Sandwiches, scones, and sweets made for a memorable conversation with the new president and CEO of Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. She’s an experienced administrator with a proven track record and has plenty to say about the future of the venerated Katonah institution.
Picture this: Afternoon sun filters softly through the tall windows of the Music Room in the historic Rosen House at Caramoor. Steam wafts lazily from cups of Palm Court Oolong tea. Elegant little sandwiches and scones arrive for noshing. My companion is the recently appointed President and CEO of Caramoor, Gillian Fox, who has made a more-than-impressive career of championing the arts. Yet she so personable that it feels like chatting with an old friend.
Fox arrived at Caramoor this past June after a successful tenure at Newport Classical in Rhode Island, where she shepherded the transformation of what was once a festival into a year-round cultural institution. Her claim to fame was guiding the organization through two strategic plans—one rebranding the organization and expanding programming through a music initiative in local schools, and the other centered on expanding international awareness and growing and diversifying revenue streams. Before that, she honed her curatorial voice at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (where she also sang for two seasons), directing the SOLUNA International Music & Arts Festival and contemporary programs.
Clearly, she has big plans. Her goal is to make Caramoor a place people want to visit regularly, whether to tour the Rosen House or just bring kids to play on the lush 81-acre property. “I believe that our current structure is already family friendly, but I want to do more to communicate that and spread awareness,” Fox says. And while she is only a few months into the role, the New Jersey native has already fostered important connections with ArtsWestchester and the Katonah Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re opening new doors, even in genres people may not expect. We’re not just a performing arts organization but a cultural institution.”
—Gillian Fox
Meanwhile, Fox observes an inspiring trend: Caramoor patrons aren’t bound to one genre. “Audiences have traditionally looked to us for classical, jazz, or roots,” she points out. “That musical omnivore spirit is what makes Caramoor unique.” As a classic rock, choral, and pop punk fan, Fox herself isn’t a music purist, either. Technically her first concert was a New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performance for kids when she was four years old, but she says her first real concert was OK Go in a Jersey dive bar. Her comfort album is The Everglow by Mae, and she loves anything from The Highwomen (yes, she’s a huge Brandi Carlile fan).
Fox’s enthusiasm, even as the arts world grapples with substantial challenges, can’t help but spark inspiration. “We’re opening new doors, even in genres people may not expect,” she says. “We’re not just a performing arts organization but a cultural institution.”
Highlights of Gillian Fox’s Perfect Playlist
Pictures at an Exhibition / Promenade (Orch. M. Ravel) Modest Mussorgsky, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Zdeněk Mácal
The Mother / Brandi Carlile
Chicago / Sufjan Stevens
We’re So Far Away / Mae
Shorthand / Anna Clyne, The Knights, Eric Jacobsen, Yo-Yo Ma
Related: The Latest Stats on the Film Industry in Westchester County
