A New Collaboration with Juilliard Extension
By Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor announces further extension of their public programming through a new collaboration with Juilliard Extension, Juilliard’s flagship continuing education program! Caramoor and Juilliard Extension will offer a series of six classes giving audiences the opportunity to dive deeper into the themes presented on stage throughout Caramoor's 2026-27 Rosen House Concert Series. Participants will learn from acclaimed professors and lecturers and engage in thoughtful discussion with fellow music lovers.
The series runs October 22, 2026 - April 7, 2027 in Caramoor's Rosen House Music Room. Classes can be taken individually or as an entire course, and are best enjoyed when paired with select performances from the Rosen House Concert Series!
The Juilliard Extension program classes:
From Beethoven to Bartók: The Expanding World of Chamber Music
Thursday, October 22, 2026 / 6:00-8:00 pm
Across more than a century, chamber music transformed from an elegant form of domestic entertainment into one of the most powerful vehicles for personal expression in Western art. This lecture follows that evolution through the works of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bartók, three composers who reimagined what could be said through a small ensemble of instruments. Beginning with Beethoven's bold reworking of Classical forms, moving through the warmth and grandeur of Brahms's late Romantic voice, and culminating in the haunting introspection of Bartók's final string quartet, participants will explore how chamber music became a laboratory for innovation and artistic risk. Along the way, we will examine the changing social and cultural worlds that shaped these works and consider why the string quartet remains one of music's most enduring genres.
Recommended concert pairing: This class, taught by Juilliard faculty member Sam Nester, is a great primer for the Evnin Rising Stars performance on November 1, 2026.
Sacred Songs, Folk Roots: The Making of the Christmas Carol
Thursday, November 19, 2026 / 6:00-8:00pm
Long before becoming synonymous with Christmas, carols originated in medieval Europe as lively folk dances structured around alternating stanzas and refrains. Over centuries, this versatile genre moved from communal revelry into sacred traditions, giving rise to some of the world's most cherished anthems. This lecture explores that rich evolution through the surprising backstories of several iconic carols, including “Veni Emmanuel,” which originated as a funeral chant; “O Tannenbaum,” a tribute to nature that doubled as a Civil War anthem; and “Stille Nacht,” written in a quiet Austrian village before famously echoing across a World War I battlefield. Together, these vignettes reveal how local folk customs and monastic devotion intersected to forge a global holiday tradition.
Recommended concert pairing: This class, taught by Juilliard Extension Music Theory and Analysis Chair Patrick Kreeger, is a great primer for the Christmas With Cantus performance on December 6, 2026.
Night, Memory, and Imagination: The Romantic Piano Tradition
Thursday, January 14, 2027 / 10:00am-12:00pm
The piano became the defining instrument of the nineteenth century because it could capture both the grandest emotions and the most intimate reflections. Centered on the music of Chopin and the composers who inspired and followed him, this lecture explores the poetic traditions of the nocturne, ballade, and mazurka. Participants will discover how John Field established the nocturne as a musical genre, how Chopin transformed it into a vehicle for profound artistic expression, and how later composers such as Samuel Barber, Karol Szymanowski, and Thomas Adès engaged with this legacy. Through these works, we will consider how composers use music to evoke memory, storytelling, longing, and imagination, creating some of the most personal and enduring works in the piano repertoire.
Recommended concert pairing: This class, taught by Juilliard Extension instructor, Juilliard Creative Enterprise Fellow, and pianist Derek Wang, is a great primer for Inon Barnatan's performance on April 25, 2027.
Mendelssohn's Grand Tour: Travel, Discovery, and the Sound of Europe
Wednesday, February 24, 2027 / 3:00-5:00 pm
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Grand Tour became a defining educational experience for Europe's young artists, writers, and aristocrats. Travel offered an opportunity to encounter great works of art, ancient ruins, dramatic landscapes, and vibrant musical traditions. The journey shaped taste, inspired creativity, and influenced a generation of cultural leaders. Felix Mendelssohn embraced this tradition with enthusiasm. His travels through Scotland, Italy, and across Europe inspired some of his finest orchestral works, including the Hebrides Overture, the Scottish Symphony, and the Italian Symphony. This lecture explores the places, people, and experiences that found their way into these beloved compositions through musical excerpts, letters, paintings, and historical context.
Recommended concert pairing: This class, taught by a Juilliard Extension instructor, is a great primer for an upcoming 2027 Summer Season concert featuring Orchestra of St Luke's, to be announced.
The String Quartet Across Three Centuries
Wednesday, March 24, 2027 / 6:00-8:00pm
Few musical genres have proven as adaptable, resilient, and expressive as the string quartet. Spanning works by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, and contemporary composer Reena Esmail, this lecture traces the remarkable journey of the quartet from its eighteenth-century origins to the present day. Participants will explore how successive generations of composers expanded the possibilities of the genre while maintaining a dialogue with tradition. Particular attention will be given to questions of cultural exchange, national identity, and musical inheritance, revealing how the string quartet continues to serve as a meeting place for history, innovation, and artistic imagination.
Recommended concert pairing: This class, taught by Juilliard Extension instructor and cellist Mitchell Lyon, is a great primer for the Viano Quartet performance on April 4, 2027.
Music, Faith, and Power in the Baroque World
Wednesday, April 7, 2027 / 6:00-8:00pm
The courts, churches, and noble households of seventeenth-century Europe were vibrant centers of artistic experimentation, where music served as both spiritual expression and political spectacle. Drawing on the repertoire performed by ACRONYM and countertenor Reginald Mobley, this lecture introduces participants to the rich musical world of the early Baroque. Through works by Monteverdi, Leonarda, Sances, Bertali, and others, we will examine how composers navigated the intersections of devotion, drama, and authority during a period of profound cultural transformation. Participants will also explore the rise of the countertenor voice, the emergence of new expressive styles, and the enduring influence of this remarkable era on Western musical culture.
Recommended concert pairing: This class, taught by Juilliard Extension's Chair of Music History Jonathan Yaeger, is a great primer for the ACRONYM and Reginald Mobley performance on April 11, 2027.
“We are committed to expanding how guests experience Caramoor beyond our concert offerings, with a deeper focus on lifelong learning. We are thrilled to collaborate with Juilliard Extension to offer world-class continuing education directly to our community, welcoming everyone regardless of their prior musical background.”
“Juilliard Extension believes that engagement with the arts should continue across a lifetime. This collaboration with Caramoor brings together two institutions with a shared commitment to curiosity, music, and education. These classes invite audiences to go deeper into the music they hear on stage and build a richer connection to the works, artists, and ideas behind each performance.”