Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo and Sergio Assad to Perform at New York Guitar Seminar, 7/10

The celebratEd Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will perform at the 16th New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes on Sunday, July 10. Brazilian composer and guitarist Sergio Assad and his daughter, pianist and vocalist Clarice Assad will join the Duo in works by the Assads, Milton Nascimento, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Celso Machado, Alfonso Montes & Irina Kircher, Carlos Lyra, and Gilberto Gil. the concert will be held at 7:30pm at Tishman Auditorium at University Center, 63 Fifth Ave., corner of 13th St. Michael Newman and Laura Oltman are the founders and artistic directors of the seminar (www.mannesguitar.com) which takes place July 6 - July 11, 2016. Concert tickets are $25.00; $15.00 for students/seniors.

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. 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 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, 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 season their international tour included a performance and lecture at the VI Academic Guitar Symposium in Brazil. Summer 2014 brought Newman & Oltman to several Italian festivals including the Estate Musicale Frentana/Lanciano International Guitar Seminar and the Volterra Guitar Project.

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. Michael Newman and Laura Oltman are also the founders and artistic directors of the Raritan River Music Festival, now in its 27th year.

In addition to the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo and the Assads, seminar faculty members performing this year include guitarists Nicholas Ciraldo and Mario da Silva, Duo Montes - Kircher, and flutist Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo. Seminar activities range from expanded performance opportunities for solo participants to more hands-on interactive workshops, master classes, ensemble coaching, performance classes, and concerts. The guitar seminar will be one of the first major events to take place at Mannes' newly-renovated state-of-the-art facility on West 13th Street in Greenwich Village.