Newport Classical Music Festival Presents Four Special Chamber Music Concerts at The Breakers and Blithewold Mansion
Newport Classical Music Festival Presents Four Special Chamber Music Concerts at The Breakers and Blithewold Mansion
Clockwise from top left: Chen-Lipman-Cho Trio, Parker Quartet, Trio Karénine, Cerus Saxophone Quartet.
Press photos available here.
2026 Newport Classical Music Festival
Four Special Chamber Music Performances
July 5: Parker Quartet
July 7: Cerus Saxophone Quartet
July 8: String Trios with Chen-Lipman-Cho
July 12: Trio Karénine
Tickets & Information: www.newportclassical.org/music-festival
Newport, RI – From July 2-19, 2026, the Newport Classical Music Festival will again turn this “City by the Sea” into a summer destination for music lovers, featuring 30 concerts across 11 unforgettable venues, from cliffside lawns to gilded mansions, including the stunning interiors of The Breakers, The Elms, Castle Hill Inn, Blithewold Mansion, Rosecliff Mansion, Redwood Library and Athenæum, and more. This year, Newport Classical focuses on the intimate genre of chamber music for trios and quartets in four special performances between July 5 and July 12 – the GRAMMY® Award-winning Parker Quartet (July 5 at The Breakers); Gold Medal Fischoff Competition winners the Cerus Saxophone Quartet (July 7 at Blithewold Mansion); supergroup trio violinist Stella Chen, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Brannon Cho (July 8 at The Breakers); and returning Festival favorites Trio Karénine (July 12 at The Breakers).
Internationally acclaimed for their “fearless, yet probingly beautiful” performances (The Strad), the GRAMMY® Award-winning Parker Quartet returns to Newport to perform at The Breakers on Sunday, July 5 at 8pm, in a vibrant program featuring Beethoven, Paul Wiancko, and Schubert. Renowned for their fresh interpretations of canonical works, the Quartet continues to chart a dynamic artistic path rooted in both tradition and innovation, having captivated audiences on the world’s premier stages for over two decades. The Parker Quartet's name is inspired by the Parker House, a Boston historic landmark. It celebrates the Quartet's New England home, honors the food legacy of the Parker House (Boston Cream Pie, Parker House Rolls), and pays homage to the great history of artists and writers who used the Parker House as a meeting point.
On Tuesday, July 7 at 11am, spend a beautiful morning on the outdoor grounds of Blithewold Mansion with the Cerus Saxophone Quartet. Named for the mythical wild bull tamed by Persephone, Cerus brings the same spirit to the stage, blending works from the traditional classical cannon and new contemporary works with energy, precision, and playful imagination. From Grieg and Piazzolla to living composers like Karalyn Schubring and Joan Perez-Villegas, the quartet’s program spans centuries and styles, showcasing the saxophone quartet as a dynamic voice in 21st-century chamber music.
Violinist Stella Chen, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist Brannon Cho join forces for an evening of chamber music trios on Wednesday, July 8 at 8pm. These three powerhouse musicians have each garnered international acclaim and have performed on prestigious stages worldwide with some of the world’s top orchestras. They come together to present a program pairing beloved Classical trios by Mozart and Dohnányi with a contemporary work by Andreia Pinto-Correia inspired by the individual voices of the ensemble, set against the glamorous backdrop of The Breakers.
After a sold-out Newport Classical debut in 2024, Trio Karénine returns to Newport for their first performance at The Breakers on Sunday, July 12 at 8pm. Praised by Newport Classical patrons as “one of the top performances I have seen” and for defining “what chamber music is all about,” the Paris-based trio is celebrated for its extraordinary cohesion and precision. Founded in 2009, Trio Karénine has appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Philharmonie de Paris, and the Frick Collection in New York. Acclaimed for their imaginative interpretations of the classical canon, the trio presents a program featuring works by Rimski-Korsakov, Saint-Saëns, and Tchaikovsky.
For 57 years, Newport Classical has showcased classical music as a living art form, presenting artists and programs that are diverse and ever-evolving in intimate and iconic venues that make every performance one of a kind. The 2026 Festival will again offer audiences the opportunity to discover new composers, revisit beloved works, and experience timeless works offered from a fresh perspective.
Highlights of the 2026 Festival include Opening Night with chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum; a celebration of the Golden Age of Opera with Lawrence Brownlee and Erin Morley; solo piano performances by Michelle Cann and Dmitry Shishkin, as well as a two-piano recital with Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy; a new work by Vivian Fung, co-commissioned by Newport Classical, performed by Sandbox Percussion and violinist Kristin Lee; performances by violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, VOCES8, Apollo’s Fire, Trio Karénine, WindSync, Cerus Saxophone Quartet, Beijing Guitar Duo, Parker Quartet, and more; two evenings with Broadway star Jeremy Jordan, known for his lead role in Newsies and most recently The Great Gatsby; and Closing Night with the GRAMMY® Award-winning Harlem Quartet, joined by Newport Classical’s Resident Festival Artists. Other highlights of the 2026 Newport Classical Music Festival include the beloved Sunrise Concerts at 5:15am; a concert inspired by nature at Norman Bird Sanctuary; a free Fourth of July concert at King Park; and this year’s young professional Newport Classical Resident Festival Artists in eight performances. Now in its fifth year, Newport Classical’s Festival Artists Residency Program brings together five professional musicians at the early stages of their careers for an intense period of rehearsal and music-making during the Festival. This summer, Newport Classical welcomes Nathan Amaral (violin); Joshua Brown (violin); Joseph Skerik (viola), Leland Ko (cello), and Janice Carissa (piano).
For the full schedule, visit: www.newportclassical.org/music-festival
About Newport Classical
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of live performing arts on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.
Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Enrichment and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools and community organizations to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, Clarice Assad, and Cris Derksen.
After a year-long community-driven process, and rooted in the organization’s mission “to celebrate the living art form of classical music in intimate and iconic locations,” Newport Classical released its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, presenting a clear roadmap to become a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant organization that enhances its programs and community engagement, promotes responsible financial growth and sustainability, and centers artistic excellence in every decision, as the organization aspires to open its doors even wider.
Opera at Caramoor in July - Paris's Les Arts Florissants and San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra - Only Tri-State Performances
Opera at Caramoor in July - Paris's Les Arts Florissants and San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra - Only Tri-State Performances
Les Arts Florissants by Julien Gazeau. Photos available in high resolution, here.
Opera at Caramoor’s Historic Venetian Theater in July
Friday, July 17 at 7:00pm: Les Arts Florissants in a Charpentier Double Bill
William Christie, Music Director
Marie Lambert-Le Bilhan and Stéphane Facco, Stage Directors
Featuring Singers from Les Jardin des Voix and Choreography by Martin Chaix
Tickets & Information
Sunday, July 26 at 4:00pm: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Handel’s Tolomeo
Peter Whelan, Music Director and James Darrah Black, Stage Director
Featuring Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Tolomeo and Lauren Snouffer as Seleuce
Tickets & Information
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | 149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Information
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts – a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY – will present two operas in July in its historic Venetian Theater, in both cases offering the only opportunity in the tri-state area to see these works this summer. Following the magical production of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at Caramoor in 2024, pioneering conductor and harpsichordist William Christie returns to present the work that gave his renowned Baroque ensemble its name, Les Arts Florissants, on Friday, July 17, 2026 at 7:00pm. The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, which has presented memorable performances of Handel’s Atalanta and Acisand Galatea at Caramoor in the past, returns on Sunday, July 26, 2026 at 4:00pm for a semi-staged production of Handel’s masterpiece, Tolomeo, re d'Egitto, led by newly appointed Music Director Peter Whelan and directed by James Darrah Black. These signature performances are part of Caramoor’s 2026 Summer Season featuring over thirty concerts throughout the grounds between June 20 and August 2, 2026. Caramoor, once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration.
For the first time since the 1980s and to celebrate the group’s 80th anniversary, William Christie has revived the short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier that gave its name to the ensemble –Les Arts Florissants. Presented with another operatic work by the same composer, La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus' Descent into the Underworld), this new staged production will offer the opportunity to discover the voices of the ten new laureates of Le Jardin des Voix (The Garden of Voices), Les Arts Florissants’ international academy for young singers. In this double bill, these two miniature operatic gems shimmer with expressive choruses, eloquent declamation, courtly airs, and vibrant instrumental colors, revealing the French composer’s dramatic genius. Truly a celebration of the arts, the production is directed by Marie Lambert-Le Bilhan and Stéphane Facco, with choreography by Martin Chaix for his dancers. A pre-concert talk by Julia I. Doe, Associate Professor of Music at Columbia University, starts at 6:00pm.
Celebrated Irish conductor, harpsichordist, and bassoonist Peter Whelan opens his first season as Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra’s Music Director with a semi-staged production of Handel’s Tolomeo, combining historically informed performance with theatrical elements that sharpen the drama. Stripped of power and living in exile under an assumed identity, Tolomeo must navigate betrayal, shifting loyalties, and enduring love as political order collapses around him. Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen takes the title role, leading an exceptional cast in one of Handel’s most emotionally charged scores. Stage director James Darrah Black brings a character-driven approach known for clear storytelling and psychological depth. Sung in Italian with English supertitles and performed on period instruments, the opera reflects the sound world Handel’s first audiences would have known. The elite cast of Baroque specialists also includes soprano Lauren Snouffer as Seleuce, soprano Nicole Heaston as Elisa, countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim as Alessandro, and bass-baritone Dashon Burton as Araspe. A pre-concert talk by MIT professor emeritus and Handel scholar Ellen T. Harris starts at 3:00pm.
Dining at Caramoor
Caramoor’s on-site dining options include Pre-Ordered Gourmet Picnics available for pick-up two hours prior to each concert, which can be pre-ordered until the Tuesday before the performance. The menu is prepared by local coffee and sandwich purveyor G.E. Brown with curated artisanal cheese boards from Second Mouse Cheese Shop. In addition, the Bravo Bar is open two hours before each performance, offering snacks and lemonade, iced tea, wine, cocktails, and buzz-free beverages as well as a rotating selection of offerings from local food creators including It Must Have Been the Bake, Bark and Brine BBQ, G.E. Brown, Pizza Girls, Walter’s Hot Dogs, Second Mouse Cheese Shop, LMNOP, and Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream. Specific offerings are noted for each performance on Caramoor’s website. For more information on Dining at Caramoor and to pre-order picnics, visit caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities.
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), the seasonal Bravo Bar concessions stand, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.
For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events
Ticketing Information
Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.
Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, NY.
More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit
June 21-Aug. 1: American Roots, Jazz, and Global Music at Caramoor – Eleven Summer Performances and Events
June 21-Aug. 1: American Roots, Jazz, and Global Music at Caramoor – Eleven Summer Performances and Events
Friends Field at Caramoor. Photo by Gabe Palacio, available in high resolution here.
American Roots, Jazz, and Global Music at Caramoor
Eleven Festivals and Concerts from June 21 to August 1, 2026
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | 149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Information
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts – a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY – embraces American Roots, Jazz, and Global Music with eleven events and concerts from June 21 to August 1, 2026. Part of Caramoor’s 2026 Summer Season of over thirty performances between June 20 and August 2, 2026, these concerts underscore the musical diversity Caramoor embraces in its programming, highlighting the creativity of artists across genres. Caramoor, once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration. The Summer Season immerses the entire estate in music, with performances happening in five distinct settings – the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room.
“I think the musical diversity on our stages is what transforms Caramoor from a standard concert venue into a vibrant cultural ecosystem where different musical traditions live side-by-side,” says VP and Artistic Director Kathy Schuman. ”And, the breadth of our multi-genre programming matches the expansive nature of the Caramoor grounds.”
Dedicated Men of Zion – Celebrating Juneteenth
Sunday, June 21, 2026 at 4:00pm, Gala Tent (Free)
With roots in gospel and their voices in harmony, the Dedicated Men of Zion bring a jubilant sacred soul tradition to Caramoor for the annual free Juneteenth celebration. Their sound carries the strength of their Eastern North Carolina church upbringing, blending praise, joy, and deep-rooted family ties. This performance offers a powerful reminder of the resilience and joy at the heart of this vital day in American history.
Isaac Mizrahi and his Jazz Band
Friday, June 26, 2026 at 7:30pm, Venetian Theater
Presented in collaboration with The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center
Caramoor celebrates Pride Month with a concert by entertainment and fashion legend Isaac Mizrahi and his jazz band (Mizrahi, vocals; Ben Waltzer, music director/pianist; Kellen Hanas, trumpet; Chloe Rowlands, trumpet; Neal Miner, bass; Joe Strasser, drums; and Dan Aran, percussion). Mizrahi has spent over 35 years at the intersection of entertainment, media, and fashion, earning acclaim as a performer, singer, host, writer, designer, and producer. Performing with his incredible jazz band, Mizrahi brings his signature wit and musical flair to concert stages across the country. His multi-week residency at New York City’s Café Carlyle sells out every year, and he celebrates his 10th anniversary of playing this iconic venue in 2026. Mizrahi will serenade the Caramoor audience with iconic tunes by artists from Madonna to Stephen Sondheim and everything in between, all interspersed with his signature, unfiltered storytelling. Expect a hilarious, sophisticated, and undeniably fabulous evening. Note: This performance may include mature themes and is not recommended for children.
American Roots Music Festival
Saturday, June 27, 2026 from 12:30 to 7:00pm, Caramoor Grounds
Presented in collaboration with City Winery
Caramoor’s annual American Roots Music Festival fills the stunning grounds with the sounds of Americana, folk, bluegrass, and more. Audiences can wander from stage to stage and discover their next favorite artist as an incredible lineup of bands performs at Caramoor’s picturesque venues. This year’s festival features the high-energy Memphis soul of Southern Avenue; an acoustic exploration of the Grateful Dead songbook with Deadgrass; the rich, evocative storytelling of Caleb Caudle & The Sweet Critters; the next-generation alt-country flair of Chloe Kimes; the energetic and introspective folk, bluegrass, and Americana-inspired music of Low Lily; the vintage-inspired sounds of The Moonrise Cartel; and the exceptional fingerstyle guitar performance of Henry Ferland.
Louis Armstrong Hot Five Centennial Celebration
Friday, July 3, 2026 at 7:30pm, Friends Field
Presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
The music Louis Armstrong created in the 1920s with his small group, the Hot Five, remains among the most influential, timeless, and joyous in the history of American music. Under the auspices of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, and on the eve of what Armstrong always claimed to be his birthday (the Fourth of July), two-time GRAMMY®-winning trumpeter Alphonso Horne will lead an all-star ensemble of today’s finest jazz musicians in celebration of the 100th anniversary of this groundbreaking group. Co-hosted byHorne and pianist Ricky Riccardi, the evening honors the recordings that transformed jazz from a collective style into a soloist’s art form, forever changing the course of popular music. While Armstrong is celebrated worldwide as the beloved entertainer behind classics like What a Wonderful World and Hello, Dolly, it was these revolutionary recordings from a century ago that reshaped the sound and future of jazz.
Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca – Afro-Cuban Rhythms
Thursday, July 9, 2026 at 7:30pm, Friends Field
Los Angeles-based singer Ricardo Lemvo and his band Makina Loca, which Lemvo formed in 1990, channel the rich currents of the Afro-Cuban global diaspora, blending Congolese soukous music, salsa horn blasts, and Angolan cadence into one irresistible groove. The group’s joyous, multilingual songs invite every dancer in the house to join in, making them a perfect addition to Caramoor’s festive Summer Season.
Patty Griffin
Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 7:30pm, Venetian Theater
Presented in collaboration with City Winery
Patty Griffin, one of the most consequential singer-songwriters of her generation, brings her emotive spirit and deeply personal music to share with audiences at Caramoor. Over two decades, the two-time GRAMMY® Award winner – and seven-time nominee – and Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement award winner, has crafted a remarkable body of work that prompted TheNew York Times to hail her for “[writing] cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits of specific people…[her] songs have independent lives that continue in your head when the music ends.” Griffin’s latest album, Crown of Roses, released in July 2025, is a deeply personal and introspective work that explores themes of identity, nature, family, and womanhood.
Punch Brothers
Saturday, July 18, 2026 at 7:30pm, Venetian Theater
Presented in collaboration with City Winery
Punch Brothers are a virtuosic American string band with bluegrass roots, but one whose imagination spans classical, jazz, and folk traditions, earning them acclaim from The New Yorker as “one of the most incredible bands this country has ever produced.” With impeccable acoustic musicianship and emotional depth, they have won a GRAMMY® for Best Folk Album and bring both precision and spontaneity to the stage.
Yuja Wang, piano and People of Earth
Thursday, July 23, 2026 at 7:30pm, Venetian Theater
One of today’s most electrifying pianists, Yuja Wang, makes her Caramoor debut in a new project with New York City’s most exciting Latin music supergroup, People of Earth. Their date at Caramoor is the first public performance of this brand new collaboration and the only opportunity to hear them on the East Coast this summer. Wang and People of Earth join forces for a vibrant journey through the sounds of the Caribbean, composed and music-directed by Cuban piano phenom Ahmed Alom. People of Earth includes Raul Rios, trumpet and vocals; Jesus Ricardo, trumpet and vocals; Rubén Rengel, violin and vocals; Ivan Llanes, percussion and vocals; and Gabriel Globus-Hoenich, percussion and bandleader.
Caramoor Jazz Festival
Saturday, July 25, 2026 from 12:30pm to 9:00pm, Caramoor Grounds
Presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
Caramoor is all about jazz with its annual all-day Jazz Festival, featuring an abundance of lively performances that invite audiences to wander, listen, and discover music unfolding across the gardens and open-air stages. Spend the day immersed in sound and shared experience with performances by Caramoor favorite Emmet Cohen Trio with special guest vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan; The Music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane Centennial Celebrationwith theWalter Blanding Quintet; Miguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo; Dion Parson & 21st Century Band; Sofia ReiandJorge Roeder; Georgia Heers; William Hill III Trio; Fabiano do Nascimento; Jazz at Lincoln Center Summer Jazz Academy Big Bands; Family Set: Musical Storytime with Kate and Jake Goldbas.
Ruckus: The Edinburgh Rollick
Friday, July 31, 2026 at 7:30pm, Spanish Courtyard
In The Edinburgh Rollick, Ruckus and violinist Keir GoGwilt celebrate the legacy of Niel Gow (b. Perthshire, 1727-1807), one of Scotland’s most important musicians, in this dynamic folk-Baroque feast of Scottish dance music. Weaving together these jubilant, hard-driving and nostalgic tunes into large-scale dramatic forms, Ruckus and GoGwilt bring the 18th-century tradition of blending folk and art music to the present day. Ruckus is a shapeshifting, collaborative Baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music. Described as “the world’s only period-instrument rock band” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Ruckus’ core is a continuo group, the Baroque equivalent of a jazz rhythm section: guitars, keyboards, cello, bassoon and bass.
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 7:30pm, Venetian Theater
Presented in collaboration with City Winery
A three-time GRAMMY® winner and one of America’s most adventurous songwriters, Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers engage in genre-defying performances that blur the lines between rock, jazz, bluegrass, and improvisational jam. Known for hits like The Way It Is as well as collaborations with the Grateful Dead, Hornsby continues to reinvent his sound while staying rooted in masterful songwriting and brilliant piano work. The band’s live shows are known for virtuosity, spontaneity, and Hornsby’s unmistakable piano touch. Their Caramoor performance will feature music from throughout Hornsby’s extensive and musically diverse career, including music from his new 2026 album, Indigo Park.
Dining at Caramoor
Caramoor’s on-site dining options include Pre-Ordered Gourmet Picnics available for pick-up two hours prior to each concert, which can be pre-ordered until the Tuesday before the performance. The menu is prepared by local coffee and sandwich purveyor G.E. Brown with curated artisanal cheese boards from Second Mouse Cheese Shop. In addition, the Bravo Bar is open two hours before each performance, offering snacks and lemonade, ice tea, wine, cocktails, and buzz-free beverages as well as a rotating selection of offerings from local food creators including It Must Have Been the Bake, Bark and Brine BBQ, G.E. Brown, Pizza Girls, Walter’s Hot Dogs,Second Mouse Cheese Shop, LMNOP, and Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream. Specific offerings are noted for each performance on Caramoor’s website. For more information on Dining at Caramoor and to pre-order picnics, visit caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities.
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August infive distinct settings (the Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.
For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events
Ticketing Information
Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.
Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, NY.
More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit
Oct. 2: Classical Soul Pianist Alexis Ffrench Releases New Album 24 on Sony Masterworks – New Single Grateful Out Now
Oct. 2: Classical Soul Pianist Alexis Ffrench Releases New Album 24 on Sony Masterworks – New Single Grateful Out Now
PR Photo: Credit – Alex Lake (Download)
Pioneering Composer and Pianist
Alexis Ffrench
New Single: Grateful
Out Now - Listen Here
Taken From Upcoming Album, 24
Worldwide Album Release Date: October 2, 2026
Pre-Save Here
New York, NY – Pioneering pianist, composer and chart-topping Classical Soul artist Alexis Ffrench has shared new single, Grateful, out now from his forthcoming album 24 - listen here. The album set for release on October 2, 2026 and available for pre-save here.
Formed of 24 meticulously crafted piano pieces and intended as a musical companion to the clockwork regularity of everyday life, 24 unveils as an intimate and immersive snapshot of a singular day.
Gently guiding listeners from dawn to dusk – through the quiet of early morning into the busy heart of day and on to the evening’s golden hour – 24 is woven from daydreams, memories of human connection and the desire for authenticity amongst an ever evolving and increasingly simulated digital age.
Made at legendary Provençal studio Miraval, owned by Brad Pitt and Damien Quintard, Ffrench recorded 24 during ten-days of near-total immersion on an array vintage of grand pianos, upright pianos and organs. Adding delicate ripples of percussion to the record’s kaleidoscopic sound, 24 also enlists a string ensemble featuring harp and upright bass.
Inspired in part by the many messages Ffrench has received from listeners throughout his career, 24 finds Ffrench reflecting on what his music means to those who find solace in it and the cherished moments it has served to soundtrack. He explains: “I wanted this album to reflect the everyday miracles in people’s lives.”
Throughout his career, Ffrench has asked one question above all others: “what do my listeners need from me?” Now, with 24, the answer is both simple and profound: music to live by.
2026 also marks the 20th anniversary of Ffrench’s seminal debut album Piano Diaries. With each piece evoking the pull of a series of intimate and reflective moments, the record fuses cinematic simplicity with an emotionally direct and highly accessible composition that welcomes all listeners to step directly into Ffrench’s intimate and atmospheric world.
One of the world’s most exciting artists, Alexis Ffrench has played a pivotal role in bringing instrumental music to an ever-increasing audience. His accolades speak for themselves, with well over 1 billion streams across his catalogue, multiple No.1 albums and Gold-selling status in the USA for his single “Bluebird.”
Whether he’s performing at the King’s Coronation Concert to an audience of over 18 million, scooping an ARIA Award for his Apple Music show Classical Connections, hosting brand-new Classic FM series “Music to Live By”, performing at major festivals and selling out venues worldwide, hosting masterclasses with schools & charitable organizations or putting his own spin on contemporary pop hits for his enthusiastic social media audience, Alexis is driven by the desire to make music accessible to all.
Refusing to be penned in by genre, time period or the expectations of the kind of musician he should be, and rather than leaning into the traditional understanding of the ‘classical’ genre, Alexis instead leans outward – with his expansive perspective drawing on a multifarious mosaic of influences that takes his listeners by the hand and leads them on a journey through a world of possibility.
With the new album acting as a timelessly enchanting musical journey through the in numerous possibilities held inside one singular day, 24 is the first studio album from Alexis Ffrench since 2024’s Classical Soul Vol. 1 – welcoming in a contemplative and captivating new dawn for the forerunner of contemporary classical music.
Alexis Ffrench - New Album 24 out October 2, 2026
Listen to Blackbird Rising and Blackbird Returning, and Pre-Save 24 here
About Alexis Ffrench
Alexis Ffrench is an artist with a special ability to create music for the soul. A pioneering superstar and trailblazer of ‘Classical Soul’, Alexis’ sound refuses to be penned in by genre, time period, or the expectations of the kind of musician he should be. Rather than leaning into the narrow, traditional understandings of ‘classical’, Alexis instead leans outward, expansive in his perspective, drawing on a multifarious mosaic of influences that takes the listener by the hand and leads them on a journey through a world of possibility.
Alexis’ accolades speak for themselves, as he has surpassed a staggering 1 billion streams across his catalogue, his record Evolution and his single ‘Bluebird’ achieved RIAA Gold status in the US.
A passionate advocate for music education, Alexis is the first-ever Artistic Director of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in its 133-year history. He is also Trustee and Governing Body Member and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and Honorary Fellow of Homerton College, Cambridge. Alexis is an Ambassador for Restore The Music, who work with state schools to provide funding to buy musical instruments and ensure every young person has access to music.
Alexis Ffrench Socials
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Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.
Newport Classical Music Festival Celebrates the Piano with Four Featured Concerts in July at The Breakers, Castle Hill Inn, and Emmanuel Church
Newport Classical Music Festival Celebrates the Piano with Four Featured Concerts in July at The Breakers, Castle Hill Inn, and Emmanuel Church
L-R: Blake Pouliot, Henry Kramer, Trio Zimbalist. Photos available in high resolution here.
2026 Newport Classical Music Festival
Celebrates the Piano in Four Featured Concerts
July 3: Dmitry Shishkin
July 7: Michelle Cann
July 11: Janice Carissa
July 17: Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy
Tickets & Information: www.newportclassical.org/music-festival
Newport, RI – From July 2-19, 2026, the Newport Classical Music Festival will again turn this “City by the Sea” into a summer destination for music lovers, featuring 30 concerts across 11 unforgettable venues, from cliffside lawns to gilded mansions, including the stunning interiors of The Breakers, The Elms, Castle Hill Inn, Blithewold Mansion, Rosecliff Mansion, Redwood Library and Athenæum, and more. This year, Newport Classical presents four concerts celebrating the piano, showcasing some of today’s most sought-after performers – Tchaikovsky Competition winner Dmitry Shishkin (July 3 at The Breakers), GRAMMY® Award-winner Michelle Cann (July 7 at Castle Hill Inn, sold out but a waitlist is available), Gilmore Young Artist Janice Carissa (July 11 at Emmanuel Church), and “piano magicians” (The Arts Desk) duo Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy (July 17 at The Breakers).
On Friday, July 3 at 8pm at The Breakers, Dmitry Shishkin brings the artistry that has earned him international acclaim to Newport audiences in a program featuring Schubert, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky. Regarded as one of the most compelling pianists of his generation, Shishkin is a prizewinner of the International Tchaikovsky and Geneva International Music Competitions, and has been praised by Gramophone for his “imaginative pointing to his phrasing.” He has appeared on major international stages and with leading orchestras around the world, including the Tokyo Symphony, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium, Staatskapelle Weimar, and the Russian National Orchestra, among others.
“A pianist of sterling artistry” (Gramophone), GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann makes her Newport debut with a picturesque concert at Castle Hill Inn on Tuesday, July 7 at 7:30pm. A recipient of both the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, Cann has established herself as one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Her program includes music by Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Clara Schumann – three composers whose lives were intertwined through friendship and love. Ticket holders can enjoy complimentary desserts and coffee during intermission, with drinks available for purchase, all set against the stunning backdrop of a Newport summer sunset over the water. This concert is sold out, but a waitlist is available.
A Gilmore Young Artist and Salon de Virtuosi recipient, Indonesian pianist Janice Carissa is celebrated for her ability to craft vivid musical narratives that transcend mere virtuosity (Chicago Classical Review). Having performed for the President of Indonesia at the Presidential Palace Indonesia and earning ovations in the United Nations, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and Louis Vuitton Foundation, she brings her impeccable talent to Newport for an afternoon recital at the historic Emmanuel Church on Saturday, July 11 at 3pm. Paired with the venue's stunning English gothic architecture, Carissa presents a program spanning Bach, Granados, Alkan, Ravel, Messiaen, and more.
Described as “piano magicians” by The Arts Desk, duo Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy bring their synergy to Newport for a magical night of interplay between two of today’s most compelling pianists, on Friday, July 17 at 8pm. Known for their inventive site-specific performances, from car parks in London to historic theaters in Aldeburgh, they now add The Breakers mansion to their impressive list of unique venues. Their program is anchored by Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye, promising an evening of “magical” (BBC Music Magazine) and playful dialogue between two pianos and four hands.
For 57 years, Newport Classical has showcased classical music as a living art form, presenting artists and programs that are diverse and ever-evolving in intimate and iconic venues that make every performance one of a kind. The 2026 Festival will again offer audiences the opportunity to discover new composers, revisit beloved works, and experience timeless works offered from a fresh perspective.
Highlights of the 2026 Festival include Opening Night with chamber orchestra Delirium Musicum; a celebration of the Golden Age of Opera with Lawrence Brownlee and Erin Morley; solo piano performances by Michelle Cann and Dmitry Shishkin, as well as a two-piano recital with Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy; a new work by Vivian Fung, co-commissioned by Newport Classical, performed by Sandbox Percussion and violinist Kristin Lee; performances by violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, VOCES8, Apollo’s Fire, Trio Karénine, WindSync, Cerus Saxophone Quartet, Beijing Guitar Duo, Parker Quartet, and more; two evenings with Broadway star Jeremy Jordan, known for his lead role in Newsies and most recently The Great Gatsby; and Closing Night with the GRAMMY® Award-winning Harlem Quartet, joined by Newport Classical’s Resident Festival Artists. Other highlights of the 2026 Newport Classical Music Festival include the beloved Sunrise Concerts at 5:15am; a concert inspired by nature at Norman Bird Sanctuary; a free Fourth of July concert at King Park; and this year’s young professional Newport ClassicalResidentFestival Artists in eight performances. Now in its fifth year, Newport Classical’s Festival ArtistsResidency Program brings together five professional musicians at the early stages of their careers for an intense period of rehearsal and music-making during the Festival. This summer, Newport Classical welcomes Nathan Amaral (violin); Joshua Brown (violin); Joseph Skerik (viola), Leland Ko (cello), and Janice Carissa (piano).
