The Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts will present two opera productions this July at its historic Venetian Theater in Katonah, New York. These performances represent the only opportunities to view these specific works within the tri-state area. The scheduled events are part of Caramoor’s 2026 summer season, which features more than 30 concerts across the 81-acre property between June 20 and August 2, 2026.
Conductor and harpsichordist William Christie will return to the venue on Friday, July 17, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. to lead his Baroque ensemble, Les Arts Florissants. To celebrate the group’s 80th anniversary, Christie has revived the short Marc-Antoine Charpentier opera that gave the ensemble its name. The evening features a double bill pairing that work with another Charpentier opera, La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers.
The staged double bill will feature the voices of ten new laureates from Le Jardin des Voix, the international academy for young singers run by Les Arts Florissants. Marie Lambert-Le Bilhan and Stéphane Facco direct the production, which includes choreography by Martin Chaix. A pre-concert educational talk by Julia I. Doe, an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia University, will begin at 6:00 p.m.
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra will also return to the venue on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Newly appointed Music Director Peter Whelan will conduct a semi-staged production of Handel’s Tolomeo, re d’Egitto, directed by James Darrah Black. The performance is sung in Italian with English supertitles and uses period instruments to reflect the historic sound world of the piece.
Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen performs the title role of Tolomeo, a ruler stripped of power and living in exile under an assumed identity. The cast of Baroque specialists includes soprano Lauren Snouffer as Seleuce, soprano Nicole Heaston as Elisa, countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim as Alessandro, and bass-baritone Dashon Burton as Araspe. A pre-concert talk by MIT professor emeritus and Handel scholar Ellen T. Harris starts at 3:00 p.m.
On-site dining options include pre-ordered gourmet picnics prepared by G.E. Brown with cheese boards from Second Mouse Cheese Shop, which must be ordered by the Tuesday before the performance. The Bravo Bar will also open two hours before each concert, offering drinks and snacks from a variety of local food creators. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone, or at the box office located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road.
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