Extreme Chamber Music at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts

April 9, 2010 - PRLog -- KATONAH, NY – Michael Barrett, CEO and General Director of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, has announced a dynamic line-up of three Friday evening Extreme Chamber Music concerts for the 65th Caramoor International Music Festival. Genre-defying ensemble 2 Foot Yard will open the series on July 2, followed by ETHEL, one of America’s premier post-classical string quartets, on July 9. The series concludes with Christopher O’Riley, a dynamic pianist and host of NPR’s From the Top, in a July 30 program entitled “Out of My Hands”.

“Extreme Chamber Music features the same sophistication and rigor of performance standards as Caramoor’s traditional chamber music programming,” said Mr. Barrett. “But the performing medium, musical material of mostly new work, and presentation – including, in some instances, performing with amplification – signal a clear break with tradition. These three concerts will appeal to the younger set and those young at heart and adventuresome enough to explore something fresh and stimulating.”

2 Foot Yard – Friday, July 2, 8:00pm
The three outstanding young musicians of 2 Foot Yard – Carla Kihlstedt, violin and vocals; Marika Hughes, cello and vocals; and Shahzad Ismaily, percussion and guitar – take their audiences on a journey through soundscapes that are as innovative as they are accessible. This is strings and percussion as never heard before, shattering the boundaries between art song and pop song by merging the visceral power of rock with the intimacy and warmth of chamber music. This off-kilter ride through the worlds of drama and melody, contemporary classical music and improvisation, has been described by Billboard as “a head-spinning collection that melds classical virtuosity, folk soul, and pop imagination.”

ETHEL – Friday, July 9, 8:00pm
The ebullient ensemble ETHEL has been described by The New York Times as a group of “Extraordinary skilled, passionate musicians” that “plays their repertoire vigorously and cultivates a persona closer to that of a rock band than a conventional string quartet”. ETHEL – Cornelius Dufallo, violin; Ralph Farris, viola; Dorothy Lawson, cello; and Mary Rowell, violin – infuses contemporary concert music with a relentlessly inventive, high-octane, amplified exploration of music beyond boundaries. Constantly re-imagining the possibilities of performance, ETHEL embraces today’s most exhilarating music with emphasis on works composed since 1995. Their debut album, ETHEL, was named one of Billboard’s Best Albums for 2003.

ETHEL has performed with Joe Jackson, Kurt Elling, Bang on a Can, Todd Rundgren, David Byrne, Ursula Oppens, Loudon Wainwright III, STEW, Ensemble Modern, Jill Sobule, Joshua Fried, Andrew Bird, Iva Bittová, Colin Currie, Thomas Dolby, Steve Coleman, Stephen Gosling, Jake Shimabukuro, and Polygraph Lounge. Ever re-imagining the possibilities of music performance, ETHEL has collaborated with acclaimed directors Annie Dorsen and Daniel Flannery and renowned choreographers Wally Cardona, Annie-B Parson, and Mathew Janczewski.

Christopher O’Riley’s Out of My Hands – Friday, July 30, 8:00pm
A prestigious artist, pianist, and host of NPR’s From the Top, Christopher O’Riley stretches the piano beyond the classical repertoire with his latest project, Out of My Hands. Weaving his re-imaginings of music by Nirvana, The Cure, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, Radiohead, Tori Amos, and Portishead and works by Bach, Ravel, Scarlatti, Ades, and Raymond Scott together with his eloquent and compelling musings on music and popular culture, Mr. O’Riley breaks into uncharted territory exploring the paths in and out of this wealth of material, melding the familiar with the fresh.

Christopher O’Riley regularly plays his own piano arrangements of songs by contemporary artists such as Radiohead and Pink Floyd in concerts throughout the country, mixing these works with standard concert repertoire, introducing classical music to a younger and wider audience.

Tickets for each Extreme Chamber Music concert are $25 and $35 and may be purchased at the Caramoor Box Office, 914.232.1252 or ordered online at www.caramoor.org.

Groups of 16 or more may purchase discounted tickets by contacting Matthew Scarella at 914.232.5035 ext. 252 or matthew@caramoor.org.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, New York.

Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home – now known as the historic Rosen House at Caramoor – and filled it with their treasures. Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, bringing to reality his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world. Their musical evenings were the seeds of today’s Caramoor International Music Festival. Realizing the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor – the house with its art collection, the gardens, and the musical programs on summer evenings – in 1946 the Rosens established a public charity to open Caramoor to the community. Lucie Rosen survived her husband by seventeen years. During those years, she expanded the Music Festival: the Spanish Courtyard was used as a setting for musical events, as it is today, and, under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

Caramoor is a performing arts center located on a unique 90-acre setting of Italianate architecture and gardens in Westchester County, NY. It enriches the lives of its audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality. Its mission also includes mentoring young professional musicians and providing educational programs for young children centered around music. It is often described as “a Garden of Great Music” where audiences are invited to come early, explore the beautiful grounds, enjoy a pre-concert picnic, and discover beautiful music in the relaxed settings of the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Music Room of the Rosen House, and the magnificent gardens.

With its unique heritage, Caramoor remains a place where magical summer days and nights are shared and enjoyed by thousands. “Caramoor is the loveliest Festival of them all.” - The New York Times

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With its outstanding summer music festival & indoors concerts, arts-in-education programming and beautiful grounds, Caramoor is a cornerstone of the cultural life of Westchester County, NY.