Caramoor announces a sizzling summer season 

We may still be in the season of snow, but Caramoor is ready to sizzle. 

The Katonah-based arts center ”“ home of an acclaimed summer music festival and eclectic Mediterranean-style house museum ”“ has announced its summer season of more than 40 concerts, with Broadway star Audra McDonald headlining opening night June 17 as she performs selections from the Great American Songbook, accompanied by the Orchestra of St. Luke”™s and conductor Andy Einhorn in the Venetian Theater. (The grounds and”¯“Sonic Innovations””¯sound art exhibit will actually open on June 4 with “Soundscapes,” an annual free-to-the-public event featuring the sound artists, who will be present to interact with the public.) 

Nine weeks of concerts will offer familiar faces and new ones, including pianist Hélène Grimaud, founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem (July 16); Mahopac dancer Caleb Teacher (July 20); White Plains-born pianist Garrick Ohlsson (July 30); and Grammy Award-winning jazz singer and Purchase College alumna Samara Joy (Aug. 4). But Caramoor will also welcome singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter and her band (Aug. 5) and a number of firsts by women, from the first known opera composed by a woman (the Boston Early Music Festival”™s production of Francesca Caccini”™s “Alcina” on June 25) to Brooklyn singer-composer Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani woman to win a Grammy, presenting her new “Love in Exile” project July 29.  

And you”™ll be “Over the Rainbow” in a concert featuring the music of Harold Arlen (July 8). 

It”™s all in an 80-acre landscaped setting that serves as a backdrop for picnics and afternoon teas, sound art and sculptures, butterflies and shutterbugs. 

Said Edward J. Lewis III, Caramoor”™s president and CEO: 

“True to the vision of our founders, (Walter T. and Lucie Bigelow Dodge Rosen) Caramoor is the place where you can be transformed by the convergence of an exciting and diverse mix of remarkable live music performances, stunning gardens and grounds and the beauty of an art-filled historic home.”¯ The Caramoor experience leaves both the artist and audience refreshed and renewed and compels all to return again and again.” 

The members”™ pre-sale is on through Monday, March 13. Tickets for the public go on sale Tuesday, March 14. For a complete schedule of events from now through the summer season, click here.