music

Upcoming Lineups feature Pianist Jeremy Denk, Countertenor Lestyn Davies and Lutenist Thomas Dunford, Takács Quartet, Violinist Rachel Podger, Melissa Aldana Quartet, Guitarist Yasmin Williams and Much More

(July 2022)–Caramoor’s longstanding tradition of adventurous programming continues indoors all year round amid the authentic Renaissance furniture, paintings dating from the 16th century, and terra cotta reliefs of the historic Rosen House Music Room. Designed by the Rosens for chamber music concerts, the Music Room remains an ideal venue for the expansive range of genres and outstanding artists for which Caramoor is celebrated. Programs in the Fall 22/Spring 23 season include pianist Jeremy Denk performing Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I; countertenor Iestyn Davies along with  lutenist Thomas Dunford; chamber music from the Takács Quartet; Baroque violinist Rachel Podger; back-to-back holiday performances from the German a cappella vocal ensemble Calmus; guitarist Yasmin Williams; singer-songwriter Kat Wright; the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain; Broadway star Sierra Boggess in a special cabaret benefit; jazz from the Melissa Aldana Quartet and Sean Mason Quintet; and performances by young artists from Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars and Schwab Vocal Rising Stars programs, as well as the Ivalas Quartet, this season’s Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence. 

Recitals and Chamber Music

The New York Times declared Jeremy Denk to be “a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs.” Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk has also been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is an insightful writer on musical subjects as well as a performer; his memoir Every Good Boy Does Fine was recently published by Penguin Random House. At Caramoor he performs Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, resuming his series of performances from 2019-20, prior to the pandemic shutdown. After a performance of the work this past spring at London’s Barbican, The Guardian declared Denk to have “the fiendish technique and expressive iconoclasm you’d expect from one of today’s classical superstars” (Nov 6).

British countertenor Iestyn Davies has won two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, an RPS Award for Young Singer of the Year, the Critics’ Circle Award, and an Olivier Award nomination, as well as being awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2017 for services to music. In concert with lutenist Thomas Dunford, the founder and artistic director of the Jupiter Ensemble (and whom BBC Music Magazine called “the Eric Clapton of the lute”), Davies presents a program of Late Renaissance Italian, French and English song interspersed with solo lute music (Nov 20).

Rachel Podger, called “the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin” (The Times), was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize in October 2015, Gramophone Artist of the Year 2018, and Ambassador for REMA’s Early Music Day 2020. She is also the founder and Artistic Director of Brecon Baroque Festival and her ensemble Brecon Baroque. In the spring, she performs an all-Bach solo program at Caramoor (April 30).

Caramoor’s chamber music offerings this spring are anchored by the Takács Quartet, who mentored the Ivalas Quartet during the latter’s residency from 2019-2022 at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Now entering its forty-eighth season, the Takács Quartet comprises violinists Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, violist Richard O’Neill and cellist András Fejér. Like Jeremy Denk, Dusinberre has literary leanings as well as musical, and his book Distant Melodies: Music in Search of Home will be published by Faber and the University of Chicago Press in the fall. At Caramoor the quartet plays music of Haydn, Fanny Mendelssohn and Schubert (April 23).

Winner of the 2009 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the German a cappella vocal ensemble Calmus is known for its charming stage presence and flawless technique. Founded in 1999 in Germany, the quintet – with the unusual configuration of a female soprano and four male voices ranging from bass to countertenor – embodies the rich choral tradition of its hometown of Leipzig, the city so closely associated with Bach and Mendelssohn. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel characterizes the group: “The singers bring tremendous character and musical depth to their interpretations … that transcends the language of the lyrics.” Calmus’s holiday program at Caramoor ranges from early music to contemporary Christmas favorites (Dec 10).

Jazz in Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center

Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana – declared to be “cultured, emotionally weighted [and] purposeful” by the Boston Globe – recently released the album 12 Stars, her debut as a leader on the Blue Note label. Hailing from Santiago, Chile, the 33-year-old Brooklyn-based tenor player was featured on the cover of the March 2021 issue of the New York City Jazz Record and has already established an international reputation for her visionary work as a bandleader. Aldana plays Caramoor with her quartet (Sep 30).

Born and raised in Charlotte, NC, Sean Mason taught himself the piano by ear at the age of 13. Despite musical roots in gospel, hip-hop, and R&B, it was jazz that inspired his career. He has performed and toured with jazz legends including Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, and Herlin Riley, among many others, and is noted for his ability to switch fluently between many different styles of music. He was the pianist for Netflix’s production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the History Channel’s Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, worked on both Hadestown and The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and off-Broadway has been a composer, orchestrator, and music director. His quintet performance at Caramoor will feature Mason’s original music (March 24).

American Roots Music in Collaboration with City Winery

Singer-songwriter Kat Wright launched her career with a weekly residency at the Radio Bean in Burlington, Vermont, gradually transitioning to an extensive and national touring schedule. The constraints of the pandemic encouraged her to tour with a smaller group, as she puts it “showcasing our folky/rootsy selves, all stripped down, a triangulation of our strengths, our bareness, our imperfect humanness, our voices, our ferocious tenderness, our love of songs and singing and story.” In 2017, Wright was a featured performer in the Eugene Jarecki music documentary, The King (Oct 14).

