Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts Inc

“The prepared Form 990 is reviewed by senior management, the members of the Audit Committee, and then provided to the Board of Trustees prior to filing. Management, the Audit Committee members, and the independent auditors review and discuss the return. If necessary, the independent auditors submit an updated Form 990 to the CFO. The CFO confirms that the updates are accurate and posts the final draft to Drop Box. The URL address for the Drop Box file is circulated to the Board. Comments from the Board are collected and reviewed by the Audit Committee. Final edits, if any, are made and the Form 990 is filed.”

“Caramoor followed its conflict of interest policy. A conflict of interest disclosure statement is required to be furnished annually by each trustee and each covered employee disclosing any anticipated or possible conflict situations. Covered employees are senior employees and other employees who have a decision making role in hiring or contracting. Each new trustee is advised of the policy and furnished a disclosure statement upon undertaking the duties of such office. When any conflict of interest may be involved in a transaction requiring action by the Board of Trustees or committee of the Board, the interested person shall call it to the attention of the Board of Trustees or such committee and the trustee concerned shall not vote on the matter. Moreover, the person having a conflict shall retire from the room in which the Board or committee is meeting and may not participate in the final deliberation or decisions regarding the matter under consideration. However, that person may provide the Board or committee with any and all relevant information before retiring. The minutes of the meeting of the Board or committee shall reflect that the conflict of interest was disclosed and that the interested person was not present during the final discussion or vote and did not vote. When there is a doubt as to whether a conflict of interest exists, the matter shall be resolved by the Board of Trustees excluding the person whose situation will be discussed. When any conflict of interest may be involved in a matter involving an employee, such employee shall notify the Board of Trustees and the Chief Executive Officer of Caramoor. The Board of Trustees may waive any disclosed conflict if it determines such waiver to be in the best interests of Caramoor.”

“Caramoor has a formal Compensation Committee which annually reviews salaries, bonuses, and benefits for all Caramoor employees. The Committee pays special attention to the positions of CEO, AD, CDO, CFO, and CMO. Annual reviews include an assessment by the employee, the employee's supervisor, and recommendations from the CEO. The CEO also receives a review from the Compensation Committee. Trustees that sit on the Compensation Committee have all signed "conflict of interest" declarations, and do so annually. One of the Co-Chairs of the Committee is one of the leading non-profit recruiters and as such provides meaningful insights on compensation benchmarks. The Committee reviews salaries and compensation for similarly sized arts organizations in the New York area, and nationally, and uses this information in their decision making. Minutes of the Committee's deliberations and decisions are forwarded to the CFO to be carried out and filed. The last meeting of the Compensation Committee took place on December 17, 2021.”

“Caramoor makes its Form 990 and Form 1023 available for public inspection as required under Section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Form 990 is also posted on guidestar.org and other similar types of websites, as well as on Caramoor's website.”

“Caramoor's governing documents are made available to the public upon request and are available for inspection at the finance office. Caramoor's conflict of interest policy is made available to the public upon request and is available for inspection at the finance office. Caramoor's financial statements are made available to the public upon request and are available for inspection at the finance office and on the Caramoor website.”

“Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a destination for exceptional music, captivating programs, spectacular gardens, intriguing sound art, and historical perspective. Located on an 81-acre campus in Katonah, NY, Caramoor annually presents approximately 70 live music performances in a wide range of genres. Audiences are invited to explore the lush grounds, tour the historic Rosen House, enjoy a pre-concert picnic, and discover beautiful music in the relaxed settings of the Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Music Room, Friends Field, and magnificent gardens. Caramoor also trains the next generation of classical musicians and provides music-based arts education to local schoolchildren. The organization, founded by Lucie and Walter Rosen, was established as a 501c3 non-profit arts center in 1946 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2022, 33,414 people visited Caramoor's campus to enjoy the grounds and listen to music. In addition, approximately 9,800 people used the campus through facility rentals, special events, and administrative functions. In 2022, audiences were thrilled by live performances including Yo-Yo Ma and the Knights, Rhiannon Giddens and the Silkroad Ensemble, the Brentano String Quartet, Metropolitan Opera star J'Nai Bridges, and much more. Molly Tuttle headlined our acclaimed American Roots Music Festival. Jazz lovers enjoyed a full-day festival featuring Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet, among other performers. We also offered tours of our historic Rosen House and gardens, including our collection of sound art, Sonic Innovations. Caramoor's free community days included Dia de Los Muertos, a celebration of the Mexican Day of the Dead; Soundscapes, an event focused on our sound art collection, and "Field of Vision," a large-scale, immersive new work by composer Michael Gordon featuring the University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble and So Percussion Summer Institute. We also partnered with the Town of Bedford for a Juneteenth celebration that attracted approximately 1,300 visitors on June 19, 2022.”

