The 67th Annual Caramoor International Music Festival, June 23 – August 8

May 23, 2012 - PRLog -- 2012 CARAMOOR INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
THE 67TH ANNUAL SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL, JUNE 23 – AUGUST 8

OPENING NIGHT ON JUNE 23 AND THE ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S
Caramoor and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Roberto Abbado, open the summer festival with selections from Mendelssohn’s masterful incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and his Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. Violinist Gil Shaham appears in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Broadway luminary Bebe Neuwirth will read excerpts of Shakespeare’s play to contextualize the symphonic piece (June 23).
Orchestra of St. Luke’s, resident orchestra at Caramoor since its formation in 1979, and newly appointed Principal Conductor of the Orchestra, Pablo Heras-Casado, will be joined by pianist Emanuel Ax for a program of Beethoven and Ravel (July 15).

BEL CANTO AT CARAMOOR
Ciro in Babilonia:
Continuing the extraordinary success of previous seasons, Caramoor’s Director of Opera Will Crutchfield celebrates the 16th season of Bel Canto at Caramoor with an exciting partnership. This season, Caramoor presents the American premiere of Rossini’s Ciro in Babilonia in collaboration with the renowned Rossini Opera Festival based in Pesaro, Italy. Celebrated contralto Ewa Podleś returns to Caramoor in the role of Ciro in semi-staged production by Davide Livermore featuring tenor Michael Spyres and soprano Jessica Pratt in her American debut. Following the premiere, conductor Will Crutchfield and members of the cast will perform in Pesaro on August 10, 13, 16, 19 and 22 (July 7).

I Capuleti ed i Montecchi:
Soprano Eglise Gutiérrez and mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich will take the stage for a performance of Bellini’s I Capuleti ed i Montecchi featuring tenor Leonardo Capalbo and bass-baritone Burak Biligili (July 21).

The Bel Canto operas will feature the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the direction of Maestro Will Crutchfield.

CHAMBER MUSIC
The Grammy® Award-winning Pacifica Quartet, Caramoor’s 2001-02 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence, teams up with Anthony McGill for a chamber music concert of Mozart, Smetana and Janácek (July 27).
The Linden String Quartet, the 2011-2012 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence, will complete its residency at Caramoor joined by singer-songwriter and polymath Gabriel Kahane. The program features the world premiere of Mr. Kahane’s Come on All You Ghosts for string quartet and voice (part of Volume XIII of Caramoor’s commissioning project: A String Quartet Library for the 21st Century) and works by John Corigliano and Beethoven (July 13).
The genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider will make its Caramoor debut with a program of Beethoven, Ljova and a group composition on (July 20).
The Brentano String Quartet celebrates its 20th anniversary as a quartet with a Caramoor co-commission of pieces written by six living composers related to fragmentary works by past masters called ‘Fragments: Connecting Past and Present’ (July 8).
The Art of the Duo features five different duos performing five of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano (July 1).
Chamber Music Goes Late-Night when the Caramoor Virtuosi perform a nighttime program of chamber music literature pairing masterpieces with lesser-known and more recent compositions including Mozart, Mendelssohn and Frank Bridge (June 29).
Closing out the chamber music performances is Trio Cavatina, the winner of the 2009 Namburg International Chamber Music Competition (August 3).

4TH OF JULY
Michael Barrett takes the podium for the spectacular Pops, Patriots & Fireworks concert. The all-Gershwin program features some of the composer’s greatest works, including Rhapsody in Blue, performed by John Musto. Gershwin songs will be performed by Darius DeHaas and Carla Jablonski. The patriotic evening will be followed by a festive fireworks display, creating a perfect holiday event for the whole family (July 4).  

AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC, GOING GLOBAL, AND GOSPEL
The American Roots Festival is back with a day-long celebration of folk, gospel, bluegrass, blues, country and more. Sonidos Latinos enters its sixth year, Guitar in the Garden returns and Caramoor introduces Gospel Sunday.  
On June 30, families are invited to picnic and stroll the gardens and Caramoor grounds throughout the afternoon as they enjoy alternative/traditional string band Sputyen Duyvil, the swinging rhythms of Eilen Jewell and her band, Red Molly’s folk, gospel and bluegrass inspired three part harmonies, the southern style ‘steamboat soul’ of Roosevelt Dime, and banjo songster Old Man Luedecke.
The evening performances take place in the Venetian Theater with a concert featuring the David Bromberg Quartet led by acoustic guitarist David Bromberg and Hot Tuna Acoustic with the legendary Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Barry Mitterhoff (June 30).
The genre-busting Béla Fleck brings his latest project to Caramoor in a collaboration with the Marcus Roberts Trio, led by Roberts on piano, with Jason Marsalis on drums and Rodney Jordan on bass (August 4).
Heralded by Rolling Stone Magazine as "a perennial dark-horse contender for the title of greatest living rock guitarist", legendary folk-rock guitarist and singer/songwriter Richard Thompson will perform a solo acoustic show (July 14).
For this year’s Sonidos Latinos program, Grammy® Award-winning musician Paquito D’Rivera performs the vibrant music of Latin America with his favorite colleagues in an all-Cuban celebration of melody and rhythm (July 6).
Concertgoers can also enjoy peaceful music while surrounded by Caramoor’s beautiful lush gardens as Jason Vieaux plays for an afternoon of Guitar in the Garden (June 24).
New to Caramoor this year is Gospel Sunday. The Harlem Gospel Choir and The Lee Boys will close the 2012 festival season with music of praise and worship (August 5).

JAZZ
The Cookers open the first day of the jazz fest which includes an afternoon of sets by; jazz pianist Kenny Barron, and Grammy® nominee Gretchen Parlato (July 28).
Later in the evening, three-time Grammy® Award-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater will entertain the audience with a concert highlighting the different trends in jazz singing.  Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Roy Haynes with his newly formed Grammy® nominated Fountain of Youth Band featuring some of today’s most dynamic and virtuosic musicians (July 28).
The following afternoon, July 29, 18 time-Grammy® Award-winner Pat Metheny takes the stage with the Pat Metheny Unity Band featuring Monk Competition winner, bassist Ben Williams, Grammy® nominated saxophonist Chris Potter, and longtime collaborator and drummer Antonio Sanchez to round out the festival.

FAMILY FUN
Family-friendly offerings this summer include Dancing at Dusk, a series that offers families an opportunity to learn traditional tunes and dances of Indonesia (June 27), Spain (July 11), India and Pakistan (July 25) and Brazil (August 8).
Family Program Designer Kate Kresek and the young group Kaleidoscope will take your family to Italy and England for “A Day in the Renaissance”, an interactive program during which families will experience the sixteenth century complete with songs and dances, street theater, music, falcons, masks and banners and a few words from Will Shakespeare (July 22).

TICKETS
Tickets for the 2012 Caramoor International Music Festival are on sale now. Order by calling the Box Office at 914.232.1252 or 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.

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