Caroga Lake Music Festival Announces Plans for 10th Anniversary

Caroga Arts Collective announced its 2021 Caroga Lake Music Festival concert schedule today, celebrating the return of its regularly programmed season since the pandemic. With twenty-six outdoor performances scheduled between July 3 and August 22, the 2021 season will mark the 10th Anniversary of the Caroga Lake Music Festival and the 100th birthday of the former Sherman's Amusement Park.

Presented by Caroga Arts, the 2021 Caroga Lake Music Festival offers a diverse mix of musical programming exploring genres of classical, rock, jazz, bluegrass, ragtime, world music and everything in between. Performances include an evening of Tango music from Argentina, Ragtime piano music, jazz vocals, Indian tabla with cello, and a series of bluegrass-roots artists: Sierra Hull, Hawktail, Eddie Barbash, North and South Dakotas, and Saunders Family Band.

Caroga Lake Music Festival is proud to showcase acclaimed local talent including Jocelyn and Chris, Girl Blue, Wild Adriatic, and North and South Dakotas, all making their CLMF debuts at Sherman's. Grammy-award winning bassist Geoff Saunders from Canada Lake (Caroga) and singer-songwriter Bill Ackerbauer from Green Lake (Caroga) with his 8 year old son will also perform at Sherman's this season.

Over the course of four weeks, seventy-five musicians from across the country will come together as CLMF Resident Artists. Consisting of professional orchestral musicians, chamber artists, and soloists, the CLMF Resident Artists can be heard performing diverse programs on Fridays at Sherman's for its Lakeside Classics 10th Anniversary series. Additionally, they can be heard at other venues across the Upstate region, including the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival and SVAN in Northville.

Since the donation of the Sherman's property to the non-profit in December 2019, Caroga Arts has made great strides in improving the facility. Plans are underway for a new performance venue construction which is expected to be announced this summer. In 2017, Caroga Arts began presenting concerts at Sherman's as part of CLMF's Sherman's Revival Series. The 2021 season will be the first year Caroga Arts will present Caroga Lake Music Festival at Sherman's as its new permanent home.

"We're thrilled to celebrate this landmark season by featuring over a hundred incredible artists this summer," said Caroga Arts Artistic and Executive Director Kyle Price. "There will be exciting new layers added to the concert experience at Sherman's, including a partnership with Stump City Brewery and other local vendors." He continued, "In the spirit of the Sherman's Centennial, we plan to offer Carousel rides for kids and concert goers to enjoy before the show."

Caroga Arts is following CDC and New York State guidelines to develop health protocols for artists, patrons, staff and volunteers. Concerts presented by Caroga Arts at Sherman's will have reduced capacity and seating will be in physically distanced pods of 2, 4, and 6 people, which are assigned upon entry into the park. Concertgoers can reserve tickets, for free and charged seating, for Sherman's concerts starting June 17 at www.carogaarts.org.

Tickets for Sherman's concerts available June 17 at CarogaArts.org

Sherman's Centennial Celebrations on Saturdays

Saturday, July 3 - Caroga Arts will kick off the Independence weekend with Red, White, BLUE and BLUEGRASS featuring Capital District's well-known singer-songwriter Girl Blue and The North & South Dakotas. This event is free but ticket reservations are required.

Saturday, July 31 - Praised by Alison Krauss, bluegrass virtuoso Sierra Hull performs at Caroga Lake Music Festival with saxophonist Eddie Barbash and bassist Geoff Saunders, with the Saunders Family Band opening the night.

Saturday, August 7 - Hailing from Fort Plain, NY, the Blues-rock powerhouse sibling duo Jocelyn and Chris make their Caroga Lake Music Festival debut at Sherman's.

Saturday, August 14 - Celebrate the Sherman's Centennial with Ragtime pianist Ethan Uslan, a three-time World Championship winner of the Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, who will take you back a hundred years with popular tunes like Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag".

