Join Bloomingdale School of Music in celebrating the 14th Annual Guitar Festival!
Enjoy an inspiring day of music featuring performances by Bloomingdale students and faculty, along with a master class and concert with guest artists Newman and Oltman Duo.
This free, public event will take place at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 W 37th St, New York, NY 10018.
Schedule of the Festival (Subject to change)
4:00 PM – Student Concert
6:00 PM – Faculty & Guest Artist Concert
7:30 PM – Dinner & Community Mixer
Click the RSVP button for the most up-to-date details and full event information on Eventbrite.
About Newman and Oltman Duo:
Laura Oltman and Michael Newman, guitars: 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.
Newman and Oltman’s concert tours have taken them to world cultural capitals and premiere venues across five continents, the Caribbean, and South Pacific. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, at Caramoor and at the Grand Canyon. The Duo has demonstrated extraordinary stylistic breadth in their collaborations with such diverse artists as composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, fiddler Eileen Ivers, pianist Clarice Assad, violinist Tim Fain, and the ETHEL, 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 Concierto’s French debut, the Duo “charmed the Ferguson audience with phenomenal musicianship” (Gazette Journal) when they performed it with the Virginia Symphony. Last season their international travels included a performance and lecture at the VI Academic Guitar Symposium in Brazil. Summer 2013 brought Newman & Oltman to several Italian venues, which included a performance and master class at the Estate Musicale Frentana/Lanciano International Guitar Seminar. They also performed and taught at the Volterra Guitar Project and were the featured performers at Rocca Sillana in San Dalmazio. Other appearances include the University of Wisconsin, the Mississippi Guitar Festival, and Iserlohn Germany International Guitar Symposium.
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. Fanfare Magazine hailed the duo’s latest CD, Music from Raritan River as “top notch” and “a winner all around.” The recording features a collection of world premieres commissioned by the duo over the past decade. Their artistry has also been captured on nearly a dozen other acclaimed recordings and has been recognized by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America and ASCAP, among others.
The Duo has served as Ensemble-in-Residence at New York’s Mannes College The New School for Music since 1987. Michael and Laura are artistic advisors to the D’Addario Foundation Performance Series at Carnegie Hall and are Artistsin-Residence at Lafayette College for 2013-14. They are founders and artistic directors of the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes (www.mannesguitar.com), Raritan River Music (www.RaritanRiverMusic.org), and the new Lanciano International Guitar Seminar in Italy (www.lancianoguitar.com).
Michael Newman serves on the faculty of Mannes College. Laura Oltman serves on the faculties of Princeton University and Lafayette College. For more information please visit www.guitarduo.com.
*By attending this event, you consent to the taking of photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, and/or other digital images or recordings during this event by staff, volunteers, or outside media. Bloomingdale School of Music (Bloomingdale) may use, edit, alter, copy, publish, and/or distribute those photos and recordings in any and all of its publications, including social media and web-based publications, and/or for any other lawful purpose, without payment, compensation, royalties, or other consideration. Bloomingdale bears no responsibility for any unauthorized use of images or recordings by a third party. No pets allowed.
