop / $115

tickets to the workshop

The Transformation of Cacao with Chynna Dee Andrada | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Education Center

Learn to craft your own cup of ceremonial Cacao while exploring the holistic transformation of this sacred plant.

Workshop / $75

tickets to the workshop

Winter Ailments with Wychs Bloom Founder Christina Winters | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Education Center

Learn old witchy remedies for all your winter ailments– from sore throats to runny noses, respiratory illnesses to common colds, bronchitis to fever relief.

Workshop / $45

tickets to the workshop

Autumnal Botanical Printing Scarves with Artist Maggie Pate | 1:30pm – 4:00pm

Education Center

Attendees will leave with a luscious 100% silk charmeuse scarf that they will design and eco-print during the class.

Please note: the cost of the workshop includes all essential materials.

Join textile artist Maggie Pate in an introduction to eco-printing. Capture a moment in time with this seasonal workshop, as attendees will get hands-on experience transferring crisp prints of dye flowers and tannin rich leaves from the local landscape

Workshop / $125

tickets to the workshop

The Art of Herbal Bathing with Herbalist Elizabeth Gross | 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Education Center

During this workshop we will cover the basics of herbal bathing, including a step-by-step process for preparing your own herbal bath at home.

Workshop / $45

tickets to the workshop

In the Rosen House

Rosen House Tea | 11:00am–1:00pm

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Rosen House at Caramoor is a work of living history. The Mediterranean-style House was built during the period between 1929 and 1939 by Walter Rosen, a Berlin-born, Harvard and New York School of Law-educated international banker specializing in railroads, and Lucie Bigelow Dodge Rosen, an independent, spirited, and highly intelligent member of a prominent New York City family.

Filled with examples of fine and decorative Asian and Renaissance art, the House offers a number of treasures, including complete 18th-century rooms, originally from private villas and chateaux in Italy, France, and England.

$64 per person

Tickets to Rosen House tea

Marketplace Participants

PlatformJane D’ArensbourgExalted AlchemyDancing SpiritsSixteen SistersSaltbox PressClay StoryBat Flower PressC-Thru Lens PhotographyJunai Knitted Goods

Flying ColorsHaute Chocolate BrooklynSilke StoddardKelly & CoLisa Medoff DesignsMg by handA Taste of HoneyThe Branch ManagerCabbage Hill Farm

Clayton BasketsLumiere DoreeLindsay’s HandmadeOlga JoanSage CacaoWebb & Adam ProvisionsWychs BloomHudson Valley Garlic Growers

Boxed Lunch Pre-Order

Attendees will have the opportunity to pre-order a delicious boxed lunch featuring local and fresh ingredients.

Stay tuned for this year’s lunch menu and ordering instructions!

Additionally, onsite concessions including sandwiches, snacks, beer, wine, and soft beverages will be available.

Rosen House Tea
2025-09-20 11:00 - 13:00
Afternoon Tea was one of the English traditions Lucie Rosen, founder of Caramoor, enjoyed during her time living in England in the early 1910s. She kept up the practice of inviting friends and guests to tea for many years, using the time for conversation and for planning concerts and other social events.

Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity for you to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting, featuring a large portrait of Lucie herself. The service includes a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with créme fraiche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Please scroll down to see the menus we offer!

Thank you to Harvey & Sons for donating this event’s selection of teas, which have been curated by Kathleen McKenna Schoen, MS.

Kathleen McKenna Schoen, MS, holds a Masters in Nutrition from New York Medical College and CNS certification from The Certification Board for Nutrition Specialist.

For over 30 years Kathleen has been focusing on an integrative approach to nutrition beginning her career at New York Physicians focusing on overall health, diabetes, metabolic disorders and hypertension. Through the years she has been on the board of Better School focusing on improving the quality of school food, promoting farm-to-table programs and school gardens. In 2014 she co-founded ULIVjava in partnership with Martha Stewart to create a company that focused on healthy, great-tasting, organic coffee products that are infused with green tea and adaptogens. As co-founder and Chief of Development Kathleen created all ULIVjava products that were sold at Whole Foods across the country and many retail locations. Kathleen is now focused on serving the local community by working at The Community Center of Northern Westchester helping to reduce hunger for local families while teaching local residents nutrition and lifestyle changes to improve their health.

Through the years Kathleen has been certified with Mederi Academy in Mederi Care/ETMS in health optimization, botanicals and the treatment of many health conditions. She also trained with The American Institute of Integrative Oncology and has a Professional Cancer Coach certification.

Menu

Adult Menu

Upon Arrival

Food Menu to be Announced

Teas

Hot TeasOrganic Green with Citrus & GinkoOrganic Earl Grey SupremeLemon Herbal – Caffeine FreeIced TeaIndigo Punch Iced Tea – Caffeine Free

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Children’s Menu (suitable for ages 4–12)

Upon Arrival

Food Menu to be Announced

Teas

Hot TeasOrganic Green with Citrus & GinkoOrganic Earl Grey SupremeLemon Herbal – Caffeine FreeIced TeaIndigo Punch Iced Tea – Caffeine Free

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Dietary Restrictions: With advance notice at the time of booking, we are able to accommodate the following dietary restrictions: vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free. Please let us know if you have any severe allergies and we will do our best to accommodate. Please note, all foods are prepared off-site therefore we cannot provide day-of requests.

Vegetarian Menu

Upon Arrival

Food Menu to be Announced

Teas

Hot TeasOrganic Green with Citrus & GinkoOrganic Earl Grey SupremeLemon Herbal – Caffeine FreeIced TeaIndigo Punch Iced Tea – Caffeine Free

Desserts

An Assortment of Seasonal Desserts

Vegan Menu

Upon Arrival

Food Menu to be Announced

Teas

Hot TeasOrganic Green with Citrus & GinkoOrganic Earl Grey SupremeLemon Herbal – Caffeine FreeIced TeaIndigo Punch Iced Tea – Caffeine Free

Desserts

Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry

An Assortment of Vegan Dessert Bites

Gluten-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Food Menu to be Announced

Teas

Hot TeasOrganic Green with Citrus & GinkoOrganic Earl Grey SupremeLemon Herbal – Caffeine FreeIced TeaIndigo Punch Iced Tea – Caffeine Free

Desserts

An Assortment of Gluten Free Desserts

Dairy-Free Menu

Upon Arrival

Food Menu to be Announced

Teas

Hot TeasOrganic Green with Citrus & GinkoOrganic Earl Grey SupremeLemon Herbal – Caffeine FreeIced TeaIndigo Punch Iced Tea – Caffeine Free

Desserts

An Assortment of Dairy Free Desserts

An Evening Of Wine
2025-09-20 18:00 - 22:00
Wine Dinner 2023-2854Wine Dinner 2023-2929Wine Dinner 2023-2835Wine Dinner 2023-2902Wine Dinner 2023-2406

Overview

Join us in celebrating Caramoor’s remarkable 80th anniversary season while paving the way for more extraordinary music, art, and community to come. This special evening supports the staging of our Rosen House Concert Series.

Savor a 4-course gourmet dinner paired with rare and unique wines. Executive chef Mike Bagale, formerly of Michelin star restaurant Alinea, will present a creative and exciting menu to stand up to the bold wines from our donors’ cellars. The Stephane Wrembel Quartet will perform an intimate concert in the historic Music Room at the Rosen House. A silent auction showcasing other unique wines and experiences will run throughout the evening. Special guest, Pepe Raventós of Raventós i Blanc, 14th Generation Wine Maker, will join us to share his knowledge and one-of-a-kind wine.

Schedule

Throughout the Evening / Silent Auction of Rare Wines & Experiences6:00pm / Champagne and Hors d’oeuvres7:00pm / Gypsy Jazz Musical Performance by Stephane Wrembel Quartet8:00pm / Dinner by Executive Chef Mike Bagale

Wines to be Served

Champagne

Krug NV 163eme (Magnum)Dom Perignon Rose 2004 Raventós Mas del Serral

White

2000 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc De L’Orée (6L)1996 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet (6L)

Barolo

1952 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino Speciale (12.9L)

Red Bordeaux: Festival of Imperials (all 6L bottles)*

1982 Leoville Las Cases1982 Ducru Beaucaillou1982 La Mission Haut Brion1983 Palmer1990 Montrose

Dessert Wine

Chateau d’Yquem 2001 (Magnum)

*A selection of these options will be served – Vote on your top 3 with your RSVP!

Benefit Co-ChairsJim Attwood, David Barber, & Peter Kend

Seating is Limited / Cocktail Attire

For more information, please contact the Special Events Office at events@caramoor.org or 914.232.1492.

AN evening of wine tickets

$2500 per person, inclusive of dinner, wines, and performance. All but $300 is tax-deductible. All tickets will be held at the door. Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Payment for tickets may not be made through a donor advised fund. If you anticipate payment by a private foundation, please contact your legal advisor. Ticket purchases do not count toward membership. No refunds. Contributions are tax-deductible as provided by law.

About the Chef, Mike Bagale

Mike Bagale is the chef/partner of New York’s Sip & Guzzle, named 5th best bar in North America 2025 from the World’s 50 Best Bars. Under Mike’s operational and culinary leadership, Sip & Guzzle was likewise named a 2025 James Beard Award semi-finalist. Mike is also the founder of creative culinary consulting group Super Food Concepts. Prior, Mike served as the executive chef of Chicago fine dining institution, Alinea. During his eight-year tenure, the restaurant maintained three Michelin stars, and at its peak placed 6th best on the esteemed World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. In 2012, Mike became the first person in history to create floating food with Alinea’s famous edible green apple balloon. Though Mike is classically trained in French cuisine, his style and technique reflect inspiration from Japan, Mexico, and Thailand.

About the Performance, Stephane Wrembel Quartet

Stephane Wrembel is one of the most highly regarded guitarists in the world, specializing in the style of legendary composer/guitarist Django Reinhardt, a craft he learned among the great Roma musicians at campsites in the French countryside. This prolific musician, composer, educator, and musical director has released a steady stream of music since 2002, truly making his mark as one of the most original guitar voices in contemporary music. And while Wrembel is now considered one of the preeminent master guitarists in the world specialized in the Django Reinhardt style, he revels in transcending and expanding. His music incorporates jazz, blues, classical, swing, flamenco and rock.

“Perhaps the most creative improviser in Gypsy jazz today, Mr. Wrembel plays the guitar with a rich and colorful lyricism.” — New York Times

About the Viticulturist, Pepe Reventós

Dynamic, energetic and a lover of the world of wine and viticulture, Pepe Raventós joined Raventós i Blanc in 2001, but his association with the world of cava goes back to when he was young and spent his summers picking grapes at Sant Sadurní, where twenty-one generations of his family have lived since the end of the 15th century.

His life has been marked by social work, but above all by wine. From a very young age, he spent hours working in the fields at Saint Émilion, learning to produce red wine. He gained experience in producing wine with Didier Dagueneau in the Pouilly-Fumé AOC in the Loire Valley; Nicolas Chiquet in Dizy in the Champagne wine region, and Jean-Patrick Merignac in Saint Philippe d’Aiguille in Bordeaux.

