More accurate than a Farmers’ Almanac is a prediction for enjoyable music-making in scenic West-Central New Jersey. That’s right, the first of the warm-weather music festivals is practically upon us. Now in its 36th year, Raritan River Music will beat the summer crush, once again presenting acclaimed soloists and ensembles in a variety of programs to be performed at historic venues in Raritan and Warren Counties.
The first of this season’s concerts will take place this Saturday at 7:30 pm, at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown. A trio of musicians from the Philadelphia-based Tempesta di Mare Baroque Orchestra will perform music by Bach, Couperin, Marais, and Telemann, among others, on flute, recorder, viola da gamba, cello, theorbo, and lute.
On Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 pm, at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville, pianist David Korevaar will share repertoire from his new release, “Beethoven: Heroic to Hammerklavier,” on the Prospero Classical label. The program will include the Sonata in F Major, Op. 54, the Sonata in F Minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata,” the Sonata in E Minor, Op. 90, and the Sonata in A Major, Op. 101.
On Saturday, May 24, at 7:30 pm, at Stanton Reformed Church in Stanton, Raritan River Music founders (and Warren County residents) Michael Newman and Laura Oltman, a.k.a. the Newman and Oltman Guitar Duo, will be joined by the Bergamot String Quartet for “Music from the NEW World: 21st Century Masterpieces.” The program will include RRM-commissioned works by Daniel Binelli and Lowell Liebermann, the premiere of a new string quartet by New Jersey composer Payton MacDonald, selections by Bergamot violinist and composer Ledah Finck, and a work by Pulitzer Prize-and-Grammy Award-winning Princeton University alum Caroline Shaw.
The festival will conclude on Saturday, May 31, at 7:30 pm at Historic Hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington, with “Americana Meets Old Masters.” Classical favorites and showpieces by Gershwin, Piazzolla, Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov, and others will be played on marimba, vibraphone, and piano by Greg Giannascoli, Behn Gillece, and Ron Stabinsky. Sounds like a good time to me.
The festival can also be accessed via online streaming. For more information, directions, and archived videos of past concerts, visit raritanrivermusic.org.
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