Wow! What a great year it’s been, and what an incredible year we have planned for the 19th anniversary of Raritan River Music. Because contributions provide 90% of funding, only your generous support makes Raritan River Music’s programs in the community possible.

The Artists-in-the-Community Program is reaching more area residents than ever, especially those not previously able to benefit from the enrichment presentations in education and health care. Please read the enclosed brochure to learn more about these vital programs serving the community.

The New Music Commissioning Program is working with composer Paul Moravec to create new music that will be premiered at the Raritan River Music Festival and will be performed by generations to come. This is our sixth new piece!

The 19th Raritan River Music Festival will feature outstanding musicians from around the world, performing at the stunningly beautiful, intimate, historic venues here in western New Jersey

About Us 

The mission of Raritan River Concerts -  recipient of the 1999 National ASCAP Chamber Music America Award for  Adventurous Programming—is to serve the residents of the rural Northwestern New Jersey community through music presentation, creation,  and cultural enrichment programs. (To date, nearly 300 presentations to over 25,000 residents.)

 

Founded in 1989, the goals of Raritan River Concerts are three fold:

* Raritan River Music Festival: to present in concert throughout rural Northwestern New Jersey many of America's finest musicians, performing chamber music in intimate settings at historic locations during the annual Raritan River Music Festival each May. Some of the artists heard at the festival have included the Lark, Leontóvych, Brentano, and Turtle Island String Quartets, Anonymous 4, The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, The Amadeus Piano Trio, Chatham Baroque, REBEL, Ethos Percussion, harpsichordists Kenneth Cooper and Edward Brewer, soprano Julianne Baird, lutenist Ronn McFarlane, udist Simon Shaheen, and Celtic artist Seamus Egan.

* Artists-in-the-Community Residency Program: to offer the joy and cultural fulfillment of music to those in the community not often exposed to live performances of classical music through the Artists-in-the-Community Residency Program. Established with a grant from Chamber Music America and with technical assistance from the Hunterdon Medical Center, this on-going program focuses on educational institutions (grades K-12) and health care facilities throughout the region--including rehabilitation and developmental centers, hospitals, nursing homes, and senior centers--designed in collaboration with elementary and high school educators and health care professionals.

* New Music Commissioning Program: to enrich the chamber music literature with new compositions funded through the New Music Commissioning Program. Each year a composer is chosen to create a new work, the world premiere performance of which is recorded and performed at the Raritan River Music Festival. Outreach programs offered by the composer and musicians foster a sense of appreciation and participation in the music's creation within the community. All premieres have been broadcast on National Public Radio. Commissioned work for 2000 was by Lowell Liebermann, Composer-in-Residence with Dallas Symphony.