Welcome to the 35th
Raritan River Music Festival!

The Raritan River Music Festival took root 35 years ago in the farm fields, forested rolling hills, and centuries-old hamlets of western central New Jersey. The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s statewide newspaper, called the festival “a diamond in sylvan reaches.”

This May, in addition to concerts at historic churches around the area, we are thrilled to present a performance of festival musicians at the celebrated Hunterdon County Courthouse, site of the famed Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial of January 1935.

Our concert will be the first event there since the yearlong historic restoration of the courtroom!

--Laura Oltman and Michael Newman, Founding Artistic Directors

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New music by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, commissioned by Raritan River Music, is featured on the new Audiophile Vinyl LP, CD, download, and streaming by the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo.

CLICK HERE for samples of the recording and links to download and streaming services.
CLICK HERE to purchase the limited edition Audiophile Vinyl LP, autographed by Leo Brouwer and by Newman & Oltman

festival favorites | new music | beloved classics | community engagement | educational enrichment

The new recording of music commissioned by Raritan River Music is available NOW!

Leo Brouwer

El Libro de los Seres Imaginarios / The Book of Imaginary Beings  

The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo

Available this Spring on the Musicmasters label:

Audiophile Vinyl LP  *  CD  *  Streaming

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Thirty three years ago, we were inspired to start a chamber music festival in rural western New Jersey that operates with an expansive definition of chamber music and its repertory.

Raritan River Music (RRM) is much more than the concerts in May, with programs year round for school kids, seniors, and patients at health-care facilities around the region. RRM also creates a legacy of new compositions and recordings commissioned by RRM’s patrons, as well as presenting new music at each concert by local school-age composers.

Over 33 years, however, the greatest achievement of RRM is the community created by the audiences, volunteers, trustees, and patrons of RRM. Musicians may not be able to perform surgery or put out fires, but there are times when a concert can heal a mortal wound or dispel the dark clouds for a while and make life worth living. That is what you, the supporters of Raritan River Music, have given to this community, to each other, into our fourth decade and counting. And, as the founders, that is what you have given to us. Thank you!

- Laura Oltman and Michael Newman, Founding Directors