Saturday, August 21 - Rooted in the rowdy spirit of rock & roll, Wild Adriatic has built an international audience on a combination of groove, grit, and guitar-heavy swagger.

Encore Sessions at Sherman's

Wednesday, July 28 - Bluegrass supergroup Hawktail consists of Crooked Still's fiddler Brittany Haas, Punch Brothers' bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie.

Wednesday, August 4 - Saxophonist Eddie Barbash, featured jazz musician in Disney's Oscar-winning Pixar movie "Soul", is a founding member of John Batiste's Stay Human and can be heard in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's theme song.

Wednesday, August 11 - Experience Latin American culture with Tango Rendezvous: Celebrating Astor Piazzolla's 100th Birthday showcasing Argentinian violinist Alejandro Drago with CLMF Resident Artists.

Wednesday, August 18 - Praised by the Chicago Tribune as "Some of the most luxuriant, sumptuously phrased jazz vocals you could hope to hear", classically-trained jazz vocalist Laurin Talese most recently performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center.

Lakeside Classics: CLMF 10th Anniversary Series at Sherman's

Friday, July 30 - In the first Lakeside Classics program "Roaring Back", CLMF Resident Artists will perform George Walker's Lyric for Strings and Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Strings with Seattle Symphony violinist Andy Liang - plus an appearance by saxophonist Eddie Barbash.

Friday, August 6 - The "Stars and Strums" program showcases composer Jessie Montgomery's two works Starburst and Strum, among other works. Jazz pianist David Cook, also known as Taylor Swift's Music Director, will make an appearance with the Caroga Arts Ensemble.

Friday, August 13 - A brainchild of Artistic Director Kyle Price, the featured piece "Classic Case of Double Trouble" is a composite multi-genre arrangement of famous classical double concertos by Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi. The program also features guests Glenn Zaleski on piano and his wife Tomoko Omura on violin.

Friday, August 20 - As the program title "Darth Vader meets Debussy" suggests, this concert features a medley of John Williams' Star Wars and the well-known Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun ("Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune") arranged by CLMF Artist and clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson, as well as Piazzolla's Primavera Porteña and more.

World Music on The Barge at Canada Lake

Sunday, August 22 - To conclude the 2021 Season, CLMF presents a new collaboration with world music duo of Indian Tabla and Cello featuring Sandeep Das and Mike Block from the Grammy Award-winning Silk Road Ensemble.

Free Kids Carousel Concerts at Sherman's followed by Carousel Rides

Saturday, August 7 - Bill and Finnegan Ackerbauer

Friday, August 13 - Cara Samantha from American Idol

CLMF on Tour coming to your Neighborhood

Saturday, July 24 - KASA Quartet at The Glove's Marquee (Gloversville)

Thursday, July 29 - CLMF at Pine Lake Lodge (Caroga)

Sunday, August 1 - CLMF at Sacandaga Valley Arts Network (Northville, NY)

Thursday, August 5 - CLMF at Johnstown Midsummer Concert Series

Sunday, August 8 - CLMF at Caroga Museum

Tuesday, August 10 - CLMF at Cooperstown Summer Music Festival

Sunday, August 15 - CLMF at Johnson Hall (Johnstown)

Thursday, August 19 - CLMF at Nick Stoner Inn (Caroga)

Saturday, August 21 - CLMF at The Glove's Marquee (Gloversville)

Other Upcoming Caroga Arts Events

June 1-12 - Your Body Is Your Strad Virtual Institute

June 10 - "Peter and the Wolf" virtual performance in collaboration with Wheelerville School

July 25 - Caroga Arts Golf Outing benefiting Caroga Arts

August 7 - Caroga Lake Cornhole Tournament benefiting WCLA and Caroga Arts

May 1 - June 26 - Caroga Arts Photography Exhibit at Paul Nigra Center

July 1 - August 21 - Caroga Arts Photography Exhibit at Sherman's

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