Abel Selaocoe, cello
2025-10-05 15:00 - 17:00
Abel Selaocoe is a boundary-breaking South African cellist who’s redefining what classical music can be. This remarkable artist moves effortlessly between musical worlds, weaving together Western classical traditions with the rich musical heritage of Africa. He released his second album, Hymns of Bantu, this past spring, and at Caramoor Selaocoe will perform a program that includes New York premieres of new Caramoor co-commissions by Michel van der Aa, Ben Nobuto, and Selaocoe himself, as well as works by Colin Alexander, Joseph Dall’Abaco and J.S. Bach. His passion for making classical music accessible to everyone shines through in every note. Prepare for a concert that will challenge your expectations and open your ears to new possibilities.

Program

ABEL SELAOCOE: Pula (New York premiere, Caramoor co-commission)SOUTH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL: Senzeni NaBEN NOBUTO: Living (New York premiere, Caramoor co-commission)JOSEPH DALL’ABACO: Capriccio No. 5COLIN ALEXANDER: Alva’s RiffABEL SELAOCOE: Sefako (New York premiere, Caramoor co-commission)ABEL SELAOCOE: TshepoJOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Prelude from Cello Suite No. 3ABEL SELAOCOE & MICHEL VAN DER AA: Entanglements (New York premiere, Caramoor co-commission)

About the Artist

Abel Selaocoe
South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is one of the most captivating performers on the world stage today. With an irresistible energy, he has taken the world by storm since bursting onto the scene in 2021 with his BBC Proms debut. Whether with symphony orchestras, in iconic club venues or at major mainstream festivals, Abel combines virtuosic cello and vocal performance with improvisation and sweeps audiences along in captivating shows which blaze with creation, sending audiences home on a high.

Abel grew up in Sebokeng, where he first began learning cello with his brother at the African Cultural Organisation of South Africa (ACOSA) in Soweto. Abel’s affinity for the cello became quickly apparent and he continued his studies on scholarship at St John’s College before moving to the UK where he found a musical home at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In Manchester, he met the musicians who are now his most regular collaborators, and this has led to the formation of his bands, Chesaba and the Bantu Ensemble.

Abel has quickly amassed fans all over the world, who connect with his music on a visceral and deeply personal level. His debut album on Warner Classics Hae Ke Kae was released to critical acclaim in 2022 and his second album Hymns of Bantu was released on 21 February 2025, celebrating his South African heritage and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.

Abel plays a copy of a circa 1735 Montagnana, made by Robin Aitchison in 2020 with the generous support of the Alan Powell Trust.

To learn more about Abel Selaocoe, visit his website.

Sunset Yoga
2025-10-06 17:30 - 18:30
Join yoga instructor Jamie Griffin for a calming 45-minute Slow Flow practice in Caramoor’s Sunken Garden. Surrounded by flowers, soft grass, and the gentle sounds of evening birds, you’ll move with steady breath as the day winds down into sunset. Please bring your own mat for this small-group class, limited to 20 participants, designed to create a peaceful space for relaxation and renewal.

Sunset Yoga is a series occurring the first three Mondays in October.

Meet the Instructor /

Jamie Griffin developed her vinyasa yoga practice during college. After dancing for 16 years, yoga felt like the perfect way to continue building both strength and flexibility. Beyond the physical benefits, she noticed an amazing benefit to her mental wellbeing. In 2016, during her first year as an elementary teacher, she decided to become certified to teach yoga to children aged 2-12, and earned her 200 hour teaching certification at Rebel Yoga in Thornwood in 2024. She currently teaches weekly at Breathe in Chappaqua as well as subbing at a local gym. She enjoys making creative flows that help yogis of all ages expand and find their breath while also enjoying a positive environment and a great playlist.

Sunset Yoga
2025-10-13 17:30 - 18:30, 2025-10-20 17:30 - 18:30
Join yoga instructor Jamie Griffin for a calming 45-minute Slow Flow practice in Caramoor’s Sunken Garden. Surrounded by flowers, soft grass, and the gentle sounds of evening birds, you’ll move with steady breath as the day winds down into sunset. Please bring your own mat for this small-group class, limited to 20 participants, designed to create a peaceful space for relaxation and renewal.

Sunset Yoga is a series occurring the first three Mondays in October. Yoga mats are not provided, please bring your own!

Meet the Instructor /

Jamie Griffin developed her vinyasa yoga practice during college. After dancing for 16 years, yoga felt like the perfect way to continue building both strength and flexibility. Beyond the physical benefits, she noticed an amazing benefit to her mental wellbeing. In 2016, during her first year as an elementary teacher, she decided to become certified to teach yoga to children aged 2-12, and earned her 200 hour teaching certification at Rebel Yoga in Thornwood in 2024. She currently teaches weekly at Breathe in Chappaqua as well as subbing at a local gym. She enjoys making creative flows that help yogis of all ages expand and find their breath while also enjoying a positive environment and a great playlist.

Stella Cole
2025-10-17 19:30 - 21:30
Overview

Join us for a spellbinding evening with Stella Cole in our intimate Music Room. Her velvety voice and magnetic presence breathe new life into jazz standards and golden-age classics, creating a performance that’s both nostalgic and completely fresh. Though you might know her from her viral social media success (1.6 million followers and videos that have reached an astonishing 27 million views), nothing compares to experiencing Stella’s blend of musical brilliance, elegance, and charm in person. Stella Cole will be accompanied by pianist Michael Kanan.