“The information contained in the return is relevant through December 31, 2022 and does not reflect any activity in 2023.”

“Caramoor's 2022 Summer Season included 38 live, in-person concerts, held outdoors from June 1 through August 19. Several concerts featured post-concert conversations with the artists, hosted by Helga Davis. Concert Theater Works presented The Chevalier, a concert-theater work based on the life of Joseph Bolonge, Chavalier de Saint-Georges, featuring the Harlem Chamber Players.Other highlights included: the Imani Winds; the Kronos and Thalea quartets; The Silkroad Ensemble with artistic director Rhiannon Giddens; Pianist Lara Downes presenting American Tapestry, a program that included works by Scott Joplin and others; a recital by mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges; new works and improvisations by composers Caroline Shaw, Angelica Negron, and Raquel Acevedo Klein; On Site Opera with vocalists Stephanie Blythe and Laquita Mitchell performing Rachel J. Peters' Lesson Plan; Dawn Upshaw and the Brentano String Quartet performing Dido Reimagined with music from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and a new work by composer Melinda Wagner; the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street presenting Handel's Theodora. Caramoor's resident orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL), and conductor Gemma New led a performance of works by Jessie Montgomery, Mozart, and Brahms with violinist Karen Gomyo. Later in the season, an all-Beethoven OSL concert featured conductor Xian Zhang and pianist Marc Andre Hamlin. Caramoor's annual Jazz Festival featured Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet, among others. Percussionist Pedrito Martinez and pianist Matthew Whitaker performed in two additional jazz concerts. Caramoor's American Roots Music Festival featured headliner Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, and more. Other concerts featured Las Cafeteras; Shemekia Copeland; and LADAMA. Other concerts featured Angelique Kidjo; Rachael & Vilray; Boyd Meets Girl; Inon Barnatan; Les Arts Florissants; VOCES8; Brian Stokes Mitchell; and the Westchester Symphonic Winds. Our spring and fall seasons, held in the Music Room of our historic Rosen House, featured performances by young artists from Caramoor's Evnin Rising Stars and Schwab Vocal Rising Stars programs. Other artists included countertenor Iestyn Davies along with lutenist Thomas Dunford; chamber music from the Takacs Quartet; Baroque violinist Rachel Podger; guitarist Yasmin Williams; singer-songwriter Kat Wright; Broadway star Sierra Boggess; jazz from the Melissa Aldana Quartet and Sean Mason Quintet; Florence Price champion pianist Michelle Cann; jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau; Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet; singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell, and Grammy Award-winning children's performer Dan Zanes and his wife, jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes.”

