The Classical Mandolin Society of America invites everyone to join friends old and new online at the 35th annual CMSA convention. The virtual convention runs from Friday, November 12 to Sunday, November 14. Learn more about and sign up for this year's amazing convention here.
En Masse Orchestra
The Virtual En Masse Orchestra will perform Connected by Andre Herteux and Huapango Criolla (movement 3 of Suite Mexicana, starts at 5:34 through 8:18 of the linked video) by Eduardo Angulo.
Once you register for the convention, you will have access to the music for your part. For the En Masse performance, we will play along from home with a video made by section leaders under the baton of conductor Dr. Jim Bates. After the convention, registrants will have the opportunity to submit a video recording playing their parts for a composite video.
2021 Guest Artists
We have a stellar lineup of guest artists performing in concert, offering workshops, and some leading their sections in En Masse. Registrants will have a chance to meet our guest performers after the concerts in live Zoom hangouts. Our guest artists this year are:
Ekaterina Skliar and Alexey Alexandrov will perform as the acoustic mandolin-domra duo, Alexandrov-Skliar Duo. In addition to their concert, Alexey will present a workshop on "Improvisation" and Ekaterina will present a workshop on "Mandolin Repertoire."
Portland artist Tim Connell is already well-known as a master of the Brazilian choro repertoire. In his concert, Tim will present a loving tribute to the great Brazilian composer and mandolinist, Jacob Bettencourt, aka Jacob do Bandolim (1918-1969). In Tim's workshop, "Your Pathway to Mandolin Practice Success," you will learn about the three most common obstacles to progress for mandolin students and specific strategies for overcoming them.
The legendary Evan J. Marshall is synonymous with the rebirth of ‘Duo’ style of playing. By himself, he sounds like several of the world's finest mandolinists performing together. Evan will present both a concert and workshop.
August Watters, a multi-stylistic, improvising mandolinist, composer/arranger, and teacher, will focus on the Mandocello in his concert and workshop, "Mandocello: Here, There, and Everywhere!"
Buzz Gravelle—classical guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and music professor—has carved out a unique and singular path in his thirty years of making music professionally. Buzz is is one of world’s leading fretless classical guitarists and a new face at CMSA.
Returning as conductor of the Virtual En Masse Orchestra is CMSA Board member Dr. Jim Bates. Jim is Director of Orchestral Activities at Otterbein University in Columbus, OH and serves as an assistant conductor for the Westerville Symphony and Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestras.
Pop-Up Concerts
New this year are short (20 minute video) "Pop-Up Concerts" followed by live Zoom hangouts with the artists:
Duo Clarima is Salima Ben Guigui (Luxembourg) on mandolin and Clara Dicke (Germany) on harp. Salima and Clara met in 2011 as university students and decided to experiment with the sound of a mandolin and a harp together. The sound was so convincing that they immediately established their duo project. Duo Clarima will feature music by Masataka Hori and other works from their repertoire.
Duo Recuerda is Jeannette Mozos del Campo on mandolin, and Vincente Mozos del Campo on classical guitar. Widely considered to be among the best mandolin-guitar duos in the world, Jeannette and Vincente are in heavy demand as instructors, and regularly teach at specialist courses and festivals. Duo Recuerda will perform works by Raffaele Calace, George Gershwin, Astor Piazzolla, and Domenico Scarlatti.
Charlotte Kaiser is one of Europe’s rising stars on classical mandolin. She is a multiple first prize winner in Germany’s “jugend musiziert” competition, and has twice performed as concertmaster with the European Guitar and Mandolin Youth Orchestra. Charlotte will feature solo mandolin works by Antonio Riggieri, Heinrich Konietzny, and Yasuo Kuwahara.
Additional Workshops and Commissioned Videos
In addition to workshops by our guest artists ...
Florian Rumpf will present a workshop on mandola technique, as applied to his new composition, “Kleine Sonatine Nr. 2”.
Jeff Brumley in his commissioned video, "Arranging for Your Local Orchestra," will review lessons he has learned arranging music for the Seattle Mandolin Orchestra and tips and tricks for getting started.
Alfred Woll, the great German mandolin builder, will be interviewed by Robert Margo about his new book "The Art of Mandolin Making: Historical Development and Construction of the Mandolin".
Jim Imhoff will host a hangout session on "Mandocellos in the 21st Century," discussing new compositions, new ideas, and new instructional materials for the mandocello.
And, last but far from least, we will reprise last year's online Open Mic, where registrants can present a newly recorded video or one from their archive.
Prices are $125 for members, $165 for non-members (includes a one-year membership, discounted 20 percent) and $50 for students (includes a one-year membership).
Hope to "see" you there!
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