After the performance, mix and mingle with other supporters at our wine, cheese and dessert reception in the opulent and elegant Formal Dining Room.At this and every Cabaret in the Music Room event for the past 26 years, Caramoor proudly honors Adela and Lawrence Elow for their dedication to preserving and sustaining the Great American Songbook canon. Over the years, the Elows have been steadfast Caramoor supporters, providing funding for upgraded lighting in the historic Music Room and creating the Adela and Lawrence Elow Fund for the Great American Songbook: 1900–1960. Since 1999, their visionary contributions have helped bring today’s best interpreters of these timeless songs to Caramoor’s Music Room through this annual Cabaret Benefit.

Please note, as this is a Benefit Event, there are no refunds or ticket exchanges. If you are unable to use your tickets, they will be converted to a contribution in support of Caramoor’s American Songbook programming.

About the Artist

Stella Cole
Beginning with an impromptu a cappella clip of “Over the Rainbow,” Stella Cole has become a global viral sensation for simply doing what she has been passionate about her whole life – singing songs from the Great American Songbook.

Stella’s enduring influence as a viral artist and live performer lays a promising foundation – and gives her an eager built-in audience – for her highly anticipated self-titled debut album, an exquisite collection produced by Matt Pierson.

True to her eclectic tastes, Stella Cole features both very familiar and delightfully obscure Songbook tunes including “Over the Rainbow,” “(Love Is) The Tender Trap,” the Judy Garland classic “The Boy Next Door,” the Streisand-inspired “When the Sun Comes Out,” “Detour Ahead” and “Moon River,” the iconic Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer tune she has chosen as the album’s lead single.

To learn more about Stella Cole, visit her website.

Raphaël Feuillâtre, guitar
2025-10-26 15:00 - 17:00
Guitar sensation Raphaël Feuillâtre is rapidly becoming the new voice of classical guitar. Since winning the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America competition in 2018, this Djibouti-born French virtuoso has dazzled audiences from Carnegie Hall to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and through his prolific recording career on Deutsche Grammophon. His most recent album, Spanish Serenades, showcases the many Latin faces of the guitar, and forms the core of his Caramoor program combining popular rhythms, choreographic bounce and sophisticated counterpoint.

Program

LATIN PASSIONS

FRANCISCO TÁRREGA: Caprice arabeFRANCISCO TÁRREGA: Prelude No. 18 in D MajorISAAC ALBÉNIZ: Torre BermejaFRANCISCO TÁRREGA: Recuerdos de la AlhambraISAAC ALBÉNIZ: Asturias “Leyenda” (from Suite española No. 1, Op. 47)MIGUEL LLOBET SOLÉS: El Testament d’AmeliaISAAC ALBÉNIZ: Capricho Catalan DOMENICO SCARLATTI: Sonata in D Major, K. 492MIGUEL LLOBET SOLÉS: Variations on a theme of Sor (La Folia)AUGUSTÍN BARRIOS: Mazurka AppassionataANTONIO LAURO: Valse No. 3ANTONIO LAURO: Ana Florencia (Canción de Cuna)LEO BROUWER: from El Decamerón Negro: 2nd movement: La hudia de los amentos por el valle de loSERGIO ASSAD: Caterete (from Suite brasileira No. 4)HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS: Brazilian Popular Suite HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS: Etude No. 12 in A MinorASTOR PIAZZOLLA: Inverno Porteño ROLAND DYENS: Clown Down (Gismonti at the Circus)

READ ThE PROGRAM NOTES

About the Artist

Raphaël Feuillâtre
Winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America competition in 2018 (USA) and ADAMI’s “Classical Revelation 2021”, Raphaël was chosen as an exclusive artist by the label Deutsche Grammophon in 2022. He is, to date, one of the very few guitarists to have signed with this legendary label. This fruitful collaboration gave birth to a first single “Les Barricades Mystérieuses”, soon followed by his debut album “Visages Baroques” in 2023, which displays different facets of the Baroque aesthetic.

Following his acclaimed debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 2023, he has performed in the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals – including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the “Folle Journée” in Nantes, and the Beethoven Haus in Bonn – as well as at major guitar events such as the Festival International de Guitare de Paris, the Festival Guitarras del Mundo in Argentina, and the Changsha International Guitar Festival in China.

Born in Djibouti in 1996, Raphaël was introduced to the guitar by his first teacher, Hacène Addadi, before joining Michel Grizard‘s class at the Conservatoire de Nantes in 2012. Three years later, he entered the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the classes of Roland Dyens and Tristan Manoukian. During this period, he was mentored by Judicaël Perroy, who played an essential role in his artistic development.

Driven by a desire to pass on his passion for music and the guitar, Raphaël teaches at the Pôle Supérieur de Bretagne and is co-founder of the Lille Guitar Academy, a summer academy for guitarists. Students from all over the world receive his guidance at masterclasses given at the San Francisco Conservatory, the Manhattan School in New York and the Haute École de Musique in Geneva. He is also involved in projects to raise awareness of the arts, particularly following a tour in the USA during which he took part in several activities in schools and prisons.

Raphaël Feuillâtre is supported by Savarez, a historic string-manufacturing company founded in 1770, and plays a guitar by Australian luthier Greg Smallman.

To learn more about Raphaël Feuillâtre, visit his website.

Evnin Rising Stars
2025-11-01 15:00 - 17:00
Young artists from Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars mentoring program perform in a pair of afternoon concerts for which the program’s Artistic Director, cellist Marcy Rosen, is joined by distinguished artists Ani Kavafian, violin, and Becca Albers, viola. These concerts are the capstone of a weeklong residency at Caramoor in which these young musicians participate in workshops, reading sessions, and ensemble rehearsals, culminating in live performances with their mentors. Since 1992, this program has identified some of the finest musicians of the next generation and helped them cross the threshold from their student years into the early stages of a professional career.