For the full schedule, visit: www.newportclassical.org/music-festival
About Newport Classical
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of live performing arts on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.
Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Enrichment and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools and community organizations to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, Clarice Assad, and Cris Derksen.
After a year-long community-driven process, and rooted in the organization’s mission “to celebrate the living art form of classical music in intimate and iconic locations,” Newport Classical released its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, presenting a clear roadmap to become a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant organization that enhances its programs and community engagement, promotes responsible financial growth and sustainability, and centers artistic excellence in every decision, as the organization aspires to open its doors even wider.
July 20 & Aug. 3: Jupiter String Quartet Returns to Bowdoin International Music Festival for 2026
July 20 & Aug. 3: Jupiter String Quartet Returns to Bowdoin International Music Festival for 2026
Photo of the Jupiter Quartet by Todd Rosenberg available in high resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/jupiter-string
Jupiter String Quartet Returns to Bowdoin International Music Festival Performing on July 20 and August 3
Monday, July 20 at 7:30pm: Jupiter Quartet and Ying Quartet
Free Livestream Available
More Information
Monday, August 3 at 7:30pm: Jupiter Quartet
Studzinski Recital Hall | 12 Campus Road S. | Brunswick, ME
Tickets and More Information
Free Livestream for Both Performances: www.bowdoinfestival.org/festivalive
“an ensemble of eloquent intensity, has matured into one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene.” – The New Yorker
Brunswick, ME – The internationally esteemed Jupiter String Quartet, a uniquely intimate ensemble built around family bonds, will present two distinctive programs at the 2026 Bowdoin International Music Festival this summer on July 20 and August 3. The first performance brings the Illinois-based ensemble together with their longtime friends and colleagues, the Ying Quartet (Robin Scott, Janet Ying, violin; Phillip Ying, viola; David Ying, cello) and the second features the bond-driven artistry of the Jupiters on their own. Both concerts take place at Studzinski Recital Hall, 12 Campus Road South, Brunswick, ME.
Based at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and giving concerts all over the country, the Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Mélanie Clapiès and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband, Liz’s brother-in-law). While the Jupiter String Quartet are beloved, frequent guests at Bowdoin, this year is particularly special, as it marks their first visit with new violinist Mélanie Clapiès.
The Jupiter String Quartet continues to be a beloved presence at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, where their collaborative spirit aligns perfectly with the Festival's mission of bringing together exceptional musicians from around the world. Their partnership with the Ying Quartet has been a part of their performances over several seasons, creating the kind of musical friendships that produce memorable performances.
July 20, 7:30pm: The Jupiter String Quartet comes together on stage with longtime friends and collaborators, the Ying Quartet (Robin Scott, Janet Ying, violin; Phillip Ying, viola; David Ying, cello), for a performance highlighting the groups’ unique group chemistries in two works that embrace dynamic and deeply expressive melodies and harmonies. The concert will include: String Sextet in B-flat Major, Op. 18 by Johannes Brahms, performed by the Jupiter String Quartet with violist Phillip Ying and cellist David Ying; and Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 by Felix Mendelssohn, performed by the Ying Quartet and Jupiter String Quartet. Tickets are sold out but the free livestream is available at www.bowdoinfestival.org/festivalive.
August 3, 7:30pm: The Jupiter String Quartet’s vibrant artistic connections shine in a colorful program inspired by nature and culture featuring Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33 No. 3 “The Bird,” Cançoes da America by Clarice Assad, and String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 by Johannes Brahms. Tickets and information with the free livestream are available here: https://www.bowdoinfestival.org/event/jupiter-string-quartet-2026/
Since forming in 2001, the Jupiter String Quartet has turned their unique family dynamic into a musical strength. The personal connections that bind them – sisters who grew up making music together, a marriage that deepened musical partnership – create an intuitive ensemble communication that audiences consistently notice. Their performances exude an energy that feels friendly, knowledgeable, and adventurous, bringing their close-knit musical relationships to the stage.
“Bowdoin is our home away from home in the summer—an incredibly welcoming place where we can collaborate with wonderful fellow musicians, teach promising students, and enjoy hanging out with the huge chamber music family that surrounds the festival,” says the Jupiter String Quartet. “David and Phillip Ying and their fantastic staff always go out of their way to welcome our whole traveling circus of children, babysitters, relatives, etc., and we all look forward to our weeks in Maine throughout the year.”
More About Jupiter String Quartet: The Jupiter Quartet has performed in some of the world’s finest halls, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, Austria’s Esterhazy Palace, and Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall. Their major music festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival and School, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Music at Menlo, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Centre, the Seoul Spring Festival, and many others. In addition to their performing career, they have been artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2012, where they maintain private studios and direct the chamber music program.
Their chamber music honors and awards include the grand prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; the Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York City; the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America; an Avery Fisher Career Grant; and a grant from the Fromm Foundation. From 2007-2010, they were in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two.
The Jupiter String Quartet feels a strong connection to the core string quartet repertoire; they have presented the complete Bartok and Beethoven string quartets on numerous occasions. Also deeply committed to new music, they have commissioned string quartets from Nathan Shields, Stephen Andrew Taylor, Michi Wiancko, Syd Hodkinson, Hannah Lash, Dan Visconti, and Kati Agócs; a quintet with baritone voice by Mark Adamo; and a piano quintet by Pierre Jalbert.
In addition to Undreamed Shores, the Jupiter’s discography includes a collaborative album with the Jasper Quartet released on Marquis Records in 2021, featuring Dan Visconti’s Eternal Breath, Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat, Op. 20, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round, which was praised by The Arts Fuse for its “smart program and fine execution.” The quartet has recorded previously for Azica Records and Deutsche Grammophon.
The quartet chose its name because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four.
About the Bowdoin International Music Festival: The Bowdoin International Music Festival is one of the world’s premier music institutes. The Festival engages exceptional students and enthusiastic audiences through world-class education and performances. Each summer, 275 students from across the globe attend the Festival to study with distinguished faculty and guest artists, and the Festival presents 200 events, including concerts, masterclasses, composer lectures, and community programs. Over its 62-year history, the Festival has established itself as a vital force throughout the music world. The Festival is an independent non-profit organization. Learn more at bowdoinfestival.org.
June 26: Caramoor Presents Isaac Mizrahi in Concert with his Jazz Band in Celebration of Pride Month
June 26: Caramoor Presents Isaac Mizrahi in Concert with his Jazz Band in Celebration of Pride Month
Photo of Isaac Mizrahi by Gregg Richards, available in high resolution here.
Caramoor Presents Isaac Mizrahi in Concert with his Jazz Band
in Celebration of Pride Month
Part of Caramoor’s 2026 Summer Season
More than 30 Concerts from June 20-August 2
Friday, June 26, 2026 at 7:30pm
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | Venetian Theater
149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Tickets & Information
“[Isaac Mizrahi] is determined to challenge the cultural status quo and help blaze a path into a more liberated future where few subjects are off-limits…” – The New York Times
“Mizrahi is the real deal when it comes to cabaret: He’s charming, he sounds great, and he is seriously funny.” – TheaterMania
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts – a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY – celebrates Pride Month with a concert by entertainment and fashion legend Isaac Mizrahi and his jazz band (Mizrahi, vocals; Ben Waltzer, music director/pianist; Kellen Hanas, trumpet; Chloe Rowlands, trumpet; Neal Miner, bass; Joe Strasser, drums; and Dan Aran, percussion), on Friday, June 26, 2026 at 7:30pm in Caramoor’s iconic Venetian Theater. Part of Caramoor’s 2026 Summer Season of over thirty concerts between June 20 and August 2, 2026, this is Caramoor’s third annual celebration of Pride month, presented in collaboration with The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center. Caramoor, once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration.
Isaac Mizrahi has spent over 35 years at the intersection of entertainment, media, and fashion, earning acclaim as a performer, singer, host, writer, designer, and producer. Performing with his incredible jazz band, Mizrahi brings his signature wit and musical flair to concert stages across the country. His multi-week residency at New York City’s Café Carlyle sells out every year, and he celebrates his 10th anniversary of playing this iconic venue in 2026.
Mizrahi will serenade the Caramoor audience with iconic tunes by artists from Madonna to Stephen Sondheim and everything in between, all interspersed with his signature, unfiltered storytelling. Expect a hilarious, sophisticated, and undeniably fabulous evening!
Please note that this performance may include mature themes and is not recommended for children.
More About Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi made his Broadway debut playing Amos Hart in the musical Chicago in 2022. The New York Times praised him as “a founding father of a genre that fuses performance art, music and stand-up comedy.”
In 2025, the cult classic documentary Unzipped – which Mizrahi co-created and stars in – celebrates its 30th anniversary at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted the Emmy-winning Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years, served as a judge on all seven seasons of Project Runway: All Stars, and continues to appear widely across television and film.
Mizrahi has directed productions for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and designed for the Metropolitan Opera. He also annually narrates and directs the children’s classic, Peter and the Wolf; a production he created for the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
Through his company IM Entertainment, Mizrahi develops original projects in television, theater, and publishing. He is currently a Consulting Producer on Hulu’s Mid Century Modern. His New York Times bestselling memoir I.M. was published in 2019.
Dining at Caramoor
Caramoor’s on site dining options include Pre-Ordered Gourmet Picnics available for pick-up two hours prior to each concert, which can be pre-ordered until the Tuesday before the performance. The menu is prepared by local coffee and sandwich purveyor G.E. Brown with curated artisanal cheese boards from Second Mouse Cheese Shop. In addition, the Bravo Bar is open two hours before each performance, offering snacks and lemonade, ice tea, wine, cocktails, and buzz-free beverages as well as a rotating selection of offerings from local food creators including It Must Have Been the Bake, Bark and Brine BBQ, G.E. Brown, Pizza Girls, Walter’s Hot Dogs, Second Mouse Cheese Shop, LMNOP, and Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream. Specific offerings are noted for each performance on Caramoor’s website. For more information on Dining at Caramoor and to pre-order picnics, visit caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities.
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), the seasonal concessions Bravo Bar, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.
For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events
Ticketing Information
Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.
Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, NY.
More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit
California Symphony's Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed Returns in July - Classes Now in Lafayette and San Ramon
California Symphony's Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed Returns in July - Classes Now in Lafayette and San Ramon
California Symphony Presents Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed
in July with Award-Winning Instructor Scott Foglesong
Now in Two Locations – Lafayette and San Ramon
Four Wednesday Classes from July 8-29, 2026, 6:30-8pm
Don Tatzin Community Hall at Lafayette Library and Learning Center
3491 Mount Diablo Blvd. | Lafayette, CA
$40 for Four Classes
Four Thursday Classes from July 9-30, 2026, 6:30-8pm
Ridge View Room in the Dougherty Station Community Arts Center
17011 Bollinger Canyon Rd. | San Ramon, CA
$40 for Four Classes ($32 for San Ramon Residents)
Register: www.californiasymphony.org/freshlook
“the most forward-looking organization around” –Mercury News
WALNUT CREEK, CA – California Symphony presents Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed this July, expanding access to music education and offering a fun and informative introduction to classical music for “classically curious” adults in the Bay Area. Hosted by award-winning instructor Scott Foglesong, this year the popular four-part summer lecture series is extending its reach by including classes in both Lafayette and San Ramon, CA. Fresh Look provides an introduction to classical music and the rich offerings of California Symphony, making classical music and the orchestra accessible to a broader audience.
The Lafayette classes will be held on Wednesdays from 6:30-8pm on July 8, 15, 22, 29, 2026 in the Don Tatzin Community Hall at the Lafayette Library and Community Center (3491 Mount Diablo Blvd.). The San Ramon classes will be held Thursdays from 6:30-8pm on July 9, 16, 23, 30 in the Ridge View Room of the Dougherty Station Community Arts Center (17011 Bollinger Canyon Rd.).
Previous participants in Fresh Look have described the course as “most enjoyable, very accessible to all, and PACKED with good info and good listening!” and called Scott Foglesong “knowledgeable and enthusiastic” with a “sense of humor and breadth of knowledge.” Scott Foglesong has been lecturing about music since 2011, first as a Professor of Music for the University of San Francisco’s Fromm Institute, followed by posts at the University of California, Berkeley, and, most recently, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has also served as pre-concert lecturer for the San Francisco Symphony, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and California Symphony.
The Fresh Look curriculum – which was developed by Scott Foglesong, California Symphony Music and Artistic Director Donato Cabrera, and General Manager Sunshine Deffner – explores the instruments of the orchestra, different musical periods and styles, and the state of classical music today. As a special end-of-course treat, the final class includes a live performance and Q&A with California Symphony musicians.The fee for Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed is $40 for the entire course ($32 for San Ramon residents attending the San Ramon series), which can be redeemed toward the purchase of any adult-price California Symphony ticket for a 2026-27 season concert.
Since its initial launch in partnership with the Walnut Creek Library in 2018, the course has developed steady participation and interest. With a target of 25 participants, the 2018 pilot series attracted 63 individuals and in summer 2025 reached venue capacity with 136 people enjoying the course.
Fresh Look exemplifies California Symphony’s dedication to strengthening music education and access within their local community. Of the Symphony’s many nationally recognized education and community programs – including their acclaimed Composer-in-Residence program, the nationally recognized Sound Minds program for underserved local students, and Education Concerts initiative for Title I schools in the Walnut Creek area – California Symphony is committed to providing diverse programming that provides an accessible entry point to top-tier classical music for all age groups and education levels.
About Scott Foglesong: Scott Foglesong is a pianist, musician, teacher, writer, cat-lover, music history devotée, occasional computer geek and sometime programmer. In 2008 he was named recipient of the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for excellence in teaching. In addition to SFCM, he teaches at the Fall Freshman program at UC Berkeley and the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. He is associated with the San Francisco Symphony, both as a Contributing Writer and as an “Inside Music” lecturer for the Symphony’s weekly subscription concerts, and is Program Annotator for California Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, San Luis Obispo Symphony, New Hampshire Music Festival, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Chora Nova. Professor Foglesong was formally educated at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the San Francisco Conservatory, but his informal education continues everywhere, without cease.
About California Symphony: Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera since 2013. It is distinguished by its vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area.
California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.
Since 1991, California Symphony's three-year Composer-in-Residence program has provided a composer with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with the orchestra over three consecutive years to create, rehearse, premiere, and record three major orchestra compositions, one each season. Every Composer-in-Residence has gone on to win top honors and accolades in the field, including the Rome Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Awards, and more.
