A Note on Inspire

January 2019

Dear Friends of Caramoor,

Last year at this time we announced the public launch of Inspire: A Campaign for Caramoor’s Future. We were humbled by the response we received from our friends, neighbors, and the broader community, many of whom have generously supported our efforts, helping us raise over $35M on our way to our $40M goal. We are writing now to tell you about our plans for 2019 and how we will be implementing the work made possible by the Inspire campaign.

Later this year, we will break ground on the final phase of Inspire through the Visitor Experience Enhancement Project, an outdoor campus revitalization plan designed to elevate the experience of all who come here. It has been designed as a series of distinct components, which taken together, add up to a transformation of the central Caramoor campus, and will include:

• Redesigned traffic, parking, and drop-off patterns;
• New gathering places throughout campus;
• A new entrance to the Venetian Theater: closer, wider, easier to use;
• A new Box Office to better serve our guests;
• Friends Field reimagined (no cars!), a place for music and gathering; and
• New lighting, signage, seating, and plantings throughout.

The 2019 Caramoor Summer Season brochure will be available soon, announcing all the artists performing during our inspirational and innovative Summer Season. The Visitor Experience Enhancement Project will “break ground” on Opening Night, Saturday, June 15, 2019, with the majority of the projects starting after the 2019 Season Finale. By the summer of 2020, when we celebrate Caramoor’s milestone 75th Anniversary, you will visit a Caramoor Campus which has been transformed for your comfort and which we hope will inspire for years to come.

It has always been our goal, beginning with the vision of Lucie and Walter Rosen, to make Caramoor a place for music, and a place to gather, to pause, and to reflect. The Visitor Experience Enhancement Project is intended to further that goal. We hope that you will join us this year as we present music throughout our grounds and the historic Rosen House, and then return in 2020 to see the changes we have made.

So much of our inspiration comes from our visitors, and for that we are truly grateful. We look forward to continuing this exciting journey with all of you.

Sincerely,

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January 2018

An Announcement from Caramoor’s Board Chair and CEO

We hope that you will share in our excitement about all that has been accomplished and share in our optimism about Caramoor’s bright future. Four years ago, after much planning and research, the Board of Trustees began the quiet phase of a capital campaign. What started with modest ambitions has today become a resounding success, and our momentum continues into 2018.Inspire: A Campaign for Caramoor’s Future has been embraced and generously supported by forward-looking trustees and lead donors, who have invested more than $30 million in our music and education programs, as well as the historic Rosen House and, soon, our beautiful gardens and grounds.

At the beginning of this endeavor, our first priority was to secure Caramoor’s financial future by growing our permanent endowment. Building a robust endowment to keep pace with the trajectory of our programs is vital, and Caramoor has quadrupled its endowment in the past four years. Having a solid financial foundation will enable us to sustain artistic excellence, better meet unforeseen challenges and opportunities, and seed innovation. We will soon release our 2018 Summer Season brochure, announcing all the artists and programs for the upcoming season. This represents the first summer programmed by Caramoor’s new Vice President of Artistic Programming, Kathy Schuman, and it reflects a clear vision for an exciting, innovative, music-filled future.

The ongoing restoration of the historic Rosen House has enhanced the spaces and experience of music at Caramoor. This multi-year process—from enclosing the Cloisters and Summer Dining Room for energy efficiency and visitor comfort, to updating vital infrastructure and amenities, to a refurbishment of the Music Room—will be completed by 2019. The House remains the crown jewel of the Caramoor estate, and the heart of our legacy as an organization.

Our final phase will involve a comprehensive campus revitalization plan, building on our sense of shared discovery and artistic innovation throughout our grounds. It has always been our goal, beginning with the vision of Lucie and Walter Rosen, to make Caramoor a place for music and a place to gather, to pause, and to reflect. By reconfiguring our parking and venue entrances, adding additional seating and dining amenities, and elevating our beautiful gardens, that vision will be furthered. In addition to focusing on the comfort and enjoyment of our visitors, and inspired by our 2014 outdoor sound art exhibition, we are developing plans to add a new and groundbreaking artistic dimension to our entire campus. In the coming months, you will see the exciting plans we have to elevate your Caramoor visit and reinvent the way you experience our beautiful grounds, gardens, and concerts.

We look forward to continuing this exciting journey with all of you.

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