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And P.S: check out the Arneis Quartet with guest pianist Alex Peh (an incredible player) in their fabulous Dvorak Piano Quintet #1, starts around 1:20:00 in the livestream.

"Beautifully played here, the counterpoint between themes really comes through."

Thanks, Jim, much appreciated. The incoming director of BU's music school attended, not sure about the music ed...

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...

"Paul Ruppa wrote the 2014 article in the NY Times, also the article (the same?) that appeared in the CMSA Journal."

Hi Dave,

I found the article. Paul was quoted, but the article was written...

"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?...

"An occasional lament: I have fine recordings of many of Calace's liuto cantabile works performed by Calace himself, Giudice, Orlandi, Kisseljow, etc. Still wanted are recordings of Calace's 13°...

"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...

"Very nice, and your trill technique is enviable!"

Thank you!

"I don't know anyone who has done more for the organization. Well deserved, Bob."

Thanks, Jim, I really appreciate it!

"I remembered to sit back and listen to the wonderful music you brought to start the event off."

Thanks, Jim, much appreciated -- and thanks for doing all the work managing the open mic!

Thanks to Eugene, Sheri, and Jan for their nice comments!

A few years ago, the Classical Mandolin Society of America (CMSA) established its Fellows program to honor individuals in North America who have contributed to classical mandolin, in accordance with...

"If there is a heaven, it probably sounds like this."

Thank you!

" You pick a great tempo ... Great job. I loved it."

Thanks, Jeff, much appreciated. I gave a workshop on the Suite at the CMSA convention, the preparation for which caused me to consider further...

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...

Dear All,

I post here quite frequently, both commentary and videos. Some of you know that my day job is professor of economics (Boston University, United States).

I’m also a passionate...

Here is the workshop schedule for CMSA Kansas City. Each workshop is 75 minutes long, and there are 18 workshops in total, scheduled in six sessions of three workshops each. There are also three...