Based in Alexandria, Virginia, acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Yasmin Williams has an unorthodox, modern style of playing. Using various techniques including alternate tunings, percussive hits, and lap tapping, her “radiant sound and adventitious origins have made her a key figure in a diverse dawn for the solo guitar” (New York Times). She plays a solo show in the Music Room in the spring (May 12).

Popular

Olivier-nominated actress Sierra Boggess reinvented the role of Christine in Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera for Broadway, West End and televised 25th-anniversary concert productions, earning accolades from the composer himself, who declared “she’s the best, the best Christine certainly.” She made her Broadway debut as Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, receiving Drama Desk and Drama League nominations and the Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Female Breakthrough Performance. She also reprised the role of Christine in Love Never Dies, the critically acclaimed sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award. The Los Angeles Times has praised her for “crystalline singing and gameness for comedy.” Boggess performs in a special cabaret benefit at Caramoor in the fall (Oct 22).

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain “believes that all genres of music are available for reinterpretation, as long as they are played on the ukulele.” Performing on small and large instruments in high and low registers, as well as singing, the eight-person ensemble sits in a chamber group format dressed in formal evening wear and presents programs of “the pompous and the trivial, the moving and the amusing.” The Guardian declared that “the ukulele has found its avant garde,” while the Financial Times raved: “The sophisticated sound they make – both percussive and melodic – is at once hilarious and heartfelt” (May 6).

Family

Caramoor presents a celebration of Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, for the second year as a free outdoor family event. The rich cultural holiday will be observed through traditional music, dance, arts & crafts, and storytelling so that loved ones are honored in this lively celebration (Oct 16).

Mentoring

The Ivalas Quartet formed at the University of Michigan in 2017 and serves as the 2022-23 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence. Comprising violinists Reuben Kebede and Tiani Butts, violist Aimée McAnulty and cellist Pedro Sánchez, the quartet is dedicated to the celebration of BIPOC voices. Ivalas seeks to disrupt the classical music world by continuously spotlighting BIPOC composers such as Jessie Montgomery, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Eleanor Alberga, whose First String Quartet is featured on the quartet’s fall performance in the Music Room. Following a performance of George Walker’s Lyric for Strings at Carnegie Hall in January of 2020, they worked in collaboration with Walker’s son to program his String Quartet No. 1, which is included in their second Caramoor performance. Both programs are completed by pairings of traditional and contemporary repertoire: quartets from Osvaldo Golijov and Beethoven in the fall program, and Brahms and Webern in the spring (Nov 13; April 16).

Young artists from Caramoor’s chamber mentorship program, Evnin Rising Stars, perform in a pair of concerts in the fall, for which the program’s guest Artistic Director, cellist Marcy Rosen, is joined by distinguished artists Joseph Lin, violin, an alumnus of the program, and Steven Tenenbom, viola. Participating young artists are Claire Bourg, Geneva Lewis and Stephanie Zyzak, violins; Njord Kårason Fossnes and Tanner Menees, violas; Nathan Chan and Sterling Elliott, cellos; and Zhu Wang on piano. Over the course of the two programs, the young instrumentalists take on quartets by Haydn and Janáček and string quintets by Brahms and Mozart, as well as piano quintets by Dvořák and Dohnányi (Oct 29 & 30). Finally, led by

Artistic Director Steven Blier, the singers of Caramoor’s Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program take part in a creatively curated concert in the spring (March 12).

Getting to Caramoor

Getting to Caramoor is simple by car or public transportation. All parking is free and close to the performance areas. Handicapped parking is also free and readily available. By car from New York City, take the Henry Hudson Parkway north to the Saw Mill River Parkway north to I-684 north to Exit 6. Go east on Route 35 to the traffic light (0.3 miles). Turn right onto Route 22 south, and travel 1.9 miles to the junction of Girdle Ridge Road where there is a green Caramoor sign. At the junction, veer left and make a quick right onto Girdle Ridge Road. Continue on Girdle Ridge Road 0.5 miles to the Caramoor gates on the right. Approximate drive time is one hour. By train from Grand Central Station, take the Harlem Division Line of the Metro-North Railroad heading to Southeast, and exit at Katonah. Caramoor is a 3.5-mile drive from the Katonah station.

 

About Caramoor

Caramoor is a cultural arts destination located on a unique 80-plus-acre campus with Italianate architecture and gardens in Northern Westchester County, NY. Its beautiful grounds include the historic Rosen House, a stunning mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Besides enriching the lives of its audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality, Caramoor mentors young professional musicians and provides music-centered educational programs for young children.

