Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg in Rome June 2017

[Mike Marshall]

Here we are playing at the Rome Chamber Music Festival June 2017
At the beautiful Barbarina Palazzo playing Vivaldi Concerto in Am for two violins (mandolins) Enjoy!

[HonketyHank]

Good-o. Molto bene. Yeeeee Haw. Mike, were you actually wearing cowboy boots and playing an F style at this venue? I love it. Thanks for posting the link. All the best to you both.

[Mike Marshall]

No cowboy boots. Just my cool Italian shoes. ; )

[Beanzy]

Wonderfully well balanced playing. I imagine it was a great treat to have an ensemble that played so supportively. Really let the mandolin cat & mouse chases come through and also made the strings very effective in their turn. Bet you finished with big smiles all 'round.

Bravissimi

[MediumMando5722]

That bowlback and Loar mesh together quite nicely... much like the people playing them. Great piece and performance.

[Mike Marshall]

That bowlback and Loar mesh together quite nicely... much like the people playing them. Great piece and performance.

That's actually that beautiful Northfield that I am playing. Engelmann Spruce 5 bar. Love it!
Also just a note that this is something that Caterina and I put up on our Artist Works teaching site as a kind window into what we are up to when we are on the road.

[Ron McMillan]

That's actually that beautiful Northfield that I am playing.

Oops.

[mgap]

That was great Mike. I sure did enjoy your show when you came to my little town of Laramie, Wy at the University of Wyoming Fine Arts concert hall.

[MediumMando5722]

That's actually that beautiful Northfield that I am playing. Engelmann Spruce 5 bar. Love it!
Also just a note that this is something that Caterina and I put up on our Artist Works teaching site as a kind window into what we are up to when we are on the road.

Are you primarily playing the Northfield now?

The Artist Works classes look awesome. I hope to take yours in the near future.

[Mark Gunter]

Awesome venue Mike! Thanks for the peek behind the scenes.

[Jstring]

Wow....that was a nice start to my morning....what a treat to hear that. Thanks!

[Frankdolin]

Thanks for the post Mike. Your love for the music, mandolin, and each other combines for an amazing performance. Hope you'll be near Boston some time.

[Don Grieser]

Thanks. Wonderful music in a gorgeous room.

[AlanN]

Very nice. Did you eat good pizza there?

[DougC]

Very cool to be playing Baroque music in a hall that has seen this music for hundreds of years. How did you meet the baroque ensemble? Are they from Rome?

[tree]

So first of all, one of my favorite quotes from The Incredibles applies here: THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!

Do you all rehearse together very much? Is there a conductor? If not, how do you guys get the tempo and dynamics and all that stuff?

[Mike Marshall]

Are you primarily playing the Northfield now?

The Artist Works classes look awesome. I hope to take yours in the near future.

Yes, I am mostly playing the Northfield believe it or not. Especially in these duet settings where I really want that sustain and low end richness to support the other person with chords and such. I used it with Edgar Meyer and Darol Anger recently on our duo gigs too.
There's the cut that the Loar has in larger band settings that is for sure sometimes what you need and that old woody tone has tons of soul no doubt bout it, but...

Yes the Artists Works teaching site is a very cool thing! GREAT way for me to connect with all you mando players out there and share ideas about how to push your mandolin playing up to the next level. A Great bunch of folks on the site too who really encourage each other.
Come join us!

[Mike Marshall]

At least one a day... ; )

[Mike Marshall]

So first of all, one of my favorite quotes from The Incredibles applies here: THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!

Do you all rehearse together very much? Is there a conductor? If not, how do you guys get the tempo and dynamics and all that stuff?

No conductor and we did get three very nice rehearsals and dove deep into it with these cats. They were young and very enthusiastic and great to work with. They were brought there by Robert Mc Duffie who is in Macon, GA running the music conservatory there. He created this Rome Chamber Music Festival.

I also played two nights with Edgar Meyer and his son George too.

[soliver]

This was a great accompaniment to an awesome Father's Day breakfast-in-bed. Thanks so much Mike for sharing this with the cafe!... I'm always a big fan of your work!

[Joey Anchors]

So good!

[FPhil]

Here's some footage of the (great!) workshop Mike and Caterina gave at the Ewob festival a few weeks ago in The Netherlands:

[JeffD]

Absolutely lovely.

[DougC]

They play duets really well. Great phrasing and timing and articulation. And they have fun too. I'l love to see them 'in person'. The mandolins, though different styles, work well together. (You can hear each part clearly. ) Did you notice the Mandolin Cafe sticker on the instrument case? Great placement, ha, ha.

[dschonbrun]

Here's some footage of the (great!) workshop Mike and Caterina gave at the Ewob festival a few weeks ago in The Netherlands:

That 5-bar Engelmann really does complement the brightness of the traditional bowlback nicely. I'll have to try mine against a few other instruments to get a sense of how they blend.