Tickets are free for Ages 18 and Under.

Artists

Artistic DirectorMarcy Rosen, cello Distinguished ArtistsAni Kavafian, violin Rebecca Albers, viola

Rising StarsIsabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin Clara Neubauer, violin Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, violin Samuel Rosenthal, viola Luther Warren, viola Annie Jacobs-Perkins, cello Leland Ko, cello Evren Ozel, piano

Program

LUIGI BOCCHERINI: Quintet in D minor, G. 280, Op. 13, No. 4ALBERTO GINASTERA: String Quartet No. 1 JOHANNES BRAHMS: Piano Quartet in A Major

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES

Learn more about The Evnin Rising Stars Program

About the Artistic Director

Marcy Rosen, cello
Marcy Rosen, cellist, has established herself as one of the most important and respected artists of our day. Los Angeles Times music critic Herbert Glass has called her “one of the intimate art’s abiding treasures” and The New Yorker Magazine deemed her “a New York legend of the cello.” She has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South America, Switzerland, and throughout the United States. Sought after for her riveting and informative master classes, she has been a guest of the Curtis Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, and the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia.

Rosen was a founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, which toured worldwide for 31 years. Since 1986, she has served as Artistic Director of Chesapeake Music in Maryland. Since first attending the Marlboro Music Festival in 1975, she has participated in 25 Musicians from Marlboro tours, including concerts celebrating the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the festival.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Rosen is currently a professor of cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, while also serving as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Live concert series. She is on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York City.

About the Distinguished Artists

Ani Kavafian, violin
Violinist Ani Kavafian continues, to enjoy a prolific career as a recitalist, chamber musician and professor. She has performed with many of America’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and many others. Her numerous solo recital engagements include performances at New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully halls, as well as in major venues across the country. In 2025-2026, Kavafian will continue her longtime association as an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Having taught at Mannes College, Manhattan School of Music, McGill University and at Stony Brook University, she became a full professor of Violin at Yale University in 2006 and is now the coordinator of Strings. In 2024 Kavafian received the prestigious Samuel Simons Sanford Medal for Distinguished Service to Music from Yale University.

Kavafian has received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions award. She is president of the YCA alumni association. She has appeared at the White House on three separate occasions, and has been featured on many network and PBS television music specials. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia, Arabesque, and Delos labels.

Rebecca Albers, viola
Rebecca Albers is the Principal Violist of the Minnesota Orchestra. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She made her New York debut at Lincoln Center performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto, and in January 2026 she will perform the U.S. premiere of Donghoon Shin’s viola concerto, Threadsuns, with the Minnesota Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Albers has been a frequent performer at such festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Society‘s Summer and Winter Festivals, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and the International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove. She is a member of Accordo, a Twin Cities-based chamber ensemble comprised of principal players from the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. She is on the viola faculties of Mercer University’s Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the University of Minnesota, and she previously taught at the University of Michigan, in The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, and at such summer programs as the Perlman Music Program and the North American Viola Institute. Albers studied at The Juilliard School with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang. Her childhood teachers were James Maurer, and her mother, Ellie LeRoux.

About the Rising Stars

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin
American violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger is praised for her imaginative performances and her ability to communicate with sincere artistry. Based in New York City, she is ﬁrst violinist of the Aeolus Quartet and a recent graduate of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program.

An avid chamber musician, Durrenberger is recognized for her unique collaborative instincts. Recent engagements include concerts with Boston Chamber Music Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, Jupiter Chamber Players, The Knights, A Far Cry, and Marlboro Music Fes9val.

Durrenberger grew up in a musical home in Columbus, Ohio, and began playing piano at age four, beginning violin lessons three years later. At age 13, she began her studies with Jaime Laredo at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She attended Meadowmount School of Music for four years, graduated from high school a year early, and at age 16 began her undergraduate program in Cleveland where she continued receiving mentorship from Laredo. Other inﬂuences include Jennifer Koh, Sharon Robinson, Joan Kwuon, Jinjoo Cho, Jan Mark Sloman, and Jun Kim. In 2022, she completed her graduate studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Soovin Kim and Don Weilerstein.

Durrenberger has a private violin studio in New York City and serves on the violin faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, where she teaches violin and coaches chamber music. Durrenberger performs on a 2020 Zygmuntowicz violin on private loan from a patron in New York City.

Clara Neubauer, violin
Praised for her “seductive artistry” and “rare grace” (Classical Voice North America), violinist Clara Neubauer is a recipient of the Ana Chumachenco Award from the Kronberg Academy Masterclasses and the Peter Mennin Prize from The Juilliard School. Neubauer has appeared at festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia, Prussia Cove, Taos School of Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, and Olympic Music Festival, and she has toured with Taos on Tour and Musicians from Marlboro.

Winner of the National Young Arts competition, she has appeared as soloist with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Symphony of Westchester, the National Repertory Orchestra, the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Little Orchestra Society, and Ensemble 212. Neubauer received her Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School as a student of Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin.

She is currently studying for her Master of Music degree at Juilliard as a student of Catherine Cho and Itzhak Perlman, and she is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.

Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, violin
Violinist Cherry Choi Tung Yeung was born and raised in Hong Kong. Winning her first job in one of the major orchestras in the United States at age 21, she is currently the Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Yeung has performed with the New York Philharmonic; San Diego Symphony; Hong Kong Academy, New World, and Princeton Symphony Orchestras; Symphony in C; New Jersey Festival Orchestra. She served as Concertmaster of The Juilliard School Orchestra and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra where she was awarded the loan of a fine Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin.

