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Last Sunday I had the great privilege of performing in a concert in Boston featuring the music of the composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra. The Classical Mandolin Society of America (CMSA) had...

"I'm a journalist who is writing an article about the NY Mandolin Orchestra which is celebrating its centenary in April. I would like suggestions for books, articles, material etc. about the history...

"I've been looking for copies of both the complete Pettine(7 volumes) ... "I reached out to the Providence mandolin orchestra a week or so ago, to see if they had any copies of Pettine left, but I...

"I don't have this recording on my own shelves yet, and online info isn't specific. Have any of you scored a copy? Does anybody know the mandolin type that Maddaluno used for this recording?...

"Still wanted are recordings of Calace's 13° Preludio, op.148"

Hi Eugene,

#13 is one of the most beautiful of the liuto preludes, IMHO. My liuto needs a fair amount of work at the moment...

"The first technique (one string on upstroke) is for a light upstroke ..."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "pointing up wards" or (even less) "perpendicular".

Marguerite is...

In the early 20th century Demetrius C. Dounis played Paganini on mandolin (as did some others, such as William Place) although I know of no such performances of the Paganini Variations. And I am...

At the 2016 CMSA convention I gave a workshop on mandolin duets, after which I published a summary article, attached below, in the November 2016 issue of the CMSA's quarterly, The Mandolin Journal.
...

This is a performance of my friend Keith Harris' exquisite arrangement of "Silent Night", which he made originally for mandolin but which I perform on a mandola in G (a.k.a. octave mandolin) by the...

"17” scale is awfully short for octave tuning, which usually requires at least 19”".

This is the common belief in the US but not necessarily in the rest of the world. The typical scale length...

Excellent, Eugene, very idiomatic on the guitar part. You might consider doing a version of this for trio (M1, mandola in G, guitar -- or, alternatively, I think I could construct a mandola part by...

Here is my performance on mandola in G (a.k.a octave) of Victor Kioulaphides, "Suite For Ali" at the open mic event (November 9, 2023) at the recent CMSA convention in Kansas City. Repeats are...

"Carlo de Filippis would have been approaching the age of 40 at the premier date and, i believe, was active in New Jersey and New York around that time. Possible it was him?"

Yes, very reasonable....

Feste Romane was premiered, as Neil says, in 1929, with Toscanini conducting. The NY Phil programs are online -- here are the programs for the 29 performances that the NY Phil has given up to the...

"Quick question from the digitally challenged - is there a way to see / print the entire score to any of the pieces for en masse orchestra? Registered for mandocello, I only see that part. Would help...

"In a completely different style, here is some tremolo that amazes me from Calace’s Preludio No 1 op. 45 played by Detlef Tewes. The notes for this video were written by Cafe member Robert Margo....

Registration for the Classical Mandolin Society of America’s (CMSA) annual convention is now open. The dates for this year’s convention are Wednesday, November 8, 2023, through Sunday, November 12,...

A few weeks ago my wife and I attended a recital in Boston by the great lutenist Nigel North. His program was entirely Francesco da Milano and John Dowland, absolutely sublime. The audience was...

"Can anyone point me towards repertoire lists/databases/resources for mandolin orchestra?"

A good place to begin is the Nakano Archive. Assuming that you have language translation enabled in...

"I have always been disappointed that (to the best of my knowledge), Munier never recorded. Mandolin recording in Italy began in 1899 and he lived until 1911, so it certainly would be been possible....

Yesterday afternoon my wife, Lee, and I drove to nearby Providence RI to visit the gravesite of the great Golden Age mandolinist, Giuseppe Pettine (1874-1966). The grave, shown below, is located in...

"Bruce’s comment about the violin got me to thinking. The bow is flat and by angling the attack, one can play two strings simultaneously for double stops."

This is the standard way that modern...

"Look at the original manuscript, rather than the urtext to see what Bach actually wrote.
Y'all can tear this to pieces if you want to. I proposed a solution that will work."

I personally have...

"On mandolin, unlike violin, you can play e and f# on the same course at the same time.
So a#-f#-e-f# can be played 3-4-x-(02). Fourth finger then has the job of muting the A strings.
A little...

"It seems possible until I stretch to get the F# up top. Is this easier to play on violin? Is this one of those Bach chords that, on mandolin, simply has to be arpeggiated (is that a word?) because...