Arthur Kampela and Band

Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 PM

Prallsville Mills, Stockton

The 2006 festival opens with one of today’s ground-breaking musical innovators, Arthur Kampela and Band, which comprises international all-stars on guitar, piano, bass, percussion, saxophone, and cello.  Born in Rio de Janeiro and recipient of a doctorate in Composition from Columbia University , Kampela has been called “the Brazilian Frank Zappa.”  Kampela’s fusion of popular and vernacular styles with contemporary classical textural techniques has earned him the Grand Prize in numerous international competitions, performances at the world’s major new music festivals, and a position as the heir to the Bossa-Nova and Tropicalist movements of Brazilian music.

www.kampela.com

“Extraordinary pieces.  Kampela’s effects were fascinatingly inventive.” – The New York Times

“Stunning, visionary treatment of the instrument." – ISCM Berlingske Tidende ( Copenhagen )

The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo

The Daedalus Quartet

Saturday, May 13 at 7:30 PM

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, Pittstown

Celebrating their 30^th anniversary of making music together, festival founders and artistic directors Laura Oltman and Michael Newman (The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo)—Ensemble-in-Residence at New York’s Mannes College of Music, with 12 critically-acclaimed CDs and concert tours on five continents—will perform Three Hungarian Tributes by Puerto Rican-born composer and Cornell University professor Roberto Sierra, who will travel to rural Pittstown to introduce his virtuosic guitar duet.  Newman & Oltman will be joined in concert by The Daedalus String Quartet for a performance of Dušan Bogdanović’s “Sevdalinka” (Balkan Blues), commissioned by Raritan River Music’s New Music Commissioning Program with assistance from The Augustine Foundation. 

Grand Prize Winner in the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition and one of America ’s most sought-after young ensembles, the Daedalus Quartet was recently named Quartet-in-Residence both for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two and for Columbia University .  The quartet will also perform Bartók’s astonishing Quartet No. 3.

The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo

“Newman and Oltman are true musical explorers and their performances are as electrifying as their choice of repertoire.” – On The Air Magazine

“Critics’ Choice.” – Billboard Magazine

The Daedalus Quartet

“Polished and vigorous.” – The New York Times

“Destined to rise to the upper reaches.” – Toronto Globe and Mail

Atlantic Wave

featuring Tony De Marco, Ivan Goff, Fionn Ó Lochainn

Saturday, May 20 at 7:30 PM

Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church, Bloomsbury

A transatlantic tour de force in Irish traditional music, Atlantic Wave is a trio steeped in the history of Irish music and tempered in the melting pot of New York .  Atlantic Wave features Tony De Marco (fiddle), Fionn Ó Lochlainn (guitar and vocals), and Ivan Goff (uilleann pipes (Irish bellows-blown pipes), Irish wooden flute, and whistles).  Ivan Goff is All-Ireland champion uilleann piper and musical star of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.  Tony De Marco is one of the nation’s leading exponents of the great fiddle tradition of County Sligo , Ireland .  Fionn Ó Lochlainn has performed and recorded with such diverse acts as Seal, Joe Cocker, Sinéad O’Connor, and Billy Bragg, and his solo artistry was featured in the film “Shooting Livien.”

“Fionn showed off an incredible voice and masterful guitar playing.” – Music & The Industry in NYC

 “The highlight was...Goff’s soulful playing.” – The Los Angeles Times

The Soclair Ensemble

Saturday, May 27 at 7:30 PM

Clinton Presbyterian Church, Clinton

 This year’s festival closes with a step back in time to hear the exquisite Baroque masters Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, and their contemporaries, performed on period instruments by the members of the Soclair Ensemble.  This ensemble grew out of the Soclair Music Festival, which celebrated its 30^th and concluding season in 2005.  Ed Brewer (harpsichord), Virginia Brewer (oboe), Sarah Davol (oboes and recorders), and Myron Lutzke (violoncello) are recognized leaders in the field of 18^th-century music performance, with nearly 100 recordings and thousands of international concerts among them.

www.sarahdavol.com

 “Graceful and colorful solo playing by Sarah Davol.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

 “…the consistent and artful playing of Edward Brewer, who as harpsichordist and organist was the virtuoso player of the evening.” – The Star-Ledger

  “A delightful unity of spirit and understanding that was communicated directly to the audience.” – The New York Times

  “Ms. Brewer proved to be an agile, accurate, tasteful partner, and the sonatas came through with a jauntiness and wit.  Her tone was consistently sweet, her zestful playing a handsome complement to her husband’s accompaniments.” – The New York Times