Caramoor International Music Festival Presents POPS, PATRIOTS & FIREWORKS, 7/4

Caramoor CEO and General Director Michael Barrett will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a celebratory program of "Pops, Patriots and Fireworks" on Wednesday, July 4, at 8:00 PM in the Venetian Theater. Hosted by Jamie Bernstein, the program highlights George Gershwin's greatest works to commemorate America's Independence Day. Guest pianist John Musto will perform Rhapsody in Blue, and many of Gershwin's hit songs will be sung by Darius de Haas and Carla Jablonski. A dazzling pyrotechnic fireworks display will follow the patriotic festivities.

Tickets for Pops, Patriots, and Fireworks are $30, $40, $50, $60, and $70. Children under 16 are half price. To order tickets, call the Box Office at 914.232.1252 or visit www.caramoor.org. Groups of 16 or more may purchase discounted tickets by contacting Matthew Scarella at 914.232.5035 ext. 252 or matthew@caramoor.org.

Michael Barrett will begin his tenth and final season as Chief Executive and General Director of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, where he has programmed and conducted world premieres, American premieres, and Caramoor commissions. Mr. Barrett assumed this position in 2003, built on an established reputation of more than 25 years of programming and performing experience in the arts. Mr. Barrett remains active with both the New York Festival of Song and the Moab Music Festival as Associate Artistic Director and Music Director respectively.

John Musto, an American composer and pianist, earned degrees in piano performance at the Manhattan School of Music under Seymour Lipkin. Last season, Mr. Musto embarked on a recording project with Bridge Records to record both his piano concerti. Since 2004, he has seen the production of four new operas, most recently, The Inspector, at Wolf Trap opera in April 2011. Wolf Trap's recording of Musto's first opera, Volpone, was nominated for a 2010 Grammy. In October 2011, he was honored with a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Manhattan School of Music. He has been a visiting professor at Brooklyn College and is a frequent guest lecturer at The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Musto served as Composer-in-Residence at the Caramoor International Music Festival for the 2005-06 season, during which he premiered his Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the direction of Maestro Barrett.

Jamie Bernstein is a narrator, writer and broadcaster who transformed a lifetime of loving music into a career of sharing her knowledge and excitement with others. Replicating her father Leonard Bernstein's compulsion to share and teach, she has devised several ways of communicating her own excitement about classical music. In her role as a broadcaster, she has produced and hosted numerous shows for radio stations in the United States as well as for BBC Radio 3. In addition to hosting several seasons of the New York Philharmonic's Live National radio broadcasts, Ms. Bernstein has presented various series for New York's classical station, 96.3 WQXR FM, including annual live broadcasts from Tanglewood.

Darius de Haas enjoys a multifaceted career as an award-winning, widely acclaimed popular singer and actor. He made his Broadway debut in Kiss of the Spiderwoman, followed by Lincoln Center's revival of Carousel, Rent, the Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm, Marie Christine and City Center's Encores "Broadway Bash." His stature as a solo artist was launched with his two highly acclaimed concert tributes for Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series. His singular abilities and range in popular music, jazz, musical theater and art song have established him as a performer in a variety of settings including The New York Festival of Song, The Moab Music Festival, and The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater's 50th Gala Celebration, and as guest soloist with several orchestras including the National Symphony and The Philly Pops. Mr. de Haas is featured on numerous recordings including his award-winning solo debut CD, Darius de Haas: Day Dream- Variations on Strayhorn and Quiet Please, released December 2010.

Carla Jablonski recently graduated from the Manhattan School of Music where she not only studied classical voice but also continued to explore other genres, never denying her love for jazz and the blues. Soon after, she performed with African jazz artist Hugh Masekela and Paul Simon at Carnegie Hall and with choirs at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. In 2008 she was awarded an ASCAP award for her musical talents and later an Outstanding Student Performance Award from Downbeat Magazine. Her current projects include the newly formed band Orange Democracy with Cyrus von Hochstetter, Ted Boasso, and Samir Zarif. During the summer of 2009 she joined the Wolf Trap Opera Company in Vienna, Virginia and in the summer of 2010 she joined the Chautauqua Opera Company.

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL), one of America's foremost and most versatile ensembles and the resident orchestra at Caramoor since it was formed there in 1979, presents concerts that glitter with luminous soloists, classic repertoire, and a fresh approach to symphonic music. Now in its 38th year, Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) is dedicated to engaging audiences throughout New York City and beyond. OSL performs approximately 70 concerts each year-including an annual chamber music series and an orchestra series at Carnegie Hall.. OSL collaborates regularly with the world's great artists on the world's greatest stages. Committed to community-building, OSL produces free concerts in each of the five boroughs as part of its Subway Series, and has engaged more than one million children in its arts education programs. OSL's stellar 70+ discography includes four releases on its own label, St. Luke's Collection, and four Grammy Award- winning recordings.

Caramoor is the legacy of Walter and Lucie Rosen, who built their summer home – now known as the historic Rosen House at Caramoor – and filled it with their treasures. Walter Rosen was the master planner for the Caramoor estate, realizing his dream of creating a place to entertain friends from around the world. Their musical evenings planted the seeds for today's Caramoor International Music Festival. Witnessing the pleasure their friends took in the beauty of Caramoor – the house with its art collection, the gardens, and the musical programs on summer evenings –the Rosens established a public trust to open Caramoor to the community in 1946. Lucie Rosen survived her husband by seventeen years. During those years, she expanded the Music Festival. The Spanish Courtyard was used as a setting for musical events, as it is today, and, under her direction, the great stage of the Venetian Theater was built.

Getting to Caramoor:

By car from the West Side of Manhattan and New Jersey, take the Saw Mill River Parkway north to Katonah. Exit at Route 35/Cross River. Turn right and, at the first traffic light, make a right turn onto Route 22 south. Travel 1.9 miles to the junction of Girdle Ridge Road. Follow the signs to Caramoor. (For detailed directions call 914.232.5035 and press 4, or online at www.caramoor.org). Parking at Caramoor is free.

By train, take the Harlem Division of the Metro-North Railroad to Katonah, New York. Taxi service from the station to Caramoor (5 minutes away) is available.

Extend the Caramoor experience by arriving early and enjoying a picnic amidst the beautiful gardens. Concertgoers can bring their own picnic, or order one for pick-up at Caramoor by calling Great Performances® at 212-337-6055 or online at www.greatperformances.com/caramoorpicnics.