DYNAMIC DUO: The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will perform a “Christmas Pastorale” on Sunday, December 15 at 3 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 50 York Street, Lambertville. The concert will feature music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras with works by Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Pachelbel, Brahms, Corelli, and Luther, among others.

The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will perform a Christmas Pastorale on Sunday, December 15 at 3 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 50 York Street, Lambertville. This special concert celebrates the rich musical tradition of the Christmas season.

The program includes music from their critically-acclaimed CD, A Christmas Pastorale – 600 Years of Carols, Chorales, Preludes & Pastorales for Two Guitars, featuring music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras with works by Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Pachelbel, Brahms, Corelli, and Luther, among others.

Hailed as a “revelation to hear” by The Washington Post, the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo’s musicianship places them solidly at the top of their field. 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, aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, Caramoor, and the Grand Canyon.

The Duo has demonstrated 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, Calder, and Turtle Island string quartets.

Through their 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.”

In addition to founding and serving as artistic directors of the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes, Michael Newman and Laura Oltman have served as ensemble-in-residence at Mannes College of Music since 1987. They are also founders and artistic directors of the Raritan River Music Festival, which will mark its 29th season this year.