The orchestra's nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds impacts students' trajectories by providing instruction for violin or cello and musicianship skills. Sound Minds has proven to contribute directly to improved reading and math proficiencies and character development, as students set and achieve goals, learn communication and problem-solving skills, and gain self-confidence. Inspired by the El Sistema program of Venezuela, the program is offered completely free of charge to the students and families of Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, California.
Through its innovative adult education program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed, California Symphony provides lifelong learners a fun-filled introduction to the orchestra and classical music. Led by celebrated educator and California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong, these live classes are held over four weeks in the summer annually.
In 2017, California Symphony became the first orchestra with a public statement of a commitment to diversity. Its website is available in both Spanish and English.
Reaching far beyond the performance hall, since 2020 the orchestra's concerts have been broadcast nationally on multiple radio series through Classical California (KUSC/KDFC) and the WFMT Radio Network, reaching over 1.5 million listeners across the country.
For more information, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org.
July 10-11: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik Makes his Grant Park Music Festival Debut – Featured Soloist in Chicago Premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto Conducted by Leonard Slatkin
July 10-11: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik Makes his Grant Park Music Festival Debut – Featured Soloist in Chicago Premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto Conducted by Leonard Slatkin
Photo of Yevgeny Kutik by Griffin Harrington available in hi-resolution here.
Violinist Yevgeny Kutik Makes his Grant Park Music Festival Debut
in Two Performances on July 10 and 11
Featured Soloist in the Chicago Premiere
of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin
October 18, 2025 at 7:30pm
Viterbo Fine Arts Center | 929 Jackson Street | La Crosse, WI
Tickets and More Information
“polished dexterity and genteel, old-world charm” – WQXR
Chicago, IL — Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, who The New York Times describes as having a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” makes his Grant Park Music Festival debut with the Grant Park Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Kutik performs as the guest soloist in the Chicago premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto on Friday, July 10, 2026 at 8pm and Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 8pm at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park (201 E Randolph St.).Both performances also include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. There will be pre-concert talks prior to both performances at 7pm, in the Chase Promenade North Tent in Millennium Park, hosted by Kutik and Laura Sauer-Shah.
Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of standard works as well as rarely heard and newly composed repertoire.
Kutik and Slatkin shared the stage in 2021 when Kutik gave the world premiere performance of Schwanter’s Violin Concerto together with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Schwantner adapted his Violin Concerto especially for Kutik from The Poet’s Hour –– a preexisting work composed in 2010 as a short soliloquy for violin and strings. The Poet’s Hour was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony to commemorate Gerard Schwarz’s retirement as the orchestra’s musical director.
“I’m so delighted to give the Chicago premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto — a work of extraordinary imagination, depth, and emotional force,” says Kutik. “It is truly one of the most special new works for violin I have encountered, and I’m thrilled to join forces again with Leonard Slatkin to bring this remarkable piece to life at Grant Park.”
Of the history behind his Violin Concerto and how he knew Kutik was the right artist to premiere it, Schwantner writes:
“I had always planned to later expand and re-imagine [The Poet’s Hour] as part of a larger scale work for violin and orchestra. When Gerard [Schwarz] also performed the music with his All-Star Orchestra and violinist Yevgeny Kutik, I was enthralled with Yevgeny’s masterful and nuanced performance and realized I had found “the” soloist to premiere this new expanded work. Yevgeny Kutik brings a dramatic and an emotional arc to his impressive technique and captivating musical personality, and that vision remained in my mind’s ear all during the writing of the concerto.”
More about Yevgeny Kutik: With a “dark - hued tone and razor - sharp technique” ( The New York Times ), violinist Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old - world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is also lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of both standard works and newly composed repertoire. Kutik is Artistic Director and co - founder of The Birch Festival.
A native of Minsk, Belarus, Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and immigrated to the U.S.with his family at the age of five. An advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, the organization that assisted his family in coming to the U.S., he regularly speaks and performs across the country in support of refugees from around the world. Recent and upcoming highlights include performances with the Phoenix Symphony under Andrew Litton, the Grant Park Music Festival under Leonard Slatkin, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic with Ruth Reinhardt, where he will give the world premiere of a new violin concerto written for him by Eric Nathan. In 2021, Kutik made his debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin, performing the world premiere of JosephSchwantner’s Violin Concerto, an expansion ofThe Poet’s Hour, which Kutik originally filmed for Gerard Schwarz’sAll-Star Orchestra, a made-for-television classical music concert series released on DVD by Naxos and broadcast nationally on PBS. He also gave the world premiereofCântico, a work for solo violin by Andreia Pinto Correia, at the Tanglewood Music Festival in August 2022, co-commissioned for him by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Kutik’s discography includes several titles on Marquis Classics, including Music from the Suitcase, which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Classical chart. He made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops as First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. He holds degrees from Boston University and the New England Conservatory. Yevgeny performs on an 1850 J.B. Vuillaume violin made in Paris.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, described as having a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” (The New York Times) is the featured soloist in two performances on July 10 and 11 with the Grant Park Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Kutik makes his Grant Park Music Festival debut in the Chicago premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto, which was adapted by Schwantner especially for Kutik. The concert program for both performances will also include Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Concert details:
Who: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik
Presented by Grant Park Music Festival
Conducted by Leonard Slatkin
What: Music by Joseph Schwantner, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
When: Friday, July 10, 2026 at 8pm
Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 8pm
Where: Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL
Tickets and information: grantparkmusicfestival.com/events/tchaikovsky-symphony-no-5/
June 28-July 5: Caramoor Commemorates America at 250 with Five Summer Concerts Throughout the Grounds
June 28-July 5: Caramoor Commemorates America at 250 with Five Summer Concerts Throughout the Grounds
(Clockwise from top left): Poiesis Quartet, The Knights, Conrad Tao, Curt Ebersole, Johnny Gandelsman, MaryKay Messenger, and Louis Armstrong, available in high resolution here.
Caramoor Commemorates America at 250 from June 28 to July 5, 2026
June 28: The Knights and Pianist Conrad Tao – Rhapsody in Blue
July 2: Poiesis Quartet – A Love Letter to the Queer Community
July 3: Centennial Celebration of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five
July 4: Pops, Patriots, and Fireworks
July 5: Violinist Johnny Gandelsman – This is America
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | 149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Information
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts – a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY – commemorates America at 250 in five concerts from June 28 to July 5, 2026. Part of Caramoor’s 2026 Summer Season of over thirty concerts between June 20 and August 2, 2026, these performances showcase a variety of artists and genres honoring the nation’s milestone anniversary, including premieres of two new works commissioned by Caramoor – Jeff Scott’s Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified (world premiere) composed for the Poiesis Quartet and Tyshawn Sorey’s Capriccio for Violin (New York premiere) composed for violinist Johnny Gandelsman. Caramoor, once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration.
On Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 4pm, GRAMMY®-nominated orchestra The Knights, led by co-Artistic Directors Eric and Colin Jacobson, perform in Caramoor’s Venetian Theater with acclaimed pianist Conrad Tao and violinist and vocalist Christina Courtin, in a vibrant concert highlighting the American sound. The program anchors the spirit of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, featuring Tao’s acclaimed, explosive interpretation within a broader narrative of musical innovation. From the pastoral beauty of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite and Margaret Bonds’ soulful Troubled Water, to contemporary rhapsodies by Jessie Montgomery, and The Knights’ own Christina Courtin, this performance bridges the gap between classical tradition and modern energy.
The Poiesis Quartet gives its third and final performance as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor on Thursday, July 2, 2026 at 7:30pm in the Rosen House Music Room, returning with a bold program titled A Love Letter to the Queer Community that explores queer identity and heritage through a contemporary lens. The concert (one of the group’s first with new violinist Coco Mi) features the world premiere of a new work commissioned by Caramoor for the Poiesis Quartet as the culmination of the group’s residency – GRAMMY-winning composer Jeff Scott’s Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified, which honors and celebrates the lives of activists Marsha P. Johnson, Harvey Milk, Xulhaz Mannan, and Jeanne Manford. The program will also include Max Lang’s commonplace little perils, Daniel Lasagna’s Circus of the Mind, Maya Irizarry Lambright’s forest of taldeni, and Calvin Ray Shawler’s Order – all recently commissioned by the Poiesis Quartet. This performance highlights the ensemble's commitment to social narrative and musical innovation, offering a unique window into the future of the string quartet. The Quartet’s November concert at Caramoor was chosen as one of the best classical performances of 2025 by The New York Times.
On Friday, July 3, 2026 at 7:30pm – the eve of what Louis Armstrong always claimed to be his birthday (July 4) – Caramoor presents a special Centennial Celebration of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five on Friends Field, in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center. The music Armstrong created in the 1920s with the Hot Five remains among the most influential, timeless, and joyous in the history of American music. Under the auspices of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the evening honors the recordings that transformed jazz from a collective style into a soloist’s art form, forever changing the course of popular music. Co-hosts GRAMMY®-winning trumpeter Alphonso Horne and pianist Ricky Riccardi are joined by all-star artists including clarinetist Evan Arntzen, trombonist Ron Wilkins, and drummer Charles Goold, performing revolutionary recordings from a century ago that reshaped the sound and future of jazz.
Caramoor presents Pops, Patriots, and Fireworks in the Venetian Theater on Saturday, July 4, 2026 at 8pm. Caramoor’s most festive tradition returns for a historic Independence Day program, featuring the Westchester Symphonic Winds conducted by Curt Ebersole, with assistant conductor Jessica Stein-Natale. The program honors 250 years of American spirit with patriotic favorites including The Star-Spangled Banner (Arr. J. Williams) by John Stafford Smith, WSW American Overture by Barton Green, The White Rose (Arr. K. Brion) by John Philip Sousa, An American Elegy by Frank Ticheli, 1812 Overture (Arr. M. Lake) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and The Stars And Stripes Forever (Arr. K. & L. Schissel) by John Philip Sousa. MaryKay Messenger, the former premier vocalist for the West Point Band, will join for a selection of songs. Messenger first sang with the West Point Band in 1980 at the age of 12 and continued to perform as a guest vocalist for a variety of concerts until joining the Army in 1996. She recently retired in 2025 after 29 years of service. The evening concludes with a dazzling fireworks display that lights up the sky, making a perfect 4th of July party for the whole family.
On Sunday, July 5, 2026, violinist, producer, and 2024 MacArthur Fellow Johnny Gandelsman caps off Caramoor’s commemoration concerts with an extended program of solo violin works from his project This is America, featuring the New York premiere of Capriccio for Violin – a Caramoor co-commission by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tyshawn Sorey. This is America is Gandelsman’s 2020 collection of over 20 new works he commissioned for solo violin, written by American and US-based composers reflecting on the challenges of living through the pandemic and concurrent worldwide turmoil. Gandelsman brings these intimate musical portraits of joy, uncertainty, isolation, and love, by composers including Justin Messina, Layale Chaker, Tyshawn Sorey, Dana Lyn, Kinan Azmeh, Akshaya Tucker, Ebun Oguntola, Tomeka Reid, Christina Courtin, Olivia Davis, and Rhiannon Giddens to Caramoor. This profound, emotional journey is presented in two parts at 1pm in the Sunken Garden and 3pm in the Spanish Courtyard. In between, at 2:15pm, there will be a talk with Johnny Gandelsman, Dana Lyn, and Christina Courtin.
“I've come to think of [This is America] as an anthology, a snapshot in time, documenting a tiny slice of the creative thought and output in this country,” says Gandelsman. “Six years have passed, yet the works which encapsulated moments of 2020 are still relevant today. I invite you to stop listening to pundits, extend your ears, open up your imagination, and trust the music to guide you into a complicated, challenging and thrilling sound world.”
Caramoor’s America at 250 Schedule At-a-Glance
The Knights and Pianist Conrad Tao – Rhapsody in Blue
Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 4pm in the Venetian Theater
Tickets and More Information
Poiesis Quartet – A Love Letter to the Queer Community
2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence
Thursday, July 2, 2026 at 7:30pm in the Rosen House Music Room
Tickets and More Information
Centennial Celebration of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five
Friday, July 3, 2026 at 7:30pm at Friends Field
Presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
Tickets and More Information
Pops, Patriots, and Fireworks
Saturday, July 4, 2026 at 8pm in the Venetian Theater
Tickets and More Information
Violinist Johnny Gandelsman – This is America
Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 1pm in the Sunken Garden and 3pm in the Spanish Courtyard
Talk with Johnny Gandelsman, Dana Lyn, and Christina Courtin at 2:15pm
Tickets and More Information
Dining at Caramoor
Caramoor’s on site dining options include Pre-Ordered Gourmet Picnics available for pick-up two hours prior to each concert, which can be pre-ordered until the Tuesday before the performance. The menu is prepared by local coffee and sandwich purveyor G.E. Brown with curated artisanal cheese boards from Second Mouse Cheese Shop. In addition, the Bravo Bar is open two hours before each performance, offering snacks and lemonade, ice tea, wine, cocktails, and buzz-free beverages as well as a rotating selection of offerings from local food creators including It Must Have Been the Bake, Bark and Brine BBQ, G.E. Brown, Pizza Girls, Walter’s Hot Dogs, Second Mouse Cheese Shop, LMNOP, and Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream. Specific offerings are noted for each performance on Caramoor’s website. For more information on Dining at Caramoor and to pre-order picnics, visit caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities.
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), the seasonal concessions Bravo Bar, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.
For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events
Ticketing Information
Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.
Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, NY.
More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit
OUT TODAY: Simone Dinnerstein's All-Philip Glass Album Hourglass – Label Debut on Naïve
OUT TODAY: Simone Dinnerstein's All-Philip Glass Album Hourglass – Label Debut on Naïve
Simone Dinnerstein Makes Label Debut on Naïve in Hourglass with Baroklyn
Featuring Philip Glass’s Suite from The Hours and Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Release Date: Out Today
Listen Here
Review downloads & CDs available upon request.
“it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding” – The Washington Post
simonedinnerstein.com | naiverecords.com
Today, June 5, 2026, GRAMMY-nominated American pianist Simone Dinnerstein, one of the most distinctive voices in classical music today, releases her first album on naïve since signing with the label earlier this year. Titled Hourglass, it features Philip Glass’s Suite from The Hours and his Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Piano Concerto No. 1) – listen here. The album, recorded with Dinnerstein’s own ensemble Baroklyn, is another milestone in her close artistic association with the renowned composer, who celebrates his 90th birthday in January 2027.
Simone Dinnerstein first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly personal. This approach extends to all of the repertoire she performs, from Bach to Glass, with whom she has collaborated for over ten years. Glass wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3 for Dinnerstein in 2017, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras from across North America. She recorded and released it the following year on her acclaimed album Circles. NPR reported, “Dinnerstein's creamy tone and elastic phrasing gives the music an air of Schubertian warmth and wistfulness.”
