Attention, music-loving Jerseyites and Eastern Pennsylvanians!

The robins and catbirds are scarcely settled-in, and already the first of the warm-weather music festivals is upon us!

For the 33rd consecutive year, Raritan River Music will beat the summer crush, in presenting a winning combination of spring, music, and historic venues in Raritan and Warren Counties. Internationally-renowned soloists and ensembles will venture in to scenic West-Central Jersey to present a wide range of musical programs in a variety of genres.

The first of the concerts will take place this Friday at 7:30 pm at Stanton Reformed Church in Stanton. The Bergamot Quartet will perform works by living composers, with a special emphasis on women (including Pulitzer Prize-winner Tania Leon), in dialogue with music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. The program will also include selections by Paul Wiancko, Suzanne Farrin, and Ledah Finck, from their album “In the Brink.”

On Saturday, May 14, at 4 pm, outdoors under cover at Blue Army Shrine in Asbury (NOT to be confused with Asbury Park), fiddler Eileen Ivers will return with her all-star band, The unIVERSal Roots (on Irish fiddle, guitar, Irish accordion, whistles, trumpet, bass, and percussion, with vocals) to share music from her new album, “Scatter the Light.”

On Saturday, May 21, at 7:30 pm, at Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville, Raritan River Music founders (and Warren County residents) Michael Newman and Laura Oltman, a.k.a. the Newman and Oltman Guitar Duo – for 35 years ensemble in residence at the Mannes School of Music – will be joined by leading Mannes faculty. They’ll perform a new Raritan River Music commission from esteemed Cuban master Leo Brouwer, entitled “Through the Looking Glass.”

Also on the program will be Brazilian composer Clarice Assad’s “Dusty Grooves” and Yenne Lee’s arrangement of her YouTube sensation (with 19 million views) “Autumn Leaves.” In addition, Hannah Murphy and Phil Goldenberg will play selections from their groundbreaking project “Changing the Canon,” featuring nine eminent Black American composers, here represented by Mason Byrnes and Thomas Flippin.

The festival will conclude on Saturday, May 28, at 7:30 pm at Prallsville Mills in Stockton, with the improvisatory ensemble 9 Horses, a group that blurs the line between “folk art” and “fine art,” playing selections from their critically-acclaimed albums, on mandolins (acoustic and electric), violins, Hardanger d’amore, and bass.

This year’s festival may also be accessed via online streaming. If you attend in-person, please bring proof of vaccination status. Also, exercise common sense in terms of maintaining appropriate face coverings at the venues, so you don’t get or spread the bug!

For more information and directions, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

COUNTER-CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The Bergamot Quartet, Eileen Ivers & the unIVERSal Roots, the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, and 9 Horses