For the past three years I have lived in a ground floor, one bedroom apartment in the Hamilton Heights area of New York City. I actually found the apartment listing on Craigslist in my attempts to find something being rented directly by owner instead of through a broker. Normally I am skeptical of Craigslist ads […]
Read MoreBy way of introduction, my name is Thomas West. I am a baritone originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee and am thrilled to be taking over the Song of the Day blog this week in anticipation of this year’s Caramoor Rising Stars residency. It has been six years now since I first met Steven Blier as a […]
Read MoreComposer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum previews her upcoming NYFOS Next evening, discusses her approach to collaboration, and more as our Artist of the Month. Hear Nora’s work on NYFOS Next: Laura Karpman & Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum on March 25. You, along with Laura Karpman, are co-curating an evening of our NYFOS series this March. Can you tell us […]
Read MoreFrom Ann Gregg, a producer, program designer, educator and musician I recently saw Hadestown and was blown away by the end of the first half. The musical is about a Greek tragedy and though set thousands of years ago has a song, “The Wall”, with lyrics that ring true now. Composed by Anaïs Mitchell, it has a lyric […]
Read MoreFrom Tim Coffey, Caramoor’s Artistic Planning Manager It’s winter on the east coast so naturally I’m thinking about a warm sunny day at the beach. And who better to put me in the mood — The Beach Boys. To be honest though, I’ve been on a beach boys kick for about a year now. Growing […]
Read MoreFrom Kathy Schuman, Caramoor’s VP, Artistic Planning and Executive Producer As we prepare to celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, my thoughts turned to this hilarious song I first heard in a student revue back in college. Written by Mary Rodgers, with lyrics by Sondheim, this lesser-known 1966 song was meant to be a send up of […]
Read MoreFrom Caramoor’s Senior Artistic Planning Manager, Ellie Gisler Murphy The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was known to be deeply intellectual and progressive — a man moved by Shakespeare, and inspired by humanists like Walt Whitman. Well into his career, Europe was thrust into a horrific war and in 1916, Vaughan Williams volunteered for the […]
Read MoreJoan Sutherland is indisputably one of the greatest opera singers to have ever lived. Her performances of the coloratura repertoire set the standard for all who have followed, and are the gold standard in living memory. I do not know the exact circumstances of the recording of this video, but it appears to be a […]
Read MoreThis famous live recording of Nina Simone performing “Stars” at the Montreux Jazz Festival is one of my absolute favorites. Simone is in her full glory, at the height of her musical and communicative powers. And this Queen, I say that with no irony, is the kind of performer who commands the energy of the room. Her […]
Read MoreOdetta Holmes, known simply as Odetta, is a national treasure. I first encountered her incredible voice as I was working my way through The Best of Broadside 1962-1988. Broadside was an underground magazine where many of the most well known protest songs of the 1960s and 1970s were first published and distributed. The publication brought together […]
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