Caroga Lake Music Festival announces summer lineup
More than 150 artists, spanning genres, disciplines and countries, will descend on Caroga Lake for the 13th annual Caroga Lake Music Festival.
The festival, presented by Caroga Arts, will consist of 40 events from May 25 through Sept. 14. Most concerts will occur at Sherman’s Park, the former amusement park, with the resident artists traveling to partner venues and festivals to perform major orchestral works.
Following the kidfriendly “Reptiles & Friends” and The Man In Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash on May 25, “Symphonic Sparks!”, a Fourth of July concert by the festival’s resident artists and fireworks, will reignite the summerlong festival on July 5.
The 10th annual Woofstock: Peace, Love and Drool will close out the festival on Sept. 14. Sawyer Fredericks, 2015 winner of “The Voice”; Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra; folk singer Sean Rowe; Saratoga Springs based Girl Blue; acoustic band Insolent Willies; and rock band Cleenstreet will perform at this dog-friendly event to raise money for the Fulton County Regional SPCA.
Additional highlights include: super group Generation Radio, featuring Jay Demarcus of Rascal Flatts and Jason Scheff of Chicago, on July 27; guitarist Cory Wong in concert July 30 and 31; Albany Symphony’s David Alan Miller and pianist Kevin Cole reuniting to perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Caroga Arts Ensemble on Aug. 9; pop musician Eddie Benjamin, who opened for Justin Bieber’s 2022 world tour, on Aug. 10; saxophonist Eddie Barbash, known for performing with Jon Batiste and Stay Human, the former house band for “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” on Aug. 17. A complete schedule is available online at carogaarts.org.
This year’s festival will also feature the debut of a new educational program. The String Project & Arts Collaborative Education program, which brought music lessons and mentorships to Wheelerville and Johnstown schools and launched in the fall, will continue as SPACE Summer Camp, a reimagining of the festival’s Lessons & Ensembles program. The camp will provide individual and small group lessons and connect the students with members of the festival’s musicians-in-residence.
Season passes are available now for purchase. Tickets for individual performances will go on sale April 26. Admission to all events, excluding “An Evening with Cory Wong & Strings” and fundraisers, is free for children and students under 17 years of age.