A participant of the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival since 2022, Yeung has won numerous prizes including first prize at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, prompting engagements with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini di Pesaro in Italy. Her other competition awards include second prize of the Juilliard Violin Concerto Competition, winner of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Concerto Competition for two consecutive years, second prize of the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, and first prize of the Hong Kong Youth String Competition. In 2018 she was named a New York Philharmonic Global Academy Zarin Mehta Fellow and she was the youngest finalist of both the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Associate Concertmaster Audition. Yeung plays on a 1768 Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza.

Samuel Rosenthal, viola
Internationally acclaimed for his generous musical spirit, violist Samuel Rosenthal delights in sharing music with audiences of all ages and collaborating with some of today’s preeminent artists. His performances are recognized for their “intimate, personal approach” (Journal of the American Viola Society) and communicative style “clearly conveying the range of human emotions” (ClevelandClassical.com). First Prize winner at the 2025 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and recipient of the silver medal at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, Rosenthal began his musical studies as a member of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His passion for chamber music was ignited by formative work with the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet violinist Peter Salaff. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Perlman Music Program community as a student at both the Summer Music School and the Chamber Music Workshop. He has been invited to perform at chamber music festivals across the United States and abroad including the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamberfest Cleveland, Musique de Chambre en Normandie, the Schiermonnikoog Festival (Netherlands), Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute.

A graduate of The Juilliard School, Rosenthal had the honor of studying with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang, and he was a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy under the tutelage of Nobuko Imai. These studies are funded by the Annika and Wolfgang Fink Patronage.

Luther Warren, viola
Violinist and violist Luther Warren enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator. He has appeared at such festivals as Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Four Seasons, the Perlman Music Program, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Olympic Music Festival, Norfolk, and Taos, and he will participate in the Marlboro Music Festival in 2026. He has collaborated on stage with Itzhak Perlman, Kim Kashkashian, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, David Shifrin, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Daniel Phillips, Hsin-Yun Huang, and as frequent substitute violist with the Borromeo String Quartet. Luther is a founding member of chamber-music collective ensemble132 and performs regularly with LA-based chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum. As an educator, Warren serves as Director of Junior Division Chamber Music at Heifetz International Music Institute, violin and viola instructor at New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Expanded Education divisions, Merrimack College, and Thayer Academy. He has presented masterclasses and residencies for East Carolina University, Queens College, and Texas Christian University. A doctoral student at the New England Conservatory, he has worked with Kim Kashkashian, Donald Weilerstein, and Miriam Fried.

Annie Jacobs-Perkins, cello
Praised for “hypnotic lyricism, causing listeners to forget where they were for a moment,” (The New Yorker), cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins is the 1st prize winner of the Pierre Fournier Award and Buchet International Cello Competition. Highlights of her 2025-26 season include a recital debut at the Sydney Opera House, concerto debut with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the releases of her first solo album on the Champs Hill label and trio album on the Solo Musica label, and her first season as a member of Ensemble Modern.

Annie was Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center from 2023-25 and is the cellist of Trio Brontë, 1st prize winner of the 2025 Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition. She regularly performs at venues such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Krzyzowa Music, Ravinia Steans Institute, Yellow Barn Festival, and Marlboro Music.

Annie’s primary teachers include Frans Helmerson, Troels Svane, Laurence Lesser, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Kathleen Murphy Kemp.

Leland Ko, cello
Cellist Leland Philip Ko has been described as someone with “Disarming charisma” (South Florida Classical Review) yet simultaneously as “Byronic” and “excelling in both poetic longing and dramatic outbursts” (Boston Classical Review), Leland has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America and abroad. He is the first prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, and the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition.

Highlights for Ko’s 2025-26 season include debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke and the DuPage Symphony, as well as at the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

Born in 1998 and raised in Boston, Ko attended Princeton University, The Juilliard School, and the New England Conservatory. He performs on a G. B. Rugeri cello, Cremona, c. 1710, ex-Denis Vigay, on generous loan to him from Canimex Inc.; his professional development activities are generously supported by Marilyn G. and Joseph B. Schwartz. He resides in Boston, with his 13-year-old cat, Ham, and enjoys activities as far-ranging as tennis, running, baking, and origami.

Evren Ozel, piano
American pianist Evren Ozel, praised for his “technical mastery and compelling artistry” (LaScena Musicale), is the Bronze Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he also received the Mozart Concerto Prize. He has performed across the U.S. and abroad and is a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant. He is represented by Concert Artists Guild as an Ambassador Prize Winner.

Ozel has appeared with major orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, and his debut album — Mozart concertos with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony — was released in 2025 on Alpha Classics. Highlights of his 2025–26 season include solo recitals for Portland Piano International, Chamber Music Detroit, and the Chopin Society of Minnesota, plus international engagements in Germany and Lithuania.

A committed chamber musician, Ozel collaborates with artists such as David Finckel and Wu Han, Kim Kashkashian, and Marcy Rosen. A former Marlboro fellow, he is a Bowers Program Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Based in Boston, Ozel holds three degrees from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Wha Kyung Byun, and counts Jonathan Biss and Mitsuko Uchida among his mentors.

Evnin Rising Stars
2025-11-02 15:00 - 17:00
Young artists from Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars mentoring program perform in a pair of afternoon concerts for which the program’s Artistic Director, cellist Marcy Rosen, is joined by distinguished artists Ani Kavafian, violin, and Becca Albers, viola. These concerts are the capstone of a weeklong residency at Caramoor in which these young musicians participate in workshops, reading sessions, and ensemble rehearsals, culminating in live performances with their mentors. Since 1992, this program has identified some of the finest musicians of the next generation and helped them cross the threshold from their student years into the early stages of a professional career.

