Arts & Entertainment

Caramoor Celebrates 70th Season with Summer Music Events

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June 4, 2015

| by Paula Romanow Etzel |

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts celebrates its 70th anniversary season with music programming that includes the American Roots Festival on June 27, the Caramoor Jazz Festival on July 18, and special events throughout the summer — all produced on the historic 90-acre Caramoor estate in Katonah, New York (149 Girdle Ridge Road). With its picturesque Italiante architecture, woodlands, fields, art exhibitions, kids’ activities, and nine unique perennial gardens (including a “Sense Circle” for the visually impaired), Caramoor offers a variety of food and drink options, modern restroom facilities, and free parking.

A quick drive up the Saw Mill Parkway from the rivertowns, (just off of I-684, Route 35 or Route 22, and easy to get to by MetroNorth), Caramoor presents innovative and diverse musical performances for all ages, provides educational programs for children, and mentors young professional musicians. Audiences are invited to explore the majestic grounds, tour the historic Rosen House, and enjoy afternoon tea, pre-concert picnics, and performances in two outdoor theaters: the 1,508-seat acoustically superb Venetian Theater, and the more intimate 470-seat Spanish Courtyard.

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This year’s American Roots Festival, which begins at noon on Saturday, June 27, features Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, Parker Millsap, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, Jessy Carolina and the Hot Mess, Kristin Andreassen Band, Mason Porter, Spuyten Duyvil, Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, Matt Turk, Cole Quest and the City Pickers, and The Social Music Hour Workshop and Singalong.

According to Caramoor’s Roots Music Artistic Director, Maggi Landau, American Roots Music encompasses folk, bluegrass, country, gospel, string band, and Cajun music that was born on American soil and, in many cases, was influenced or derived from immigrant roots (Irish, English, African, French, etc.). Explained Landau, “It’s music that reflects many uniquely American cultures and experiences, flavored by the communities where it was created.”

The artists selected for the festival, Landau said, “provide an array of music that is both complementary and different. For example, if you really love folk music, you can hear it in a traditional format, or interpreted in a country vernacular as well as a jazz-influenced one. If you love bluegrass, you can hear it played in the conventional style as well as more contemporary versions and extensions. So you get a taste of lots of musical styles and genres all within the family of American Roots Music.”

Roots Music performances continue beyond the festival when Suzanne Vega plays in Caramoor’s Spanish Courtyard on August 1. “Last time she played this intimate space, she created a magical and highly personal connection with the audience that left people absolutely mesmerized,” Landau recalled. “Our friends Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan, together with Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, have created an exciting new project called the ‘I’m With Her Tour,’ and they are bringing that bonanza of virtuosic playing and harmony singing to Caramoor on July 10.”

In addition to American Roots Music, Caramoor offers classical performances (chamber and symphonic), jazz, American Songbook, opera, multi-ethnic dance, young artist showcases and sound art.

This year’s annual Jazz Festival on July 18 marks an inspiring new collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center — led by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis — allowing audiences to experience jazz from one of the nation’s foremost cultural institutions in Caramoor’s idyllic setting.

Cat Henry, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Vice President of Concerts and Touring, said, “Jazz at Lincoln Center looks forward to programming world-class jazz events for all ages in Caramoor’s beautiful, unmatched outdoor setting, in addition to reaching new audiences in the community.”

For more information about Caramoor programming, please visit: http://www.caramoor.org/ or call (914) 232-5035.

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