Dinnerstein says, “In my reading of the works on this album with Baroklyn, we focused on the larger beats. Instead of lining up each single step, we wanted every voice to have its own ebb and flow, coinciding with other voices in certain larger pulse divisions. This allows us to hear the particular phrasing of the voices more independently, and brings out the strangeness in the music. The goal was to create a whole, but a whole made up of all the distinctive particularities of the individual lines and musicians.”
Philip Glass’s Suite from The Hours (arranged by Michael Riesman) is a three-movement piano concerto taken from Glass’s film score for Stephen Daldry’s film The Hours starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep, an adaptation of the novel by Michael Cunningham. The score received Golden Globe, GRAMMY, and Academy Award nominations, along with winning a British Academy Film Award in Film Music. It is a veritable manifesto of Glass’s expressive simplicity, in which layers and motifs are inconstant, subtly transform, and give rise to a richly wrought polyphonic universe. In this recording, Baroklyn’s expansive phrasing and serene assurance, and Dinnerstein’s intense sonority, combine to highlight the music’s almost Classical elegance, as if it were a newly discovered Mozart concerto.
Glass’s Tirol Concerto, composed in 2000, went unperformed in New York for more than 20 years until Dinnerstein’s performance of the work with the Brooklyn Orchestra and Olivier Glissant in November 2023. Two brief, fleeting movements in neo-Baroque vein enclose a broad elegy—music for an imagined film—threaded with numerous reminiscences of Glass’s Etudes for piano, which he began writing in 1994. Glass based the concerto on melody fragments of traditional Austrian Volkslied, or folk music, in the Tyrolean tradition. Dinnerstein says of the piece, “The second movement of the Tirol is what first drew me to it. Built almost as a set of variations, the sound is lush and pulsating, and its mood relates to his Symphony No. 3 for strings. I love the play between intense lyricism and a feeling of austerity, so reminiscent of Schubert’s writing.”
Dinnerstein recorded Hourglass with the ensemble that she founded and directs, Baroklyn (a portmanteau of Baroque and Brooklyn, her home New York borough). She describes the ensemble as “a community that shares the artistic vision that is most important to me, that music should be creative and new. We avoid ‘fixing’ our interpretations, to keep the music from becoming static. We have a plan, but are open to the moment. This way of making music is dependent upon listening, openness to change, and trust. It results in a feeling of togetherness.”
Dinnerstein sees a natural affinity between the music of Philip Glass and that of J.S. Bach in their deeply polyphonic visions, quest for the absolute independence of each line, and an abiding concern for the singing quality of musical phrases.
She says:
“When I think about the music of Philip Glass, I think about time. The music is intricate and polyphonic. It’s layered, with patterns that keep shifting in the subtlest of ways. Though the harmonies are clearly important in the musical narrative, Glass’s music is multi-linear in a way that evokes the music of Bach. It is music on the horizontal, as opposed to the vertical. If anything, it is circular music. . .
Glass’s music is famously known for its repetitions. Every repetition is a reaction to the one before and an anticipation of one to come. We hear differently because our hearing changes with each note—we carry the whole unfolding of the music with us as we listen. We hear it as a constant becoming, not as a set of musical facts. This is exactly why I don’t hear Glass’s music as mechanical. It makes me think about the hourglass rather than the factory clock. A clock divides time into discrete, measured steps, in a way that in many parts of contemporary life feels natural. In music we can feel a vestige of the unnaturalness of that relentless pulse, an unhuman rigidity. Like our experience of time, music sometimes seems to move faster, sometimes slower, sometimes chaotically, sometimes evenly. The hourglass, with its unsubdivided and embodied flow, is how I think of this music.”
Since her recording of the Goldberg Variations, in addition to establishing a busy performing career, Simone Dinnerstein has made fourteen albums—all of which have topped the Billboard classical charts. She has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Seoul Arts Center, and the Sydney Opera House.
About Simone Dinnerstein: www.simonedinnerstein.com
Track List & Credits:
Hourglass
Release Date: June 5, 2026 | naïve
Music by Philip Glass | Simone Dinnerstein, director and piano | Baroklyn
Suite from The Hours (2002)
1. I [11:17]
2. II [8:59]
3. III [6:57]
Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Piano Concerto No. 1) (2000)
4. Movement I [6:28]
5. Movement II [16:40]
6. Movement III [6:33]
Recording Producers: Silas Brown, Simone Dinnerstein
Sound Engineering: Silas Brown, Doron Schachter, Richie Clarke
Editing: Silas Brown, Simone Dinnerstein
Mixing and Mastering: Silas Brown (Legacy Sound)
Recorded at Merkin Hall, Kaufman Music Center, New York, NY, May 25-26, 2025
Summary: This album is the first release on naïve from American pianist Simone Dinnerstein, one of the most distinctive voices in classical music today. Recorded with Dinnerstein's own string ensemble, Baroklyn, it immerses listeners in the sound world of Philip Glass, continuing the GRAMMY-nominated pianist's close artistic association with renowned composer, and features his Suite from The Hours and Tirol Concerto.
Upcoming Performances:
March 21, 2026: Chandler Center for the Arts – Randolph, VT
March 27, 2026: University of Chicago – Chicago, IL
April 17, 2026: Carnegie Hall – New York, NY
April 25, 2026: St. Peter's Community Arts Academy – Geneva, NY
May 17, 2026: Sands Point Preserve Conservancy – Sands Point, NY
May 21, 2026: Concordia Chamber Players – Solebury, PA
May 27, 2026: Library of Congress – Washington, D.C.
June 9, 2026: Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, Central Park – New York, NY
June 13, 2026: Rockport Chamber Music Festival – Rockport, MA
June 14, 2026: Music Mountain Summer Festival – Falls Village, CT
June 25, 2026: Flagstaff Piano Festival – Flagstaff, AZ
June 30, 2026: Lyra Music – Beacon, NY
For details: www.simonedinnerstein.com/concerts-upcoming
OUT TODAY: Pianist Charlotte Hu Releases New PENTATONE Album Featuring Enrique Granados’ Goyescas Suite
OUT TODAY: Pianist Charlotte Hu Releases New PENTATONE Album Featuring Enrique Granados’ Goyescas Suite
Pianist Charlotte Hu Releases New PENTATONE Album
Featuring Enrique Granados’ Goyescas Suite
Out Today: Listen Here
“Hu lends her dazzling technique to Goyescas” – WRTI
Release Date (Worldwide): Out Today
CDs or press downloads available upon request.
www.charlottehu.com | www.pentatonemusic.com
Today, June 5, 2026, pianist Charlotte Hu releases Goyescas, her second album on PENTATONE – listen here. Following the release of her 2024 PENTATONE debut, Liszt: Metamorphosis, Hu now turns her attention to Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist, Enrique Granados (July 27, 1867–March 24, 1916) and his iconic piano suite, Goyescas: Los majos enamorados (The Gallants in Love). The recording also highlights two Spanish Dances by Granados, No. 2, “Oriental” and No. 5, “Andaluza.”
“Recording this album has been a journey of deep engagement with a composer whose music continues to reveal new dimensions with each encounter,” Charlotte Hu says. “My first encounter with Granados’ Goyescas came during my years as a student at Juilliard. I was immediately captivated by the vivid world Granados had created on the keyboard. What struck me most was not simply the technical brilliance of the writing, but rather the poetry embedded within — the nuanced characters, the narrative arc that unfolds across the entire suite, the distinctly Spanish flavors interwoven with profound emotional depth, and the virtuosity that never overshadows the music’s intimate storytelling. Here was a masterwork that seemed to contain entire worlds: passion, tenderness, humor, shadow, and light all coexisting within its six movements. That fascination never left me. Years later, I decided that I wanted to explore this work in its complete form, to understand every layer of Granados’ genius. It is my hope that this recording will help bring Goyescas back into concert halls, where this beautiful masterwork deserves to be heard far more often than it currently is.”
Described as a “first-class talent” (Philadelphia Inquirer) possessing a “superstar quality — musical, energetic, and full of flair” (Jerusalem Post), Taiwanese-American pianist Charlotte Hu has been praised by audiences and critics across the globe for her dazzling virtuosity, captivating musicianship, and magnetic stage presence.
As a soloist, Hu has astounded audiences across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, performing sold-out concerts at many of the world’s most prestigious venues — including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, Taipei National Concert Hall, and Osaka’s Symphony Hall. She is a frequent guest at music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, Ruhr-Klavier Festival, and Oregon Bach Festival. Concerto engagements have included performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Taiwan Philharmonic, among others. Recent and upcoming highlights for Charlotte Hu include performances presented by Newport Classical, the Mansion at Strathmore, the Gilmore Piano Festival, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Taipei Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Center, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and the Taichung Opera House.
Goyescas was inspired by the work of painter Francisco Goya. Hu writes in her liner notes for the album, “Enrique Granados drew his inspiration from the paintings of Francisco Goya, the 18th-century Spanish master whose dark, sensual works explore themes of love, desire, flirtation, and the human condition. Each movement of Goyescas corresponds to a painting or draws from Goya’s visual universe, allowing Granados to translate visual art into musical narrative.”
From the playful charm of “Los requiebros” to the lyrical intimacy of “La maja y el ruiseñor” and the profound emotional summit of “El amor y la muerte,” Granados’ masterwork reveals a world of dramatic contrasts and refined storytelling. Complementing the suite are two Spanish Dances: the hauntingly introspective No. 2, “Oriental,” and the vibrant, guitar-inflected No. 5, “Andaluza.”
With this pairing, Hu captures both the virtuosic brilliance and the deeply intimate narrative of the music, illuminating its modern harmonic language and unmistakable Spanish spirit with freshness and reverence.
More about Charlotte Hu: An active recording artist, Charlotte Hu’s debut album of Chopin works on ArchiMusic was named Best Classical Album of the Year by Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Melody Award, and her recordings released on Naxos/CAG Records and BMOP/sound with Boston Modern Orchestra Project have received overwhelming critical acclaim. Her Rachmaninoff album on Centaur/Naxos received a five-star review by the U.K.’s Pianist magazine, which called it “essential listening for Rachmaninoff admirers.” Her latest album, Liszt Metamorphosis, was released by PENTATONE in July 2024.
Charlotte Hu is the founder of two piano festivals across two continents: the Yun-Hsiang International Music Festival in Taipei and the PYPA Piano Festival in Philadelphia. Now in its 14th year, PYPA has become an important fixture in the classical music world, cultivating a deeper appreciation for classical music and serving as a cultural bridge between East and West.
With a fierce dedication to making classical music more accessible, Charlotte presents captivating programs that tell human stories inclusive of gender and race. By juxtaposing audience favorites with underperformed treasures and newly commissioned works, Charlotte’s recitals consistently offer musical and narrative contrasts that encourage people to listen deeply and discover anew the work of even the most well-known composers.
At the heart of Charlotte’s success is a story of strength, dedication, and resilience that has powered her dream of becoming a world-class artist. Moving to the United States from Taiwan at age 14 without her parents to begin studies at The Juilliard School was the first of many challenges Charlotte has overcome in building her illustrious career — one that’s included winning top prizes at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Competition, performing on classical music’s biggest stages, and fostering the next generation of musicians as an advocate for classical music through entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives. A tireless advocate for humanity, Charlotte raised $27,000 for youth education charities through a Hope Charity Concert live-streamed on her Facebook page in June 2020. The online concert reached more than 140,000 people across the globe.
A Steinway Artist, Charlotte Hu serves as an associate professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and as an artist in residence at Temple University in Philadelphia, in addition to her busy performance schedule. She is a frequent guest artist, leading master classes and artist residencies at universities and music festivals worldwide. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Germany’s Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media, where she studied with Herbert Stessin, Sergei Babayan, and Karl-Heinz Kammerling, respectively.
Goyescas
Charlotte Hu, Piano
Pentatone | Release Date (Worldwide): June 5, 2026
Track List:
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Goyescas Suite
1. I. Los Requiebros [8:44]
2. II. Coloquio en la Reja [11:56]
3. III. El Fandango del Candil [5:57]
4. IV. Quejas o la Maja y el Ruiseñor [6:56]
5. V. El Amor y la Muerte: Balada [12:35]
6. VI. Epílogo (Serenata del Espectro) [8:15]
12 Danzas españolas
7. No. 2, Oriental [5:28]
8. No. 5, Andaluza [3:45]
Total playing time: [63:41]
July 20: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers Perform at Mendocino Music Festival – Featuring a Special Preview of Bodywork Theresa Wong
July 20: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers Perform at Mendocino Music Festival – Featuring a Special Preview of Bodywork Theresa Wong
Photo credit: Miranda Sanborn
Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers Perform at
Mendocino Music Festival
Featuring a Special Preview of Bodywork Theresa Wong
Plus Music by
Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (arr. by Jed Distler),
Lou Harrison, Elena Kats-Chernin, Eleanor Alberga,
Mamoru Fujieda, Meredith Monk, and Germaine Tailleferre
Monday, July 20, 2026 at 2:30pm
Preston Hall | 44867 Main St. | Mendocino, CA
Tickets and More Information
www.sarahcahill.com | www.reginamusic.com
Mendocino, CA – Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers will be presented together in concert, performing at the Mendocino Music Festival on Monday, July 20, 2026 at 2:30pm in Preston Hall (44867 Main St).
The energetic duo brings their interpretations of a wide range of contemporary two-piano music. The two San Francisco-based pianists have collaborated on many occasions, most recently for a duo performance at the 2025 Flower Piano in Golden Gate Park. In Mendocino, they will perform both venerable and new pieces, including a special preview of Theresa Wong’s new piece, Bodywork, for which Wong will be in attendance. The rest of the program will include Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s jazz classic, Tonk!; the brilliantly percussive Folkdance by Meredith Monk, Festival Dance by Lou Harrison; Dance of the Paper Umbrellas by Elena Kats-Chernin; Eleanor Alberga’s Two-Piano Suite; Sprites in a Large Camphor Tree by Mamoru Fujieda, and Jeux de plein air by Germaine Tailleferre.
Theresa Wong’s Bodywork is a 4-hand piece for piano written for and co-commissioned by Cahill and Myers. In her program notes, Wong describes the unconventional work as follows: “[Bodywork] is an homage to ‘caring hands’ with the intention to transform the experience of a health crisis into a ritual of beauty and healing. The two pianists are dressed in ceremonial jumpsuits which take inspiration from hospital and auto mechanic uniforms, and perform body work on the piano through various acts of making sound. The score consists of through-notated components as well as text-based frameworks for improvisation, which are played on the keyboard, inside the piano, and under and around the piano body with the help of auto-mechanic 'creepers', or rollers. The intention is to transform the performance venue into a ritual-like atmosphere.”
Writer Jed Distler, who transcribed the version of Tonk to be performed in this program says of the piece: “Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn enjoyed playing impromptu piano duets in informal situations, which directly resulted in Tonk. Credited to both men but actually written by Strayhorn, they recorded it in 1945 as a piano duet and again in 1950, this time at two pianos. My two-piano transcription of Tonk was commissioned by Nurit Tilles and Edmund Niemann for Double Edge, and combines both recorded versions."