Tickets are free for Ages 18 and Under.

Artists

Artistic DirectorMarcy Rosen, cello Distinguished ArtistsAni Kavafian, violin Rebecca Albers, viola

Rising StarsIsabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin Clara Neubauer, violin Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, violin Samuel Rosenthal, viola Luther Warren, viola Annie Jacobs-Perkins, cello Leland Ko, cello Evren Ozel, piano

Program

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Piano Quartet in g minor K. 478 DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartet No. 7 ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Sextet in A Major, Opus 48

Read the Program Notes

learn more about The Evnin Rising Stars Program

About the Artistic Director

Marcy Rosen, cello
Marcy Rosen, cellist, has established herself as one of the most important and respected artists of our day. Los Angeles Times music critic Herbert Glass has called her “one of the intimate art’s abiding treasures” and The New Yorker Magazine deemed her “a New York legend of the cello.” She has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South America, Switzerland, and throughout the United States. Sought after for her riveting and informative master classes, she has been a guest of the Curtis Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, and the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia.

Rosen was a founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, which toured worldwide for 31 years. Since 1986, she has served as Artistic Director of Chesapeake Music in Maryland. Since first attending the Marlboro Music Festival in 1975, she has participated in 25 Musicians from Marlboro tours, including concerts celebrating the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the festival.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Rosen is currently a professor of cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, while also serving as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Live concert series. She is on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York City.

About the Distinguished Artists

Ani Kavafian, violin
Violinist Ani Kavafian continues, to enjoy a prolific career as a recitalist, chamber musician and professor. She has performed with many of America’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and many others. Her numerous solo recital engagements include performances at New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully halls, as well as in major venues across the country. In 2025-2026, Kavafian will continue her longtime association as an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Having taught at Mannes College, Manhattan School of Music, McGill University and at Stony Brook University, she became a full professor of Violin at Yale University in 2006 and is now the coordinator of Strings. In 2024 Kavafian received the prestigious Samuel Simons Sanford Medal for Distinguished Service to Music from Yale University.

Kavafian has received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions award. She is president of the YCA alumni association. She has appeared at the White House on three separate occasions, and has been featured on many network and PBS television music specials. Her recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia, Arabesque, and Delos labels.

Rebecca Albers, viola
Rebecca Albers is the Principal Violist of the Minnesota Orchestra. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She made her New York debut at Lincoln Center performing the New York premiere of Samuel Adler’s Viola Concerto, and in January 2026 she will perform the U.S. premiere of Donghoon Shin’s viola concerto, Threadsuns, with the Minnesota Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Albers has been a frequent performer at such festivals as the Marlboro Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Society‘s Summer and Winter Festivals, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, and the International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove. She is a member of Accordo, a Twin Cities-based chamber ensemble comprised of principal players from the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. She is on the viola faculties of Mercer University’s Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the University of Minnesota, and she previously taught at the University of Michigan, in The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, and at such summer programs as the Perlman Music Program and the North American Viola Institute. Albers studied at The Juilliard School with Heidi Castleman and Hsin-Yun Huang. Her childhood teachers were James Maurer, and her mother, Ellie LeRoux.

About the Rising Stars

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin
American violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger is praised for her imaginative performances and her ability to communicate with sincere artistry. Based in New York City, she is ﬁrst violinist of the Aeolus Quartet and a recent graduate of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program.

An avid chamber musician, Durrenberger is recognized for her unique collaborative instincts. Recent engagements include concerts with Boston Chamber Music Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Northwest, Jupiter Chamber Players, The Knights, A Far Cry, and Marlboro Music Fes9val.

Durrenberger grew up in a musical home in Columbus, Ohio, and began playing piano at age four, beginning violin lessons three years later. At age 13, she began her studies with Jaime Laredo at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She attended Meadowmount School of Music for four years, graduated from high school a year early, and at age 16 began her undergraduate program in Cleveland where she continued receiving mentorship from Laredo. Other inﬂuences include Jennifer Koh, Sharon Robinson, Joan Kwuon, Jinjoo Cho, Jan Mark Sloman, and Jun Kim. In 2022, she completed her graduate studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Soovin Kim and Don Weilerstein.

Durrenberger has a private violin studio in New York City and serves on the violin faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School in Boston, where she teaches violin and coaches chamber music. Durrenberger performs on a 2020 Zygmuntowicz violin on private loan from a patron in New York City.

Clara Neubauer, violin
Praised for her “seductive artistry” and “rare grace” (Classical Voice North America), violinist Clara Neubauer is a recipient of the Ana Chumachenco Award from the Kronberg Academy Masterclasses and the Peter Mennin Prize from The Juilliard School. Neubauer has appeared at festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia, Prussia Cove, Taos School of Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Four Seasons, Music from Angel Fire, and Olympic Music Festival, and she has toured with Taos on Tour and Musicians from Marlboro.

Winner of the National Young Arts competition, she has appeared as soloist with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Symphony of Westchester, the National Repertory Orchestra, the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Little Orchestra Society, and Ensemble 212. Neubauer received her Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School as a student of Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin.

She is currently studying for her Master of Music degree at Juilliard as a student of Catherine Cho and Itzhak Perlman, and she is a proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.

Cherry Choi Tung Yeung, violin
Violinist Cherry Choi Tung Yeung was born and raised in Hong Kong. Winning her first job in one of the major orchestras in the United States at age 21, she is currently the Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

Yeung has performed with the New York Philharmonic; San Diego Symphony; Hong Kong Academy, New World, and Princeton Symphony Orchestras; Symphony in C; New Jersey Festival Orchestra. She served as Concertmaster of The Juilliard School Orchestra and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra where she was awarded the loan of a fine Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin.