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Caramoor Fall 22/Spring 23 season

All concerts in Rosen House Music Room unless otherwise specified

 

Fri, Sep 30 at 8pm

Melissa Aldana Quartet

Presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center

 

Fri, Oct 14 at 8pm

Kat Wright

Presented in collaboration with City Winery

 

Sun, Oct 16 at 2pm

Free Community Event

Celebrate Día de Muertos

 

Sat, Oct 22 at 8pm

Cabaret Benefit

Sierra Boggess

 

Sat, Oct 29 at 8pm and Sun, Oct 30 at 3pm

Evnin Rising Stars

Marcy Rosen, guest Artistic Director and cello

Joseph Lin, violin

Steven Tenenbom, viola

Claire Bourg, violin

Geneva Lewis, violin

Stephanie Zyzak, violin

Njord Kårason Fossnes, viola

Tanner Menees, viola

Nathan Chan, cello

Sterling Elliott, cello

Zhu Wang, piano

Oct 29: JOSEPH HAYDN: String Quartet in B-flat, H.III:44

               JOHANNES BRAHMS: String Quintet No. 1 in F, Op. 88

               ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Piano Quartet in E-flat, Op. 87

 

Oct 30: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: String Quintet in D, K. 593

               LEOŠ JANÁČEK: String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters”

               ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI: Piano Quintet No. 2 in E-flat minor, Op. 26

 

Sun, Nov 6 at 3pm

Jeremy Denk, piano

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 846-869

 

Sun, Nov 13 at 3pm

Ivalas Quartet (2022-23 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence)

OSVALDO GOLIJOV: Tenebrae

ELEANOR ALBERGA: String Quartet No. 1

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat, Op. 130

 

Sun, Nov 20 at 3pm

Iestyn Davies, countertenor/Thomas Dunford, lute

CHARLES TESSIER: “In a Grove Most Rich of Shade”

JOHN DOWLAND: Mrs. Winter’s Jump; Praeludium; “Lady if you so spite me”; Round Battle Galliard; A Dream; A Fancy; “In darkness let me dwell”; “Far From Triumphing Court”; Melancholy Galliard

RICHARD MARTIN: “Change thy mind since she doth change”

DOMENICO MARIA MELLI: “Se di farmi morire”

PIERRE GUÉDRON: “Ce penser qui”; “Vous que le Bonheur”

ANTHONY HOLBORNE: Pavan 2; “My heavy sprite opprest with sorrowes might”

PIERRE GUÉDRON: “Se le parler et le silence”

ROBERT HALES: “O Eyes, Leave Off Your Weeping”

JOHANNES HIERONYMUS KAPSBERGER: Toccata VI

JOAN AMBROSIO DALZA: Calata ala spagnola

JOHANNES HIERONYMUS KAPSBERGER: Toccata No. 1

DANIEL BATCHELOR: “To Plead My Faith”

GIULIO CACCINI: “Amarilli, mia bella”; “Dovrò dunque morire”

ANONYMOUS: “O bella più”; “Passava Amor”; “Vuestros ojos tienen d’amor”; “O Dear Life”; “Sta Notte Mi Sognava”; “Go My Flock”

 

Sat, Dec 10 at 3pm & 5pm

Calmus

CHRISTMAS A CAPPELLA

11TH CENTURY: “Sis willekommen, Herre Kerst” (arr. by Günther Raphael)

14TH CENTURY: “Resonet in laudibus” (arr. by Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591))

16TH CENTURY: “Remember, O Thou Man” (melody by Thomas Ravencroft (1611), arr. by Ludwig Böhme))

THOMAS MORLEY: Madrigal for Christmas

PHILIP RADCLIFFE: “Mary walked through a wood of thorn”

19TH CENTURY (FRANCE): “Il est né, le divin Enfant” (arr: Ludwig Böhme)

ANONYMOUS: “God rest ye merry, Gentlemen”

ANONYMOUS: “Les anges dans nos campagnes”

ANONYMOUS: “Betlehems Stjärna” (Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane) arr. by Jens Troester (1970))

HUGH MARTIN: Meet Me in St. Louis: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Ralph Blane (co-composer) arr: by Jens Troester (1970))

TRADITIONAL: “De tierra lejana venimos” (arr. by Juan Garcia (1976))

ANONYMOUS: “Ding Dong Merrily on High”

ANONYMOUS: “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (Frederic Austin/William Henry Husk), arr. by Ludwig Böhme))

 

Sun, March 12 at 3pm

Schwab Vocal Rising Stars

Steven Blier, Artistic Director

Bénédicte Jourdois, Associate Director

Artists to be announced

 

Fri, March 24 at 8pm

Sean Mason Quintet

Presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center

 

Sun, April 16 at 3pm

Ivalas Quartet (22-23 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence)

GEORGE WALKER: String Quartet No. 1 (In Memory of My Grandmother M.K.)

ANTON WEBERN: String Quartet

JOHANNES BRAHMS: String Quartet in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1

 

Sun, April 23 at 3pm

Takács Quartet

JOSEPH HAYDN: String Quartet in F, H.III:82

FANNY MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in E-flat

FRANZ SCHUBERT: String Quartet in G, D. 887

 

Sun, April 30 at 3pm

Rachel Podger, violin

All-BACH program

Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001

Cello Suite No. 3 in G (orig in C), BWV 1009

Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002

 

Sat, May 6 at 8pm

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

 

Fri, May 12 at 8pm

Yasmin Williams, guitar

Presented in collaboration with City Winery

 

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© 21C Media Group, July 2022