A longtime friend and champion of his works, Cahill holds a special relationship with composer Lou Harrison and in particular, with his work Festival Dance. Not only was Cahill asked to premiere Lou Harrison’s Festival Dance for two pianos with Aki Takahashi at the Cooper Union, she and Regina Myers went on to perform this piece for its West Coast premiere in October 2021. Harrison originally wrote the work in the 1960s but it wasn’t performed until all those years later.
Dance of the Paper Umbrellas was written for the Hush Music Foundation – an Australian non-profit dedicated to producing and licensing original music and arts projects with the aim of improving healthcare environments and patient outcomes. Elena Kats-Chernin says of the idea behind the music: “I wondered what kind of piece I could write that would be uplifting. I wanted to enter the world of magic and dreams. I imagined a cake adorned with multi-coloured umbrellas. A dance formed in my head, starting with a pattern in harp, marimba, plucked strings and flutes.”
Eleanor Alberga’s Two-Piano Suite is a sprightly one movement work that is as lively and uplifting as is the reason for its composition. A Jamaican-born, British composer, Alberga wrote the work to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Jamaica's independence in 1987.
Cahill has long been an enthusiastic supporter of Mamoru Fujieda’s work, playing a central role in the post-minimalist composer’s Pattern of Plants receiving a solo piano recording for the first time outside of Japan, when Cahill recorded the music on Pinna Records in 2014. Cahill’s performance on the recording was widely praised, with I Care If You Listen saying "Sarah Cahill expertly interprets and gives a clear voice to Fujieda's beautiful work," and The New York Times describing the music as “Delicate miniatures that unfold quietly and calmly.”
Written in 1996, Folkdance embraces the connection between Meredith Monk’s music and the pianists themselves. The work incorporates tangible rhythm keeping through clapping and vocalization in chanting, adding an extra layer of expression unique to each artist who performs the work.
One of Germaine Tailleferre’s most well known works, Jeux de plein air (Outdoor Games), leans into the recreational nature of its title and evokes the imagery of young children playing together. The work consists of two short movements of contrasting moods: One is cheerful but calmer while the other is driven by a quicker tempo and more frenetic motifs.
For more information about Sarah Cahill visit www.sarahcahill.com.
For more information about Regina Myers visit www.reginamusic.com.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers perform a colorful and diverse program of 2-piano music at the Mendocino Music Festival. The close friends and Bay Area artists will perform vibrant and expressive works from the 20th and 21st centuries, including a special preview of Bodywork, a new piece by Theresa Wong, who will be in attendance at the concert. The program will also include music by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (arr. by Jed Distler), Lou Harrison, Elena Kats-Chernin, Eleanor Alberga, Mamoru Fujieda, Meredith Monk, and Germaine Tailleferre.
Concert details:
Who: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Regina Myers
Presented by Mendocino Music Festival
What: World Premiere of Body Work by Theresa Wong, plus music by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (arr. by Jed Distler), Lou Harrison, Elena Kats-Chernin, Eleanor Alberga, Mamoru Fujieda, Meredith Monk, and Germaine Tailleferre
When: Monday, July 20, 2026 at 2:30pm
Where: Preston Hall, 44867 Main St, Mendocino, CA 95460
Tickets and information: https://mendocinomusic.org/event/piano-series-cahill-myers-duo/
Aug. 15: Newport Classical Presents Free Annual Children’s Concert Featuring Frisson in Peter and the Wolf
Aug. 15: Newport Classical Presents Free Annual Children’s Concert Featuring Frisson in Peter and the Wolf
Photo credit: Dorothy Shi
Newport Classical Presents Free Annual Children’s Concert
Featuring Frisson in Peter and the Wolf
Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 4pm
Newport County YMCA | 792 Valley Rd, Middletown, RI
Free and Open to the Public
www.newportclassical.org | www.frissonensemble.com
Newport, RI – Newport Classical presents its annual Free Children’s Concert at the Newport County YMCA (792 Valley Rd.), on Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 4pm. The wind members of Frisson, featuring some of New York City’s finest classical musicians, will present an interactive, family-friendly performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf in a playful retelling.
The hour-long performance is free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy this program in a casual, laid-back setting. Prior to the performance, children of all ages can explore musical instruments up close during an “instrument petting zoo.”
Frisson will also perform George Gershwin’s Summertime, The Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini, selections from Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha and Maple Leaf Rag, as well as excerpts from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas and music from Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt and producer Hans Zimmer.
For over 56 years, Newport Classical has brought world-class musicians to some of the most iconic venues in Newport, Rhode Island — from gilded-age mansions to seaside outdoor venues, celebrating the living art of classical music. This concert is made possible through the generous support of Randy and Becky Johnson in honor of their granddaughter Schuyler Madison and is presented as part of the BankNewport Community Concerts Series.
About Frisson
Frisson features some of today’s brightest stars of classical music and, in just a few seasons, has become one of the most popular chamber ensembles in America. The group brings together emerging young artists and distinguished professionals, many of whom have appeared at renowned festivals including Marlboro, Verbier, Spoleto, and Mostly Mozart, as well as in performances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Several members have participated in Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program, with alumni now serving as principal players in leading ensembles such as the Cleveland Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Since its founding, Frisson has performed more than 100 concerts across the United States and abroad. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances at the Morgan Library and Museum (New York City), the Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Bermuda Festival, Newport Classical, Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music, InConcert Sierra, Chamber Music Marin, El Camino College, Sarasota Opera House, Woodstock Town Hall, the Mann Center in Fort Myers, and the Palm Springs Concert Association.
Praised by the Borrego Sun as an ensemble filled with ”individual brilliance and collective versatility,” Frisson offers dynamic programs that span an array of ensemble combinations — from winds, piano trios, and piano quartets to octets and nonets. Their repertoire ranges from masterworks to lighter fare, with programs featuring Gershwin, Cole Porter, John Williams, and Astor Piazzolla, as well as their own celebrated version of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
About Newport Classical
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of live performing arts on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.
Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Enrichment and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools and community organizations to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, Clarice Assad, and Cris Derksen.
After a year-long community-driven process, and rooted in the organization’s mission “to celebrate the living art form of classical music in intimate and iconic locations,” Newport Classical released its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, presenting a clear roadmap to become a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant organization that enhances its programs and community engagement, promotes responsible financial growth and sustainability, and centers artistic excellence in every decision, as the organization aspires to open its doors even wider.
Caramoor Presents Inside Lucie’s Wardrobe Through Sept 5 - First Display in Thirty Years of Lucie Rosen's Unique Wardrobe
Caramoor Presents Inside Lucie’s Wardrobe Through Sept 5 - First Display in Thirty Years of Lucie Rosen's Unique Wardrobe
Photo of Lucie Rosen by Cecil Beaton available in hi-resolution here.
Additional photos will be available on request in early June.
Caramoor Presents 2026 Rosen House Focus Tour: Inside Lucie’s Wardrobe
Every Friday and Saturday through Saturday, September 5, 2026
Rosen House at Caramoor | 149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Tickets and More Information
Conversations at Caramoor: Behind the Seams
with Jessa Krick, Director of Interpretation, Collection, and Archives
Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 5:30pm (Free)
Rosen House Music Room at Caramoor
Information
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY, is now offering its 2026 Rosen House Focus Tour: Inside Lucie’s Wardrobe every Friday and Saturday through Saturday, September 5, 2026, inviting visitors to discover Lucie Rosen’s fashions through a curated, docent-led experience. Jessa Krick, Director of Interpretation, Collection, and Archives at Caramoor, will lead a free talk about Lucie Rosen’s wardrobe, Conversations at Caramoor: Behind the Seams, on Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 5:30pm in the Rosen House Music Room.
Lucie Rosen’s unique personal style made her one of New York City’s most recognizable women during her lifetime. For the first time in over thirty years, her unique fashions are displayed in the Rosen House, enlivened by photos and new research. The garments she treasured and saved, from the shimmering silks of the 1930s to the bold colors of the 1960s, together with her fancy dress costume based upon Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera and her joyful approach to dressing, provide the inspiration for a lively and fascinating tour.
Guests step into the Mediterranean-style villa that Walter and Lucie Rosen created as a home filled with music, art, and extraordinary collections. Docents share the stories behind the Rosens’ carefully assembled treasures and share new discoveries about the fascinating characters that helped to shape Lucie's signature style, in these 45-minute tours.
Jessa Krick has developed this Focus Tour informed by the trove of Lucie’s garments dating from the mid-1920s through the 1960s, as well as by photos and other archival materials. The tour features eighteen dressed mannequins throughout the rooms of the Rosen House, plus accessories from the collection.
“We know she had many more dresses and outfits throughout her lifetime, based on the photos,” Krick says, “so the pieces Lucie saved must have had a sentimental value for her. They were the items she treasured.”
The central theme of the Focus Tour is how Lucie Rosen developed and displayed her personal style. Examples of her diaries and scrapbooks show her early interest in fashion, and images of her as a young woman demonstrate her nascent personal style. References to Rosen in the fashion press of the 1920s and 1930s are displayed in the early part of the tour.
Lucie Rosen in Vogue, February 1, 1926
Few of the surviving garments in Rosen’s closets have labels. Although custom-made clothing was not a rarity among women of Rosen’s social standing, Krick’s recent examination of her datebooks has revealed the name of her favored designer: Alan Kramer (1893–1985), mysteriously also known as Prince Tirtoff. This year’s tour is the first time Kramer’s name will be linked to Rosen’s sartorial choices, together with new biographical information about him and the extent of the long-standing professional relationship between the designer and his client.
Another notable piece on view is one of Rosen’s evening coats, which Krick now attributes to famed French designer Paul Poiret. Krick says, “This coat was previously mis-cataloged as a costume, but based on the embroidered orange velvet and striking color combination of orange and magenta velvet, which are both seen in a Poiret example from 1913 in the Victoria & Albert Museum, I am confident that this is a Poiret. We know Lucie was a Poiret client in the 1920s, so it may date from that period.”
Other examples in the collection show Lucie Rosen’s preference for dress designs apart from the mainstream of fashion, including a two-piece at-home ensemble newly identified as by her friend Ethel Wallace, Fortuny outerwear (and a dress of Fortuny fabric made outside of the Venetian atelier), custom-made fancy dress costumes, and a dress like those she wore for theremin concert promotion.
The Focus Tour traces the inspiration for Rosen’s unique dress sense, emphasizes her working relationship with designers and makers, and showcases how her choices fit into the historically inspired homes she and her husband Walter Rosen created in New York City and at Caramoor.
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season (June 20-August 2, 2026) brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Music Room, Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, and the Sunken Garden), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures which draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events. The estate’s gardens and grounds are also open year round to visitors, free of charge, for picnicking and walking daily from 10am to 4pm.
New Single Out Now from Father-Son Duo Mark and David Kaplan - Previewing Brahms Sonatas Album Out June 19
New Single Out Now from Father-Son Duo Mark and David Kaplan - Previewing Brahms Sonatas Album Out June 19
Violinist Mark Kaplan and Pianist David Kaplan
Release Father-Son Album via Orchid Classics on June 19
Featuring the Brahms Sonatas
New Single Out Now - Listen Here
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78. III. Allegro molto moderato
Release Date (Worldwide): June 19, 2026
Pre-Save Here
CDs or press downloads available upon request.
davidkaplanpiano.com | markkaplanviolin.com | orchidclassics.com
Violinist Mark Kaplan and pianist David Kaplan release their first album together, a recording of the Brahms Violin Sonatas (Nos. 1-3), on June 19, 2026 via Orchid Classics. This album highlights Mark and David Kaplan’s years of shared connection as musicians, and as father and son, through their joint exploration of three violin sonatas by Brahms. New single, Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78. III. Allegro molto moderato, is out now - listen here.
A soloist of international distinction, violinist Mark Kaplan has performed with nearly every American, European and Australian orchestra, collaborating with many of the world's great conductors, from Ormandy to Salonen. His multi-decade career has been equally dedicated to chamber music, and he has built a discography encompassing everything from Sarasate to Beethoven to Nono, as well as two complete recordings of Bach’s solo violin works. David Kaplan is a New York-born piano soloist and chamber musician, widely acclaimed for recital programs artfully connecting new and old music. He has performed concerti at London’s Barbican, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and with the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Hawaii, and San Antonio. His recording of Valerie Coleman’s Revelry was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY, and his 2024 solo debut, New Dances of the League of David, was lauded by The Financial Times, Gramophone, Fanfare, and more.
In their own unique way, the Kaplans represent a familiar story of musical lineage, with three generations of professional and amateur musicians charting their own paths. Brothers David and Edwin followed in the footsteps of their parents (who met as teenagers studying with Dorothy DeLay) and grew into their own musical success, with David embracing the piano and his brother becoming the violist of the award-winning Tesla Quartet and Duo Kayo. Chamber music, more than most other family pastimes and bonding experiences, was interwoven into the Kaplan family's everyday life –– particularly for Mark and David who have performed together in various settings over the years.
Mark and David come together in this recording as individuals with their own artistic voices, matching the equality of the roles of violin and piano in these Sonatas. Brahms lets both instruments share the responsibility of conveying the multifaceted emotions and expressions, giving these works a deeper sense of partnership quite fitting for this familial endeavor.
David writes in the liner notes for the album, “In Mozart the violin often accompanies the piano; in Franck the piano mostly accompanies the violin; but in Brahms neither instrument accompanies for more than a few bars. He treats the violin and piano as co-equal actors, each representing diverse voices and characters, engaged in multifaceted conversations, moods, and worlds.”
While any recording in some sense represents a culmination, for David and Mark Kaplan, this recording also represents a beginning. David says, “We hope you hear these performances as if entering into the middle of a decades-long conversation.”
For more information on each of the works, read the album’s liner notes here.
About Mark Kaplan:
A soloist of international distinction, violinist Mark Kaplan has performed with nearly every American, European and Australian orchestra, and with many of the world’s great conductors, including Ormandy, Rattle, Maazel, Masur, Dutoit, Salonen, Semkov, Skrowaczewski, and Tennstedt. He has made highly acclaimed concerto and recital appearances in all the musical centers of America and Europe, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Kaplan is also devoted to chamber music, appearing
with pianist Yael Weiss and cellist Peter Stumpf as the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio, with recordings and concert tours world-wide. Prior to that he performed and recorded extensively for two decades in the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio with cellist Colin Carr and the late pianist David Golub. Especially known for interpretations of 20-21st century works and the great German classics, his extensive discography of over 45 commercial CDs includes concerti, solo and chamber works from Paganini, Bartok, Berg, Sarasate and Nono to Schubert, Brahms and Schumann, as well as two complete recordings of Bach’s solo violin works. Since 2005 he has been Professor of Violin at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, following a decade as Professor at UCLA. Kaplan is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay.