A participant of the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival since 2022, Yeung has won numerous prizes including first prize at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, prompting engagements with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Orchestra Sinfonica Rossini di Pesaro in Italy. Her other competition awards include second prize of the Juilliard Violin Concerto Competition, winner of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Concerto Competition for two consecutive years, second prize of the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition, and first prize of the Hong Kong Youth String Competition. In 2018 she was named a New York Philharmonic Global Academy Zarin Mehta Fellow and she was the youngest finalist of both the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Associate Concertmaster Audition. Yeung plays on a 1768 Pietro Giovanni Mantegazza.

Samuel Rosenthal, viola
Internationally acclaimed for his generous musical spirit, violist Samuel Rosenthal delights in sharing music with audiences of all ages and collaborating with some of today’s preeminent artists. His performances are recognized for their “intimate, personal approach” (Journal of the American Viola Society) and communicative style “clearly conveying the range of human emotions” (ClevelandClassical.com). First Prize winner at the 2025 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and recipient of the silver medal at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, Rosenthal began his musical studies as a member of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His passion for chamber music was ignited by formative work with the Cavani String Quartet and Cleveland Quartet violinist Peter Salaff. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Perlman Music Program community as a student at both the Summer Music School and the Chamber Music Workshop. He has been invited to perform at chamber music festivals across the United States and abroad including the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamberfest Cleveland, Musique de Chambre en Normandie, the Schiermonnikoog Festival (Netherlands), Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, and Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute.

A graduate of The Juilliard School, Rosenthal had the honor of studying with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Hsin-Yun Huang, and he was a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. He is currently studying at the Kronberg Academy under the tutelage of Nobuko Imai. These studies are funded by the Annika and Wolfgang Fink Patronage.

Luther Warren, viola
Violinist and violist Luther Warren enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator. He has appeared at such festivals as Ravinia, Yellow Barn, Four Seasons, the Perlman Music Program, Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Olympic Music Festival, Norfolk, and Taos, and he will participate in the Marlboro Music Festival in 2026. He has collaborated on stage with Itzhak Perlman, Kim Kashkashian, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, David Shifrin, Ani and Ida Kavafian, Daniel Phillips, Hsin-Yun Huang, and as frequent substitute violist with the Borromeo String Quartet. Luther is a founding member of chamber-music collective ensemble132 and performs regularly with LA-based chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum. As an educator, Warren serves as Director of Junior Division Chamber Music at Heifetz International Music Institute, violin and viola instructor at New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Expanded Education divisions, Merrimack College, and Thayer Academy. He has presented masterclasses and residencies for East Carolina University, Queens College, and Texas Christian University. A doctoral student at the New England Conservatory, he has worked with Kim Kashkashian, Donald Weilerstein, and Miriam Fried.

Annie Jacobs-Perkins, cello
Praised for “hypnotic lyricism, causing listeners to forget where they were for a moment,” (The New Yorker), cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins is the 1st prize winner of the Pierre Fournier Award and Buchet International Cello Competition. Highlights of her 2025-26 season include a recital debut at the Sydney Opera House, concerto debut with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the releases of her first solo album on the Champs Hill label and trio album on the Solo Musica label, and her first season as a member of Ensemble Modern.

Annie was Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center from 2023-25 and is the cellist of Trio Brontë, 1st prize winner of the 2025 Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition. She regularly performs at venues such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Krzyzowa Music, Ravinia Steans Institute, Yellow Barn Festival, and Marlboro Music.

Annie’s primary teachers include Frans Helmerson, Troels Svane, Laurence Lesser, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Kathleen Murphy Kemp.

Leland Ko, cello
Cellist Leland Philip Ko has been described as someone with “Disarming charisma” (South Florida Classical Review) yet simultaneously as “Byronic” and “excelling in both poetic longing and dramatic outbursts” (Boston Classical Review), Leland has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues across America and abroad. He is the first prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, and the Walter W. Naumburg International Cello Competition.

Highlights for Ko’s 2025-26 season include debuts with the Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke and the DuPage Symphony, as well as at the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.

Born in 1998 and raised in Boston, Ko attended Princeton University, The Juilliard School, and the New England Conservatory. He performs on a G. B. Rugeri cello, Cremona, c. 1710, ex-Denis Vigay, on generous loan to him from Canimex Inc.; his professional development activities are generously supported by Marilyn G. and Joseph B. Schwartz. He resides in Boston, with his 13-year-old cat, Ham, and enjoys activities as far-ranging as tennis, running, baking, and origami.

Evren Ozel, piano
American pianist Evren Ozel, praised for his “technical mastery and compelling artistry” (LaScena Musicale), is the Bronze Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he also received the Mozart Concerto Prize. He has performed across the U.S. and abroad and is a recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant. He is represented by Concert Artists Guild as an Ambassador Prize Winner.

Ozel has appeared with major orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra, and his debut album — Mozart concertos with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony — was released in 2025 on Alpha Classics. Highlights of his 2025–26 season include solo recitals for Portland Piano International, Chamber Music Detroit, and the Chopin Society of Minnesota, plus international engagements in Germany and Lithuania.

A committed chamber musician, Ozel collaborates with artists such as David Finckel and Wu Han, Kim Kashkashian, and Marcy Rosen. A former Marlboro fellow, he is a Bowers Program Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Based in Boston, Ozel holds three degrees from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Wha Kyung Byun, and counts Jonathan Biss and Mitsuko Uchida among his mentors.
