Caramoor Presents Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream

May 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Press Contact: Lois Cohn Associates
Lois Cohn, 917.339.7187, lcohn@lcohnpr.com
Brittnee Walker, 917.339.7183, bwalker@lcohnpr.com

CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS THE 67th SUMMER SEASON WITH MENDELSSOHN'S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM AND VIOLIN CONCERTO IN E MINOR, OP. 64

FEATURING VIOLINIST GIL SHAHAM THE ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S LED BY ROBERTO ABBADO AND BROADWAY STAR BEBE NEUWIRTH

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 at 8:30 PM

KATONAH, NY – On Saturday, June 23, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts opens its 67th annual Summer Music Festival with an evening of Mendelssohn. Celebrated violinist Gil Shaham opens the program with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Roberto Abbado, will continue the evening with selections from Mendelssohn’s masterful incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Broadway luminary Bebe Neuwirth will read excerpts of Shakespeare’s play to contextualize the symphonic piece.
 
“I am so pleased to present this work on the grounds of Caramoor,” says Michael Barrett. “The setting here is perfect for a piece where strange and supernatural things could occur. Caramoor is the perfect summer place for the suspension of our disbelief, and the full participation of the imagination. The beauty of Shakespeare’s poetry is certainly an additional delight for what I think will be a perfect evening: nature, music, poetry, and a feeling of youthful wonder permeating it all.”

TICKETS
Tickets for Caramoor’s Opening Night concert are $15, $21, $36, $51, $66, and $85 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.

PRESS TICKETS
For press tickets, artist bios and/or images, please contact Brittnee Walker: 917.339.7183, bwalker@lcohnpr.com.

PROGRAM
SATURDAY, JUNE 23 AT 8:30 PM IN THE VENETIAN THEATER
OPENING NIGHT CONCERT: MENDELSSOHN’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
$15, $21, $36, $51, $66, and $85
Gil Shaham, violin
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Robert Abbado, conductor

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ROBERTO ABBADO, CONDUCTOR
Roberto Abbado is an esteemed conductor among orchestras and opera companies today, named Conductor of the Year in 2008 with the “Franco Abbiati” award of the National Association of Italian Music Critics—Italy’s most prestigious classical music award. Mr. Abbado has regularly appeared with the orchestras and opera companies of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, and Houston; with the  Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and abroad in Milan, Munich, Germany and Naples. He collaborates with many of today’s most respected soloists, including Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Gil Shaham, Yefim Bronfman, Lang Lang, and Yo-Yo Ma, to name a few. He has made award winning recordings of Bellini’s I Capuleti ed i Montecchi and Rossini’s Tancredi. His most recent release for the Stradivarius Label is of two world premiere recordings by contemporary Italian composer Luca Francesconi – Cobalt, Scarlet, and Rest.

GIL SHAHAM, VIOLINIST
Gil Shaham, one of the foremost violinists of our time and Avery Fisher Award-winner, is sought throughout the world, appearing with the Chicago Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra just last season. In September 2010, he was a special guest artist for the Chamber Music Society’s season-opening concert at Lincoln Center and also appeared on PBS with Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic for Carnegie Hall’s 120th anniversary concert, performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Mr. Shaham has recorded more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs that have appeared on record charts in the US and abroad and just released a new recording with his sister, pianist Orli Shaham, titled Hebrew Melodies, on his own label, Canary Classics.

BEBE NEUWIRTH, NARRATOR
Over the course of her distinguished career, Bebe Neuwirth has achieved extraordinary success in theatre, television and film. In 1980, she made her Broadway debut in A Chorus Line. She then appeared in Little Me, Dancin’, and Sweet Charity, for which she won her first Tony Award, followed by Damn Yankees and Fosse. Ms. Neuwirth won her second Tony, for her portrayal of Velma Kelly in Chicago and most recently starred as Morticia in the Broadway musical The Addams Family. Her work in film and television earned her two Emmys for the role of Lilith Sternin Crane on Cheers, and an Emmy nomination for her work on Frasier and for her portrayal of Dorothy Parker in the TV movie Dash and Lilly. She has appeared in numerous films, including Say Anything, Green Card, Bugsy, Jumanji, Summer of Sam, Liberty Heights, Celebrity, and Tadpole. Her first solo album, called Bebe Neuwirth: Porcelain, has just been released.

ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S
Now in its 37th season, Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) is one of America’s foremost and most versatile ensembles. OSL was formed at the Caramoor International Music Festival in the summer of 1979, after evolving from St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, which was established at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1974. Dedicated to engaging audiences throughout New York City and beyond, OSL performs approximately 70 concerts each year and holds a summer residency at the Caramoor International Music Festival. OSL's Principal Conductor is Pablo Heras-Casado.

ABOUT CARAMOOR
Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home – now known as the historic Rosen House at Caramoor – and filled it with their treasures.  Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, realizing 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.  Witnessing 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 –the Rosens established a public charity to open Caramoor to the community in 1946.  Lucie Rosen survived her husband by seventeen years.  During those years, she expanded the Music Festival. The Spanish Courtyard was used as a setting for musical events, as it is today, and, under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

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

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

Concert Venues and Gardens
Most Summer Festival concerts take place in two outdoor theaters: the 1714-seat, acoustically superb Venetian Theater and the more intimate, romantic Spanish Courtyard.  Caramoor’s gardens are also well worth the visit and include nine unique perennial gardens. Among them are a Sense Circle for the visually handicapped, a Butterfly Garden, Tapestry Hedge, and the Iris and Peony Garden.

CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR A FULL FESTIVAL CHRONOLOGY:
http://www.caramoor.org/pdf/Festival_Listings.pdf