About David Kaplan:
David Kaplan is a New York-born piano soloist and chamber musician, widely acclaimed for recital programs artfully connecting new and old music. He has performed concerti at London’s Barbican, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and with the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Hawaii, and San Antonio. His recording of Valerie Coleman’s “Revelry” was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY, and his 2024 solo debut, New Dances of the League of David, was lauded by Financial Times, Gramophone, Fanfare, and more. His solo recitals have brought him to the Ravinia Festival, Strathmore, Washington’s National Gallery, and New York’s Carnegie and Merkin Halls. Kaplan is a passionate advocate for contemporary American composers – he has commissioned new works from Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Anthony Cheung, Donnacha Dennehy, Caroline Shaw, Augusta Read Thomas, and many others. Kaplan’s numerous collaborators include Tessa Lark, Colin Carr, and the Ariel, Attacca, Formosa, and Tesla String Quartets. He has performed at La Jolla SummerFest, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and is a founding member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. Kaplan is the Associate Professor and Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he has taught since 2016. Kaplan’s teachers included Claude Frank and Walter Ponce. Away from the keyboard, he loves cartooning and cooking, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.
Brahms: The Violin Sonatas
Orchid Classics
Release Date (Worldwide): June 19, 2026
Mark Kaplan, Violin
David Kaplan, Piano
Track List:
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
1. I Vivace ma non troppo [10:39]
2. II Adagio [7:59]
3. III Allegro molto moderato [8:55]
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
4. I Allegro amabile [8:27]
5. II Andante tranquillo – Vivace [6:18]
6. III Allegretto grazioso (quasi andante) [5:27]
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
7. I Allegro [7:46]
8. II Adagio [4:36]
9. III Un poco presto e con sentimento [3:03]
10. IV Presto agitato [5:47]
Total Time [69:01]
Producer, Engineer, and Editor: Eric Silberger
Mixing and Mastering: Silas Brown
Assistant engineer: Aidan McLain
Piano tuner: Sean McLaughlin
Photography: Dario Acosta
Bösendorfer 280VC kindly provided by Yamaha Artist Services
Recorded at the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center, UCLA Herb Alpert School of
Music, Los Angeles, CA on June 14-16, 2024
Sept. 6: Caramoor Announces the 2026 Bedford Music Festival with The Motet Headlining
Sept. 6: Caramoor Announces the 2026 Bedford Music Festival with The Motet Headlining
Bedford Music Festival Logo available in hi-resolution here.
Caramoor Announces the 2026 Bedford Music Festival with The Motet Headlining
Sunday, September 6, 2026 at 2pm
Caramoor | 149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Friends Field (Rain Location: Venetian Theater)
Tickets and More Information
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY, announces the return of Bedford Music Festival, taking place on Sunday, September 6, 2026 at 2pm. This year’s Bedford Music Festival will be headlined by The Motet, and will also feature the Jamie McLean Band, Summer Fling, and The Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays the Music of Taylor Swift. All performances will be held outdoors at Friends Field, set amid the picturesque gardens and grounds of Caramoor, with the Venetian Theater serving as the location in the case of inclement weather.
Advance and VIP tickets are available now. VIP tickets include concert tickets, access to an exclusive VIP Tent & Artist Lounge, featuring food, drinks, and the opportunity to mix and mingle with the artists, plus guaranteed seating for each performance in the event of rain. Tickets are free for all children under the age of 12.
The Bedford Music Festival is a celebration of live music and local community spirit, bringing an exceptional lineup of artists to Caramoor and the broader Bedford communities. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, arts, and nature.
L-R: The Motet, Jamie McLean, Summer Fling, and the Rock and Roll Playhouse Plays Music of Taylor Swift.
Artist photos available in hi-resolution here.
Doors for the festival open at 2pm with a family set at 2:45 by the Rock and Roll Playhouse, the largest national kid-friendly live concert series, performing the music of pop icon Taylor Swift. New York City-based Summer Fling brings its exhilarating live show and groove-driven sound of funk, soul, pop, and jazz to the festival at 4pm. The Jamie McLean Band, known for creating a “musical gumbo” of New Orleans soul, middle Americana roots, Delta blues and New York City swagger –– will perform at 5:15 pm, sponsored by The Town of Bedford. Funk luminaries The Motet with vocal powerhouse Sarah Clarke close out the day at 7:00 pm with their unique style and musical chemistry that blends funk, soul, jazz, and rock. All performance times are approximate.
In addition to the great music, attendees will get to enjoy exploring Caramoor’s grounds and its collection of sound art, Sonic Innovations. The weekend closes out the summer-long Rosen House Focus Tour of Inside Lucie’s Wardrobe. Attendees can get a final peek at some of the pieces in the free Open House of the Music Room, or book a tour to see the full collection. Kids and families can discover Caramoor’s treasures together through scavenger hunts across the grounds, I Spy clues throughout the House, musical crafts, lawn games, and more!
The festival will feature community restaurants serving a variety of local culinary delights, including Second Mouse Cheese Shop, Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream, It Must Have Been the Bake, and Taiguey Company. Guests are encouraged to support these local businesses and enjoy the variety of their fare.
Caramoor is grateful to this year’s festival sponsors, including Gold Level sponsors: The Katonah Shopping Center, Acadia Realty Group and Prager Metis, CPAs. Also joining are Friend level sponsors, Bradsell Contracting. Caramoor is proud to highlight these local businesses whose sponsorship enhances the vibrancy of the Festival and the Bedford community as a whole. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.
The Bedford Music Festival began in 2022 as an initiative of destination 39.3, a resident-led organization established to foster connection and community engagement across the three hamlets of the Town of Bedford. In 2025, the Festival moved to the Caramoor grounds as a co-presentation, an exciting new chapter made possible through the dedication and hard work of a small group of volunteers whose commitment helped lay the foundation for the Festival to grow and thrive in its new long-term home.
“We are excited about the next chapter of the Festival and proud to pass the torch to Caramoor who has the staff and infrastructure to support and grow this beloved local tradition in all the ways we envisioned,” say Nell Shapiro and Sherri Owles of destination 39.3.
For tickets and more information, visit caramoor.org/event/bedford-music-festival-at-caramoor-2026
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Music Room, Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, and the Sunken Garden), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures which draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events. The estate’s gardens and grounds are also open year round to visitors, free of charge, for picnicking and walking daily from 10am to 4pm.
Emerald City Music Announces Eleventh Season for 2026-2027 with Fourteen Concerts from October 2026 to May 2027
Emerald City Music Announces Eleventh Season for 2026-2027 with Fourteen Concerts from October 2026 to May 2027
High resolution press photos available here.
A New Decade for Emerald City Music:
Announcing Eleventh Season for 2026-2027
Fourteen Concerts from October 2026 through May 2027
in Seattle and Olympia, WA
Late Night Sessions Concert Series Returns for Second Season
Violinist Kristin Lee, Artistic Director; Sean Campbell, Executive Director
Season Subscriptions on Sale Now
Single Tickets on Sale in August
Seattle & Olympia, WA – Artistic Director and violinist Kristin Lee and Executive Director Sean Campbell are thrilled to announce the eleventh season of Emerald City Music (ECM), with fourteen Mainstage performances from October 16, 2026 through May 15, 2027 in Seattle and Olympia, plus the continuation of ECM’s Late Night Sessions and Chamber Music Karaoke. Emerald City Music is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Known for a casual environment combined with award-winning artists, ECM has gained increasing recognition since its founding in 2016. Season subscriptions are on sale now and single tickets will be on sale in August.
Through thrilling performances, community events, late-night collaborations and pre-concert conversations, every part of the season is shaped by Emerald City Music’s mission: making world-class music approachable, social, and deeply human. The Seattle Times reports: "ECM isn’t falling back on the tried-and-true, under the assumption that a new listener is an unadventurous, easily frightened-off listener. Instead, they’re betting that the tried-and-true could be precisely one of the barriers to sparking interest that classical-music organizations need to overcome."
“Welcome to a new decade of Emerald City Music!” says ECM Artistic Director Kristin Lee. “This next chapter of ECM is an especially exciting one as we deepen our commitment to creating meaningful impact through more performances, more opportunities for engaging with our audience, and more ways for all of us to experience the transformative power of music.
The 2026–27 season will also be shaped by very meaningful celebrations, including the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s passing and the 90th birthdays of two of America’s most influential composers. Through these, I look forward to exploring music on a deeper level while discovering human connections through the shared experience of live performance.”
“Every aspect of Emerald City Music’s eleventh season is centered around bringing audiences closer to the music, both as listeners and as participants,” says ECM Executive Director Sean Campbell. “Through impactful and intimate performances, thoughtful conversations, and opportunities for our communities to make music together, ECM continues to break down the barriers between artists and audiences, making world-class performance a personal and community-driven experience.”
ECM’s newest season explores a wide range of musical voices honoring major milestones including the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s passing with special November performances focused on his piano sonatas, performed by Gilles Vonsattel. In honor of their 90th birthdays, the season also reflects on the lasting influence of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, focusing on the expansive ways they’ve transformed how we think about sound, structure, and what music can be. In December, that spirit of experimentation comes to the forefront in an immersive program that challenges the very act of listening. The Evolution Series returns this season, co-curated by violinist and scholar Aaron Boyd, with a March program tracing the evolution of violin technique. In April, ECM’s commitment to collaboration continues with Animal Fire Theater, bringing music and Shakespeare into conversation through a vivid exploration of storytelling across art forms. Mainstage performances throughout the season will be held at ECM’s signature venues – in Seattle at 415 Westlake and in Olympia at The Minnaert Center for the Arts or Capital High School Performing Arts Center. This season, ECM is also proud to have a new partnership with Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Olympia.
This season focuses on expanded ways to gather around music. Chamber Music Karaoke returns to Seattle and makes its way to Olympia, inviting community members to be a part of joyful music-making. In Olympia, a new community concert series before each performance will spotlight local students and community members, creating more space for shared creativity and artistic exchange. In addition, ECM’s Late Night Sessions are back for a second season, featuring three new performances. This series embraces an intimate concert experience and directly follows the conclusion of selected mainstage performances, keeping the music going well into the night. ECM’s new Late Night Sessions will spotlight outstanding local musicians and offer audiences an eclectic mix of genres. Dates for this season’s Late Night Sessions will be announced in August.
The concept of the concert series as a platform where artists and audiences transform one another breathes life into every element of what ECM does – from the casual open-bar setting of its flagship Seattle concert experiences, to the enthusiastic communities that faithfully assemble in its concert halls in Olympia and beyond. At Emerald City Music concerts, the audience’s presence matters, transforming the artists, the community, and the future of classical music.
Emerald City Music’s Season 11 Mainstage Performances
Rhapsodic Musings
Friday, October 16, 2026 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, October 17, 2026 at Minnaert Center | 2011 Mottman Rd. SW | Olympia, WA
Kristin Lee, Rachel Lee Priday, James Garlick, Vanessa Moss, Blayne Barnes, violin | David Auerbach, Alexander Grimes, Katie Liu, viola | Efe Baltacigil, Christine Lee, Holly Reeves, cello | Will Langlie-Miletich, double bass
Emerald City Music’s 11th season opens with a vibrant, festive evening of string music, bringing together Seattle and Olympia’s most celebrated string instrumentalists. Featuring works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Antonín Dvořák, and Béla Bartók, the program showcases the virtuosity and power brought through the different formations of the string instruments. At its core is Elliott Carter’s short but electrifying work for solo violin, a striking centerpiece that gives the program its name.
Grażyna Bacewicz: Concerto for String Orchestra (1948)
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105 (1895)
Elliott Carter: “Rhapsodic Musings” from Four Lauds for solo violin (2000)
Béla Bartók: Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz. 113, BB. 118 (1939)
Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas
Friday, November 13, 2026 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, November 14, 2026 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd | 1601 North St. SE | Olympia, WA
Gilles Vonsattel, piano
Over two evenings in Seattle and Olympia, pianist Gilles Vonsattel offers an intimate journey through nine of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most beloved works, his piano sonatas, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s passing. Spanning his early, middle, and late periods, the two evenings will explore a distinct facet of his evolving voice, distilled through the singular presence of one artist at the piano. Each performance begins with a pre-concert lecture by Vonsattel, inviting audiences to listen more deeply and step inside the emotional and architectural world of these extraordinary works.
PROGRAM 1 (Seattle)
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Sonata No. 10 in G Major, op. 14, No. 2 (1798-1799)
Sonata No. 17 in D minor, op. 31, No. 2, The Tempest (1801-1802)
Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28, Pastoral (1801)
Sonata No. 22 in F Major, Op. 54 (1804)
Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, Appassionata (1803)
PROGRAM 2 (Olympia)
Ludwig van Beethoven:
Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, No. 1 (1797)
Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3 (1794-1795)
Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101 (1816)
Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 (1822)
Disassembly of Sound
Friday, December 4, 2026 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, December 5, 2026 at Capital High School | 2707 Conger Ave. NW | Olympia, WA
Sooyun Kim, piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute | Ji Hye Jung, percussion, toy piano, steel pan | Jordan Dodson, ukulele, guitar, banjo, mandolin
What is music? When is sound considered music? This program explores the answers to these obscure questions through works that dissolve the boundaries between silence, gesture, dance, and theater. John Cage’s 4’33” reframes listening itself, while Vinko Globokar’s ?Corporel transforms the performer’s body into both instrument and stage. Marin Marais’s Les Folies d’Espagne anchors the program in Baroque variation and dance, leading into Mauricio Kagel’s Serenade, which satirically reimagines classical performance conventions through theatrical invention.
John Cage: 4’33” (1952)
Vinko Globokar: ?Corporel (1984)
Marin Marais: Les Folies d’Espagne (1700)
Mauricio Kagel: Serenade (1994)
Quartet in Spotlight: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, February 12, 2027 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, February 13, 2027 at Minnaert Center | 2011 Mottman Rd. SW | Olympia, WA
Poiesis Quartet
Sarah Ma, Max Ball, violins | Jasper de Boor, viola | Drew Dansby, cello
The Poiesis Quartet, First Prize winner at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, makes its debut on Emerald City Music’s stage. Formed at Oberlin Conservatory in 2022, the ensemble has been praised for its “multifaceted artistry” and “bold, forward-thinking programming” (The New York Times). For their debut, they present a program that considers music as a response to the political and human conditions of our time.
Michi Wiancko: To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores (2021)
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: String Quartet No. 1, “Calvary” (1956)
Jeff Scott: Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified* (2026)
Kevin Lau: String Quartet No. 7, “Surfacing” (2025)
Evolution Series: The Violin
Friday, March 12, 2027 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, March 13, 2027 at Minnaert Center | 2011 Mottman Rd. SW | Olympia, WA
Aaron Boyd, co-curator, violin, viola | Kristin Lee, Sean Lee, Tianyou Ma, violin | Hana Coho, cello | Jennifer Godfrey, double bass | Oksana Ejokina, piano, harpsichord
The Evolution Series returns this season, focusing on one of music’s most celebrated instruments: the violin. Remarkably, the violin has retained its fundamental form since its earliest development. Instead, composers and performers have continually expanded its possibilities, driving innovation through new techniques and fresh modes of expression. Guided by violinist and lecturer Aaron Boyd, the evening traces four centuries of development, revealing how early breakthroughs continue to shape and challenge its musical language today.
