Company Profile
Caramoor
Company Overview
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a destination for exceptional music, captivating programs, spectacular gardens and grounds, and wonderful moments with friends and family. It enriches the lives of its audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality. Its mission also includes mentoring young professional musicians and providing educational programs for young children centered around music.
Company History
In 1945, the Rosens bequeathed the Caramoor estate as a center for music and art in memory of their son who had died the previous year. In 1946, the Music Room was opened to the public for three summer concerts. The Summer Music Festival grew from those intimate concerts the Rosens shared with their friends at their home. After Walter Rosen died in 1951, Lucie Rosen continued to expand the Festival. During the 1950s, outdoor concerts were presented in the Spanish Courtyard. Caramoor’s fame continued to grow and seats became impossible to obtain. Prompted by The New York Times critic Howard Taubman, Lucie Rosen decided to make Caramoor more available to the public, and she had a larger space – the Venetian Theater – constructed. The theater opened in 1958.
Caramoor’s historic house opened to the public in 1971, three years after Lucie Rosen’s death. The Rosens’ daughter, Anne Stern, and many professionals continued the task of cataloguing, conserving and interpreting its collection for several years afterward. In 1974 a new wing was added to include rooms and objects d’art from the Rosens’ New York City residence.