“Mentoring The development of emerging artists is central to Caramoor's mission and woven into much of our programming. Through our mentoring programs, we identify, train, and promote the next generation of vocal and instrumental artists. This year's Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program featured four young singers and a pianist selected for a weeklong residency at Caramoor. After a week of daily coaching, rehearsals, and workshops, the group performed love songs from Spain, Germany, France, and America. Developed in collaboration with the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), and led by Artistic Director Steven Blier and associate director Benedicte Jourdois, the concert featured Meredith Wohlgemuth, soprano; Natalie Lewis, mezzo-soprano; Cesar Andres Parreo, tenor; Seonho Yu, baritone; and Francesco Barfoed, piano. The Evnin Rising Stars pairs distinguished artists with emerging instrumentalists for a week-long residency. Activities include rehearsals, coaching, and performances in the Music Room. This year, guest Guest Artistic Director Marcy Rosen, a longtime member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, was joined by Joseph Lin, violin; and Steven Tenenbom, viola, to mentor Claire Bourg, violin; Geneva Lewis, violin; Stephanie Zyzak, violin; Njord Krason Fossnes, viola; Tanner Menees, viola; Nathan Chan, cello; Sterling Elliott, cello; and Zhu Wang, piano. Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence In 1999, with the support of The Ernst C. Stiefel Foundation, Caramoor established a residency program for young string ensembles. Each year a quartet is selected and given opportunities throughout the year to develop as an ensemble, to work with a young composer, to perform for Caramoor's audiences, and to engage local schoolchildren in arts outreach. Our Student Strings program connects Caramoor's Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence with middle and high school students. This year the Callisto Quartet (spring 2022) and the Ivalas Quartet (fall 2022) visited 10 schools to teach a hands-on, clinic-style master class for string students and perform an assembly-style program for the general student population. Other community engagement efforts included a visit to an over-55 condominium community. Arts-in-Education Since 1974, Caramoor has provided students with arts enrichment opportunities that use our exceptional facilities, visiting artists, and dedicated staff while meeting New York State education standards. Caramoor's arts-in-education program features on-campus workshops that bring students to Caramoor and a music literacy unit that sends our musicians to local schools. This year marked the full launch of our new research-based curriculum, Caramoor Kids, which was introduced as a pilot program with select groups in 2021. Of the approximately 582 children who participated in our on-campus field trips during the 2022-23 academic year, roughly half were from Title 1 schools that serve children from low-income households. Caramoor offers its arts-in-education programs free of charge.”

“Write off of Uncollectible Pledge -30,000.”

“Caramoor has a committee that assumes responsibility for the oversight of the audit of its financial statements and selection of an independent accountant. This process did not change from the prior year.”

“Staffing Tracy Tajbl joined as Vice President and Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining Caramoor, she served as assistant dean for advancement for the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. Prior to Syracuse University, Tracy held leadership positions in development for a variety of arts and cultural organizations, including the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, the Colorado Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony. She was a vice president at Community Counselling Service (CCS,) a national fundraising consultancy. Caramoor welcomed a new Director of Interpretation, Collections, and Archives for the Rosen House, Jessa J. Krick. For more than a decade she served as Associate Director of Collections for Historic Hudson Valley, a network of sites spanning centuries of history in lower Westchester County and was part of a team that received numerous grants for making interpretive and archival content available onsite and online. She also held positions at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Volunteers Through their generous commitment of time, enthusiasm, and expertise, Caramoor benefits from the contributions of volunteers throughout the year. In a typical year, the number is determined by the scope of Caramoor's presenting activities and educational programs, in addition to the availability of the volunteers themselves. The majority of volunteers act as ushers at Caramoor's year-round music presentations. They are often the public face of Caramoor, acting as greeters, helping audience members to their seats, and helping to ensure the visiting public's safety and comfort. They also provide guidance during public tours of the Rosen House as well as performing clerical duties and undertaking cataloging projects. Board of Trustees Caramoor's Board of Trustees is responsible for the organization's governance, long-term strategy, and fiduciary oversight, while the senior staff is responsible for the day-to-day operation of Caramoor, including management and recommending annual budgets to the board. The board and staff work collaboratively in setting priorities for the organization's future. Caramoor's 29 board members come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of professional expertise. By serving on various committees, including Finance, Building, Marketing, Development, and more, our board members act as fully engaged stewards of Caramoor's mission. One hundred percent of the board participates personally by making major contributions to support annual operating costs as well as fundraising for Caramoor. Additionally, individual board members support the organization through the establishment of endowment funds and contributions toward capital purchases. Advisory Council Established in 2013, the Advisory Council is comprised of members who have demonstrated a deep commitment to furthering Caramoor's mission and impact. The group, comprised of 22 members in 2022, formally meets twice a year, once with the Board of Trustees for Caramoor's Annual Meeting, and once on their own. Members also serve as members of committees of the organization, are involved in special initiatives/projects, and in advisory roles to various staff members. Individuals are selected by the Governance Committee from among our dedicated ticket buyers and donors for renewable terms of three years. Some Advisory Council members have moved up to serve on the Board of Trustees after service on the Advisory Council. The engagement of the Advisory Council continues to be an important element of Caramoor's success in engaging the broader community and undertaking a larger volume of initiatives with success.”