Pietro Locatelli: Caprice in D Major “Labyrinth” (1733)
J.S. Bach: Adagio and Fugue from Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin in C Major BWV 1005
Carlo Farina: Capriccio stravagante (1627)
Niccolo Paganini: Selections from 24 Caprices for Solo Violin (1802-1817)
John Cage: Selections from Freeman Etudes for Solo Violin (1977-1990)
Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 27, No. 2, “Jacques Thibaud” (1923)
Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer: Concertante for Four Violins, Op. 55 (c.1831)
Inspired by Shakespeare
Friday, April 9, 2027 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday April 10, 2027 at Minnaert Center | 2011 Mottman Rd. SW | Olympia, WA
Tony Arnold, soprano | Michael Stephen Brown, piano | Kristin Lee, Susie Park, violin | Melissa Reardon, viola | Raman Ramakrishnan, cello | Animal Fire Theater, artistic partner
Shakespeare’s words have long shaped not only literature, but the broader landscape of human expression across the arts. This program explores how composers across time have drawn from his plays and poetry, using the themes of love, illusion, tragedy, and transform them into music. In partnership with Animal Fire Theater, an actor-driven, all-volunteer company based in Olympia, the evening bridges theater and music, allowing each form to illuminate and reshape the other.
Henry Purcell: If Music Be the Food of Love arranged for Soprano and String Quartet (1692)
Brett Dean: String Quartet No. 2 “And once I played Ophelia” (2014)
Felix Mendelssohn / Sergei Rachmaninoff: “Scherzo” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1842, arr. 1933)
Felix Mendelssohn / Franz Liszt: “Wedding March” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (arr. Brown) (1842, arr. 2023)
William Shakespeare: Selected Readings from Romeo and Juliet (1597)
Sergei Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet (arr. Lidia Baich / Matthias Fletzberger) (1935)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Adagio affettuoso ed appassionato from String Quartet No. 1 in F major (1797-1800)
Opus One
Friday, May 14, 2027 at 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday May 15, 2027 at Capital High School, 2707 Conger Ave. NW | Olympia, WA
Sahun Sam Hong, Wu Qian, piano | Kristin Lee, Chad Hoopes, violin | Matthew Lipman, viola | Nicholas Canellakis, cello
Every composer has a moment when they take the bold step of sharing their first work with the world- a gesture that is at once vulnerable yet defining. Even those we now revere as the “greatest” began with these early statements, testing boundaries, discovering their voice, and building the confidence to create what would follow. This program brings together such beginnings by Beethoven, Suk, Schumann, and Dohnányi, offering a glimpse into the origins of their artistic identities. Within these works, we encounter their imagination and individuality with each composer revealing a distinct voice already taking shape, even at the very start.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 1, No. 1
Josef Suk: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 1
Robert Schumann: “Abegg” Variations, Op. 1
Ernő Dohnányi: Piano Quintet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 1
For Emerald City Music’s Complete Schedule and Concert Details, visit www.emeraldcitymusic.org.
Emerald City Music’s 2026-2027 concerts take place on Fridays at 415 Westlake in Seattle, WA and on Saturdays at The Minnaert Center for the Arts in Olympia (2011 Mottman Rd.), Capital High School Performing Arts Center (2707 Conger Ave NW) or Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (1601 North Street SE). Season tickets and tickets to individual concerts are on sale now and in August respectively. Please visit www.emeraldcitymusic.org for more details.
About Kristin Lee, ECM Artistic Director
Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”
As a soloist, Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic. She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Louvre Museum, the Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery. In 2026, she makes her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall performing her program American Sketches with pianist John Novacek. An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, performing regularly in New York at Lincoln Center and on tour. In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is a devoted educator. She has served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and she has also been in residence with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, the El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and is a summer faculty member at Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute. Lee is also the founding artistic director of Emerald City Music (ECM), a chamber music series that presents authentically unique concert experiences and bridges the divide between the highest caliber classical music and the many diverse communities of the Puget Sound region of Washington State.
Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions, and awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation.
Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.
For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.
About ECM
Emerald City Music (ECM) is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts), ECM hosts world-renowned musicians in unique concert experiences across seven Mainstage productions annually. Each program visits Seattle in our home venue in South Lake Union (415 On Westlake, a chic contemporary venue with an open bar), and Olympia in a variety of modern concert halls.
Committed to deepening relationships through music, ECM hosts Late Night Sessions, a Seattle-based series that builds bridges across genres and cultivates new audiences. ECM also presents Chamber Music Karaoke, free events in Seattle and Olympia where community musicians gather to read chamber music and perform works they have been preparing, all centered around connection, collaboration, and the joy of music-making.
ECM gained recognition regionally and nationally as a major player in the chamber music scene. Artistic Director Kristin Lee –– a touring violinist awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant and who is a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center –– is regarded for her innovative programming that both honors the tradition of chamber music while expanding the genre’s boundary past common limits.
Emerald City Music made a name for itself beginning in its second season with a national collaborative commission with Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams, and has continued to push the boundaries of chamber music with accolades like Steve Reich’s iconic Music for 18 Musicians, Simeon ten Holt’s hypnotic Canto Ostinato, and the West Coast debut of the Danish folk group, Dreamers’ Circus. Recent highlights include partnerships with GRAMMY-winning Sandbox Percussion, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, University of Washington, Metropolis Ensemble, and East Coast Chamber Orchestra.
ECM values real, authentic connection and holds the belief that music possesses the innate power to bring people together from varying backgrounds and perspectives. Over the last decade, artists from every corner of the globe have visited Emerald City Music to prove just that: live performance centered around personal connection cultivates empathy, discovery, a sense of wonder, and community.
Follow ECM on Social Media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emeraldcitymusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/emeraldcitymusic
June 5: Pianist Charlotte Hu Releases New PENTATONE Album Featuring Enrique Granados’ Goyescas Suite – Second Single Out Today
June 5: Pianist Charlotte Hu Releases New PENTATONE Album Featuring Enrique Granados’ Goyescas Suite – Second Single Out Today
Pianist Charlotte Hu Announces New PENTATONE Album
Featuring Enrique Granados’ Goyescas Suite
New Single Out Today:
12 Danzas Españolas No. 2 Oriental
Listen Here
“Hu lends her dazzling technique to Goyescas” – WRTI
Release Date (Worldwide): June 5, 2026
CDs or press downloads available upon request.
www.charlottehu.com | www.pentatonemusic.com
Pianist Charlotte Hu announces Goyescas, her second album on PENTATONE, which will be released on June 5, 2026. Following the release of her 2024 PENTATONE debut, Liszt: Metamorphosis, Hu now turns her attention to Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist, Enrique Granados (July 27, 1867–March 24, 1916) and his iconic piano suite, Goyescas: Los majos enamorados (The Gallants in Love). The recording also highlights two Spanish Dances by Granados, No. 2, “Oriental” and No. 5, “Andaluza.” New single from 12 Danzas Españolas, No. 2 Oriental is out today – listen here.
“Recording this album has been a journey of deep engagement with a composer whose music continues to reveal new dimensions with each encounter,” Charlotte Hu says. “My first encounter with Granados’ Goyescas came during my years as a student at Juilliard. I was immediately captivated by the vivid world Granados had created on the keyboard. What struck me most was not simply the technical brilliance of the writing, but rather the poetry embedded within — the nuanced characters, the narrative arc that unfolds across the entire suite, the distinctly Spanish flavors interwoven with profound emotional depth, and the virtuosity that never overshadows the music’s intimate storytelling. Here was a masterwork that seemed to contain entire worlds: passion, tenderness, humor, shadow, and light all coexisting within its six movements. That fascination never left me. Years later, I decided that I wanted to explore this work in its complete form, to understand every layer of Granados’ genius. It is my hope that this recording will help bring Goyescas back into concert halls, where this beautiful masterwork deserves to be heard far more often than it currently is.”
Described as a “first-class talent” (Philadelphia Inquirer) possessing a “superstar quality — musical, energetic, and full of flair” (Jerusalem Post), Taiwanese-American pianist Charlotte Hu has been praised by audiences and critics across the globe for her dazzling virtuosity, captivating musicianship, and magnetic stage presence.
As a soloist, Hu has astounded audiences across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, performing sold-out concerts at many of the world’s most prestigious venues — including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, Taipei National Concert Hall, and Osaka’s Symphony Hall. She is a frequent guest at music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, Ruhr-Klavier Festival, and Oregon Bach Festival. Concerto engagements have included performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Taiwan Philharmonic, among others. Recent and upcoming highlights for Charlotte Hu include performances presented by Newport Classical, the Mansion at Strathmore, the Gilmore Piano Festival, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Taipei Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Center, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and the Taichung Opera House.
Goyescas was inspired by the work of painter Francisco Goya. Hu writes in her liner notes for the album, “Enrique Granados drew his inspiration from the paintings of Francisco Goya, the 18th-century Spanish master whose dark, sensual works explore themes of love, desire, flirtation, and the human condition. Each movement of Goyescas corresponds to a painting or draws from Goya’s visual universe, allowing Granados to translate visual art into musical narrative.”
From the playful charm of “Los requiebros” to the lyrical intimacy of “La maja y el ruiseñor” and the profound emotional summit of “El amor y la muerte,” Granados’ masterwork reveals a world of dramatic contrasts and refined storytelling. Complementing the suite are two Spanish Dances: the hauntingly introspective No. 2, “Oriental,” and the vibrant, guitar-inflected No. 5, “Andaluza.”
With this pairing, Hu captures both the virtuosic brilliance and the deeply intimate narrative of the music, illuminating its modern harmonic language and unmistakable Spanish spirit with freshness and reverence.
More about Charlotte Hu: An active recording artist, Charlotte Hu’s debut album of Chopin works on ArchiMusic was named Best Classical Album of the Year by Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Melody Award, and her recordings released on Naxos/CAG Records and BMOP/sound with Boston Modern Orchestra Project have received overwhelming critical acclaim. Her Rachmaninoff album on Centaur/Naxos received a five-star review by the U.K.’s Pianist magazine, which called it “essential listening for Rachmaninoff admirers.” Her latest album, Liszt Metamorphosis, was released by PENTATONE in July 2024.
Charlotte Hu is the founder of two piano festivals across two continents: the Yun-Hsiang International Music Festival in Taipei and the PYPA Piano Festival in Philadelphia. Now in its 14th year, PYPA has become an important fixture in the classical music world, cultivating a deeper appreciation for classical music and serving as a cultural bridge between East and West.
With a fierce dedication to making classical music more accessible, Charlotte presents captivating programs that tell human stories inclusive of gender and race. By juxtaposing audience favorites with underperformed treasures and newly commissioned works, Charlotte’s recitals consistently offer musical and narrative contrasts that encourage people to listen deeply and discover anew the work of even the most well-known composers.
At the heart of Charlotte’s success is a story of strength, dedication, and resilience that has powered her dream of becoming a world-class artist. Moving to the United States from Taiwan at age 14 without her parents to begin studies at The Juilliard School was the first of many challenges Charlotte has overcome in building her illustrious career — one that’s included winning top prizes at the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Competition, performing on classical music’s biggest stages, and fostering the next generation of musicians as an advocate for classical music through entrepreneurial and philanthropic initiatives. A tireless advocate for humanity, Charlotte raised $27,000 for youth education charities through a Hope Charity Concert live-streamed on her Facebook page in June 2020. The online concert reached more than 140,000 people across the globe.
A Steinway Artist, Charlotte Hu serves as an associate professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and as an artist in residence at Temple University in Philadelphia, in addition to her busy performance schedule. She is a frequent guest artist, leading master classes and artist residencies at universities and music festivals worldwide. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Germany’s Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media, where she studied with Herbert Stessin, Sergei Babayan, and Karl-Heinz Kammerling, respectively.
Goyescas
Charlotte Hu, Piano
Pentatone | Release Date (Worldwide): June 5, 2026
Track List:
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Goyescas Suite
1. I. Los Requiebros [8:44]
2. II. Coloquio en la Reja [11:56]
3. III. El Fandango del Candil [5:57]
4. IV. Quejas o la Maja y el Ruiseñor [6:56]
5. V. El Amor y la Muerte: Balada [12:35]
6. VI. Epílogo (Serenata del Espectro) [8:15]
12 Danzas españolas
7. No. 2, Oriental [5:28]
8. No. 5, Andaluza [3:45]
Total playing time: [63:41]
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Appoints Lee Ramsey as Vice President of Philanthropy
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Appoints Lee Ramsey as Vice President of Philanthropy
Lee Ramsey, courtesy photo, available here.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
Appoints Lee Ramsey as Vice President of Philanthropy
KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY, announces the appointment of Lee Ramsey as Vice President of Philanthropy, effective May 26.
Ramsey brings two decades of experience in philanthropy to the position. Most recently, she served as Director of Development with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, where she led fundraising strategy and donor engagement initiatives in support of the organization’s artistic programming, educational outreach, and long-term institutional growth. Prior to Orpheus, she served as Director of Development at Music@Menlo in Atherton, California.
At these organizations, and others, Ramsey has focused on building devoted communities around causes close to her heart. Her new role at Caramoor continues this mission. Originally from Northern Westchester, Ramsey has been a lifelong attendee of Caramoor. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, with a minor in flute performance, and currently resides in Hastings on Hudson with her husband and two children.
“Throughout my life, Caramoor has been the site of so many inspiring and formative experiences,” she says. “I have always found that the magic of the gardens enhances the power of the music in an almost spiritual way. I am delighted to bring my experience in fundraising and community building to the incredible team at Caramoor to help others share these experiences for decades to come.”
Caramoor President and CEO Gillian Fox says, “Lee brings a strong record of leadership in arts philanthropy, with extensive experience designing and executing comprehensive fundraising strategies that advance both institutional growth and mission impact. Known for her strategic mindset and collaborative approach, she has consistently increased contributed revenue while deepening donor engagement and aligning philanthropic efforts with long-term vision. We are thrilled to welcome someone who brings not only exceptional professional experience, but also a lifelong, deeply personal connection to Caramoor — her first classical music experience was right here, in the Venetian Theater. I look forward to all we will accomplish together.”
Lee Ramsey will lead the Caramoor team in securing crucial philanthropic support to advance and sustain the mission of Caramoor, strategically guiding all aspects of fundraising. With a focus on stewardship, prospect development, and operational excellence, she will build the resources necessary to sustain and grow Caramoor’s programs and impact.
About Caramoor
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.
Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Music Room, Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, and the Sunken Garden), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.
Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures which draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events. The estate’s gardens and grounds are also open year-round to visitors, free of charge, for picnicking and walking daily from 10am to 4pm.
For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/whats-on