The Raritan River Music Festival has announced its 37th season, a four-week festival titled “250 Years of Great American Music” from May 2-23 at venues in Hunterdon County.
The festival’s artistic directors, guitarists Laura Oltman and Michael Newman, founded the series with the goal of bringing live chamber music to historic venues in Hunterdon County. All shows are at 7:30 p.m.
On May 16 at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, 2 Race Street in Pittstown, Newman and Oltman will perform “Greatest Hits of 1776: Music by Billings, Mozart, Haydn and others.” The duo will take audiences on a journey of Revolutionary era music from Europe and the newly forming American Nation.
The festival opens on Saturday, May 2 with duojalal, Katheryn Lockwood, viola and Yousif Sheronick, percussion, who will perform their program, “Threads of Sound: Voices of American Composers. Featured works include compositions by Kenji Bunch, Pulitzer Prize-winning Caroline Shaw, Dafnis Pietro, and Kurt Rhode. The venue is Hunterdon County Courthouse, 71 Main Street, Flemington.
On May 9, Trio Ondata will mark its festival debut at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church, 17 Greenwich Church Road, Stewartsville. The festival closes May 23 with a performance by ARTEK. Gwendolyn Toth and Peter Sykes present “Two by Two: Harpsichord Duets Across the Centuries.” The festival will close on May 23 with a performance by ARTEK. Gwendolyn Toth and Peter Sykes will present “Two by Two: Harpsichord Duets Across the Centuries” at Stanton Reformed Church, 1 Stanton Mountain Road, Stanton.
Under Newman and Oltman’s stewardship, Raritan River Music (RRM) has evolved into more than the annual festival concerts in May by delivering programs year-round for young children, seniors, and patients at healthcare facilities around the region. RRM also creates a legacy of new works and recordings commissioned by RRM’s patrons, as well as presenting new music at each concert by local school-age composers.
In addition to founding and serving as artistic directors of the RRMF, Newman and Oltman are the founders and artistic directors of the New York Guitar Seminar at The New School – Mannes College of Music and are celebrating their 37th season as ensemble-in-residence there.
Visit RaritanRiverMusic.org for tickets and more information.