December 2023

Greetings to you from Raritan River Music!

Music is Joy.  Music is Peace.  Music is Harmony.  Music is Love.  Music is Expression.  Music is Community!

“Raritan River Music: Weaving Music into Fabric of the Community”  -NJ.com

 “Music Where It’s Needed”  -Hunterdon County Democrat/NJ.com

 “Math & Music: Perfect Together”  -Courier-News/MyCentralJersey.com

 “A diamond in sylvan reaches”  -The Star-Ledger

 “Artistically, I have never heard anything less than excellence.  But it’s more than just the music; it’s the feeling of being part of a festival which has its roots in a wide community.”  -Classical New Jersey Society Journal

You are a part of the Raritan River Music family, a community that has brought so much joy, peace, harmony, love, and expression to so many people for 35 years.

You can read more details throughout the web site, but here are just a few highlights of all the folks who have been touched by Raritan River Music’s programs this year:

  • Work with media partner WWFM/The Classical Network to produce the concerts of Raritan River Music Festival for broadcast and archival podcasts.

  • Hi-definition video and hi-resolution audio recordings of all festival concerts, available to those music lovers unable to attend the concerts in person.

  • Ukrainian Cultural Connection, bringing together Ukrainian musicians and our local high school students, in-person and online.

  • New music legacy, developing recording of recent commissions for Raritan River Music, including prize-winning composers from New Jersey, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey.

  • Return to in-person interactive enrichment programs at schools, healthcare facilities, senior living and senior cultural centers.


This month, we are proud to be recipients of a new $9,000 grant from the Augustine Foundation. You can help us match that grant, along with grants from the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission / New Jersey State Council on the Arts, with your gift to Raritan River Music today. Gifts can be made either by mail or online through this web site. We also invite you to learn about making contributions of stock, estate planning, and employer matching funds.

Thank you for everything you do for Raritan River Music and for our shared community!

We wish you and yours a healthy and a very Happy New Year,

Founding Directors

Here is “A Raritan River Christmas” video produced for residents of senior living facilities and rehabilitation centers in the area and beyond:

Here are the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo in a “New York Guitar Festival Red Sofa Holiday Concert” featuring the music of J. S. Bach:

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

 
 
 
 
 
 

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