It’s heartening to note that local musicians have been going the extra mile to find solutions to the puzzle of what to do about live performance during a time of pandemic. Last week, while taking steps to ensure that everyone would be safe, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic Orchestra both tossed their hats into the ring with outdoor, socially-distanced events.
This weekend, the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will join the Hunterdon Symphony for a live concert at Rosemont Valley Farm in Stockton, NJ. The outdoor presentation will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m.
The program will include a Concerto in B-Flat Major by George Frideric Handel and the “Cavatina” by Stanley Myers, popularized by the film “The Deerhunter.” Both performances will be given under the direction of conductor Lawrence Kursay.
The duo will also perform “Música Incidental Campesina,” by the renowned Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, and Brouwer’s arrangement of Lennon & McCartney songs, “Beatlerianas: The Fool on the Hill.” Additional selections will be presented by ensembles of musicians drawn from the orchestra.
Admission is $20 per vehicle, cash or check, payable to “HMA” (Hunterdon Musical Arts). Audience members may choose to remain in their cars and listen to the performance streamed on an FM radio band or use their own chairs and blankets to sit outside, while observing social distancing. Masks are required at all times.
The farm is located at 700 Rosemont-Ringoes Road. Gates will open at 2:00 p.m. and will close 15 minutes prior to the start of the concert. The rain date is October 25.
Michael Newman and Laura Oltman are artists in residence at the Mannes School of Music. They are also artistic directors of the long-running Raritan River Music Festival, presented each May in historic venues across Central New Jersey. Due to the unusual circumstances this year, the festival took a different tack, with the concerts shared remotely, online. All four programs have since been archived on the Raritan River Music website, raritanrivermusic.org.
Of particular interest should be a concert video from May 23, which features a spoken introduction by Brouwer, as well as a performance of his “El Libro de los Seres Imaginarios” (“The Book of Imaginary Beings”), a work written specifically for the guitarists.
The duo also recorded the piece under studio conditions for inclusion on their new album, “The Book of Imaginary Beings: The Music of Leo Brouwer,” on the MusicMasters label.
For more information about Newman & Oltman, visit guitarduo.com.
