Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo Perform Live On WWFM June 19

The acclaimed Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will perform a LIVE broadcast from Mercer County Community College on Friday, June 19th at 12:00 noon on 89.1 FM - The Classical Network www.WWFM.org.

This concert, the first live ensemble concert in the area in many months, features guitarists Michael Newman and Laura Oltman performing works by renowned Cuban composer Leo Brouwer including El Libro de los Seres Imaginarios, written for and dedicated to the Duo, Música Incidental Campesina, and two Beatlerianas - She's Leaving Home and Fool on the Hill. These works are featured on their just released recording of Brouwer's works entitled The Book of Imaginary Beings: The Music of Leo Brouwer for Two Guitars. The Duo will also perform works by Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, Paul Moravec, and Jay Ungar.

Hailed as a "revelation to hear" by The Washington Post, the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo's phenomenal musicianship places them solidly at the top of their field. Their innovative programming, matchless technique and ensemble precision, combined with their commitment to expanding the repertoire for guitar duo, make them a chamber ensemble of world renown. Michael Newman and Laura Oltman are the Founders and Artistic Directors of the Raritan River Music Festival which marked its 31st season last month totally online with over 1,000 viewers tuned in. They are also the Founders and Artistic Directors of the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes and will celebrate their 30th year as ensemble-in-residence at Mannes College of Music this season.

Their concert tours have taken them to world cultural capitals and premiere venues across five continents, the Caribbean, and South Pacific. In addition to their international engagements, they have performed at Carnegie Hall, Caramoor and the Grand Canyon Music Festival. The Duo has demonstrated extraordinary stylistic breadth in their collaborations with such diverse artists as composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, fiddler Eileen Ivers, pianist Clarice Assad, violinist Tim Fain, and the ETHEL, Daedalus, Calder, and Turtle Island string quartets.

Highlights of recent and upcoming performances include the world premiere of Concierto Buenos Aires composed for the Duo by Nuevo Tango Master Daniel Binelli with l'Orchestre de l'Opéra de Reims in France. Following on the success of the concerto's French debut, the Duo "charmed the Ferguson audience with phenomenal musicianship" (Gazette Journal) when they performed it with the Virginia Symphony. Last summer Michael and Laura returned to teach and perform at the Lanciano International Guitar Seminar in Abruzzo, Italy where they are co-artistic directors. They have also performed as guest artists and master class presenters at the Camino Artes Guitar Workshop in Palencia, Spain and at the Festival de Violäo in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Through their groundbreaking new music-commissioning program, Newman & Oltman have built a unique repertoire of works for two guitars by composers such as Paul Moravec, Augusta Read Thomas, Lowell Liebermann, Dušan Bogdanovic, Arthur Kampela and Roberto Sierra. Their artistry has been captured on nearly a dozen acclaimed recordings and has been recognized by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America and ASCAP.

For more information about the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, visit www.guitarduo.com

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