THE ONLY WAY IS THROUGH to Make World Premiere at Caramoor This Summer
GRAMMY-winning composer Christopher Cerrone's work will feature Sandbox Percussion and the Young People's Chorus of NYC.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts will present the world premiere of Christopher Cerrone's The Only Way is Through, an immersive new piece performed by the “utterly mesmerizing” (The Guardian) Sandbox Percussion and the celebrated Young People's Chorus of New York City, on Sunday, July 19, 2026 at 4:00pm outdoors in the Sunken Garden. The performance, which is free (RSVP recommended), is part of Caramoor's 2026 Summer Season of over thirty performances between June 20 and August 2. 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 concerts happening in five distinct settings – the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room.
In The Only Way is Through, GRAMMY Award-winning composer Christopher Cerrone traces how people and things change — slowly, with determination and joy. The work, which is co-commissioned by Caramoor and directed by Mary Birnbaum, begins with a processional: Sandbox Percussion and the Young People's Chorus of New York City move through the Sunken Garden, weaving among the audience before finding their places. From there, the piece unfolds as a gradual revelation — the choristers sing alongside the percussionists, at times lending their voices to guide and shape the music, as a single phrase slowly comes into focus: the only way is through. Inspired by the first year of Cerrone's son's life, the work reaches beyond autobiography toward something more universal — the experience of having come through something hard, and the recognition that this is simply how we move forward. Throughout, the audience is free to move through the Sunken Garden.
There will be a pre-concert conversation with Christopher Cerrone and Sandbox Percussion at 3:00pm. In the event of rain, the performance will take place in the Venetian Theater.
Continuing Caramoor's tradition of free outdoor performances, The Only Way is Through joins a series of annual immersive presentations that, since 2018, has included John Luther Adams' Inuksuit and Ten Thousand Birds, Terry Riley's In C, Ted Hearne's Farming, and Michael Gordon's Field of Vision.
About the Artists
Christopher Cerrone: christophercerrone.com/biography
Sandbox Percussion: sandboxpercussion.com/about
The Young People's Chorus of New York City: ypc.org/our-story
Mary Birnbaum: marybirnbaum.com
More New Music at Caramoor
Poiesis Quartet – A Love Letter to the Queer Community
Featuring a World Premiere by Jeff Scott Commissioned by Caramoor
Thursday, July 2, 2026 at 7:30pm, Music Room
The prize-winning Poiesis Quartet gives its third and final performance as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor, 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.
Johnny Gandelsman: This is America
Featuring a New York Premiere by Tyshawn Sorey Co-Commissioned by Caramoor
Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 1:00pm, Caramoor Grounds
Violinist, producer, and 2024 MacArthur Fellow Johnny Gandelsman caps off Caramoor's America at 250 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.
Conor Hanick, piano in Hans Otte's The Book of Sounds
Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 7:30pm, Spanish Courtyard
In the 1980s, the German composer and broadcaster Hans Otte released a series of solo piano pieces called Das Buch der Klänge (The Book of Sounds). Inspired by Buddhist thought and American Minimalism, Otte created a series of works that are lyrical, alternately contemplative and energetic, and possibly a little psychedelic. It was an overlooked masterpiece until pianist Conor Hanick, praised as one of his generation's most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old, began playing it a few years ago, to great acclaim. Otte wrote of the work, “This Book of Sounds rediscovers the listener as a partner of sound and silence, who in the quest for his world, wishes for once to be totally at one with sound.” A fierce advocate for the music of today, Conor Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces; The New York Times has raved that his “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master.” He has recently performed at the Barbican Centre in London, Cal Performances in Berkeley, Da Camera in Houston, and with the BBC Philharmonic.
Dining at Caramoor
Caramoor's on-site dining options include Pre-Ordered Gourmet Picnics available for pick-up two hours prior to each mainstage 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.
How to get to Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities
More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit
