Raritan River Music Festival, winner of the National Award for Adventurous Programming from ASCAP/Chamber Music America, announced this year’s festival will feature performances in a unique, outdoor, 100% covered venue: The internationally-renowned Blue Army Shrine, located in the rolling hills of West-Central New Jersey at 647 Mountain View Rd E, Asbury, NJ 08802. The four festival concerts this year will start at 4:00 PM on Saturdays in May with a new no intermission format. All concerts will take place live in person and can also be viewed in real-time via Livestream. In-person tickets are $20 and Live-Stream Family Viewing tickets are $20 (link to be provided). Tickets will be sold to a limited capacity to ensure safe, socially distanced seating. All audience members will wear protective face masks. No ticket transactions will be accomplished at the venue, minimizing close interactions. Tickets are available at www.RaritanRiverMusic.org. For more information call 908-213-1100 or info@RaritanRiverMusic.org Please note: All tickets must be purchased in advance to ensure safe, socially distanced seating, but tickets can be exchanged any time before the concert for a link to the Livestream of the concert. Social distancing is assured, guidelines posted by the federal CDC and the State of New Jersey Department of Health will be followed. The modern, fully covered, the outdoor facility will protect all audience members, regardless of the weather.
RECEPTIONS TO GO!
Complementary pre-packaged yummies will be available for all audience members following each concert.
Challenging times demand innovative thinking and action. With your support and enthusiastic encouragement, we have worked to weather the storm and have continued to provide music to the community throughout the past year, especially through schools and health care facilities.
For those living out of the area or not yet comfortable attending in-person events, each concert will be professionally live-streamed by our new partner, The Animal Farm music production studio. Program notes and artist info will be available through the website. As always, the festival will include a wide range of musical programs featuring music from around the world, celebrating the joy and healing powers of music, and bringing together communities during challenging times. With works by composers of Indian, African, Middle Eastern, Asian, Mexican, Cuban, Colombian, and Argentine descent and crossing stylistic boundaries, the music reflects the vast cultural wealth of America today.
Poorwill Lane Duo: Hyeyung Sol Yoon, violin and Gregory Beaver cello
Between Worlds
As members of the famed Chiara String Quartet and as founding directors of the new organization Open Space Music, connecting artists and communities through digital technology throughout the world, the Poorwill Lane Duo are making their RRMF debut in a program that will include new music by Carlos Simon – inspired by the art of Bill Traylor, a Black man who was enslaved at birth and was an eyewitness to American history from Civil War to Jim Crow segregation – plus NJ premieres of works by Matthew Fuerst and Anjna Swaminathan.
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Bridget Kibbey, harp
Counterpoint in Motion
America’s most renowned harpist returns to the RRMF for a program of harp solos throughout the centuries, featuring her famed virtuosic performance of Bach’s Toccata & Fugue, French and Spanish Romantic classics, along with new music by Latin Grammy Award-winning Colombian composer Samuel Torres.
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duoJalal: Katherine Lockwood, viola and Yousif Sheronick, percussion
Lost in Time
Katheryn Lockwood of the Lark Quartet and Yousif Sheronick of Ethos Percussion Group join forces as duo Jalal to provide an international blend of diverse musical styles. Their concert will feature the NJ premiere performance of “Changes” by Allison Loggins-Hull, written in June 2020, during the global pandemic era of COVID-19 and a period that saw calls all over the world against systemic racism and for equality and unity.
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Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo: Laura Oltman and Michael Newman, guitars
Two to Tango
Celebrating the heritage of Hispanic and Latin-American tango traditions from Argentina and Uruguay, Newman & Oltman have worked closely with Nuevo Tango masters Astor Piazzolla (centenary of his birth) and Daniel Binelli (75th birthday). The duo will present these composers’ works, along with Tango favorites for two guitars.