37th Raritan River Music Festival
250 Years of Great American Music
May 2026
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This season RRM celebrates the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation. Many of our festival venues pre-date the American Revolution. The congregations of our churches were founded by people who were among the first European settlers in North America.
So far from anything they had ever known, they fashioned a government and a culture separate from their origins, whose modern global appeal surely derives from the multiplicity of those who created it. A core mission of Raritan River Music is to embrace the creation and performance of new music from the New World and to build a recorded archive of these musical compositions – music that is as original, dynamic, and aspirational as our nation.
Laura Oltman and Michael Newman,
Founding Artistic Directors
Welcome to the 37th Raritan River Music Festival!
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duoJalal
Threads of Sound: Voices of American Composers
(viola and percussion)
Saturday, May 2 at 7:30
Historic Hunterdon County Courthouse, Flemington, NJ
Trio Ondata
American Mycelium: Explorations of the New World
Music by Shostakovich, Haydn, Esmail & Shaw
(violin, cello, piano)
Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 PM
Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church, Stewartsville, NJ
Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo
Greatest Hits of 1776: Music by Billings, Mozart, Haydn, among others
(two guitars)
Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 PM
Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, Pittstown (Grandin), NJ
ARTEK: Gwendolyn Toth & Peter Sykes
Two by Two: Harpsichord Duets Across the Centuries
(two harpsichords)
Saturday, May 23 at 7:30 PM
Stanton Reformed Church, Stanton, NJ
Click here to read the rave review of Raritan River Music Festival concert featured in TAPInto Flemington, highlighting the concert at the Historic Hunterdon County Courthouse in May 2025.
Historic Hunterdon County Courthouse
Laura Oltman, João Luiz, Celil Refik Kaya, and Michael Newman
Click here to hear public radio’s “Performance Today” episode featuring music by Paulo Bellinati, recorded at the Historic Hunterdon County Courthouse, performed by Laura Oltman, João Luiz, Celil Refik Kaya, and Michael Newman.
The 35th Raritan River Music Festival was featured in the national and regional media. Here are a few of the articles and reviews:
Please click here to support the programs of Raritan River Music, including the Artists-in-the-Community Outreach, with your contribution today.
Artists-in-the=Community Outreach
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec wrote “Raritan Triptych” for the Raritan River Music Festival. It will be featured on an upcoming recording of Raritan River Music commissioned compositions!
Laura and Michael with Paul Moravec
Community Outreach
festival favorites | new music | beloved classics | community engagement | educational enrichment