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Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
Classical Mandolin Society of America
Labraid Cytole
While memory is still fresh, I ought to give due mention and well deserved praise to all the wonderful performers who so delighted their audiences (Yours Truly first and foremost) with their excellent playing.
Of Friday night, the Providence Mandolin Orchestra, directed by Mark Davis, gave the U.S. premiere of my Sinfonia a pizzico, in a thoughtful, artful interpretation that amply showcased the maturity and sensitivity of this fine orchestra.
Saturday morning, in a workshop organized by tireless Mark Davis, there was a plethora of performances, each one excellent in its own, particular way:
Robert Margo performed my Suite for Ali with the magical air of a lutenist's fantasy; this was my first time hearing this work in a live performance. Joe Brent gave an appropriately jagged, spirited performance of De Grote Markt, accompanied by Mark Davis on guitar; while this is originally a composition for unaccompanied mandolin, Mark provided a colorful, delicately shaded harmonic accompaniment. Then Joe proceeded to play my Capricho Tropical with so much flair and character that you could feel the Caribbean breeze wafting through the room. This was an unforgettable performance for me, an all-time favorite; the spice and flavor that Joe put into that score was simply dazzling, something to smile about for years to come.
Mark and Beverly Davis gave the U.S. premiere of my Sonata Marittima; both they and I have lived most of our lives by the sea, so there was a magical, subliminal connection to the maritime character of the music. Continuing with yet more "Water Music", Mark and Beverly were joined by David Miller, another fine mandolinist (and all around great guy) in the world premiere of my Seagulls over the East River, which I wrote expressly for them this past summer. I trust that I was not alone in "seeing" the seagulls (Mark and David), gracefully air-gliding on the thermal waves above the flowing river (courtesy of Beverly and her guitar). The same trio whipped up a happy storm with my Toccata Scarlattiana, in a sort of "hybrid version" between the original mandolin duo and the Quartetto Classico score, from which Mark extrapolated a sparse yet effective guitar part.
We then all joined in a collegial reading of my Passacaglia Pizzicata, a very happy occasion for me to get close to all my friends and mando-colleagues. I don't think much of the stereotypical (but false) image of the composer, distant, aloof, lost in his reveries, detached from the actual, hands-on music-making. I'd rather be picking… ;-)
On Saturday evening, Chris Acquavella gave a spectacular performance of my Diferencias in the course of a recital that wowed and dazzled each and everyone in that huge, full-to-the-rim auditorium. Simply amazing, how well the mandolin carried: sitting in the second-from-last row, waaaaaaaaaaaaay up, hanging from the rafters as it were, I could hear every little nuance, every little shading of tone-- coming from an unaccompanied, unamplified mandolin! Food for thought, for all of us, mandolinists, composers, concert producers/presenters alike.
Finally the conference's En Masse Orchestra, expertly directed by Jim Bates, gave a truly sublime performance of my Hues of Dusk. I couldn't have been happier with Jim's sensitive, well-paced, finely honed interpretation. And, of course, the sound of 140 plucked instruments in such a sparse, less-is-more, "atmospheric" score was a sheer wonder.
I hope I am not forgetting anyone or anything… Please accept my warmest, most enthusiastic congratulations, all of you!
Three cheers for all,
Victor
It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)
CMSA 2011 en masse orchestra, with Jim Bates, takes a bow.
Attachment 77358
Sorry, I tried to attach a photo, but couldn't figure out how to do it.
While thanking and congratulating all performers, I must not be remiss in doing the same for all administrators, such as Jim B., without whose tireless efforts and inexhaustible kindness none of this great success would have been possible.
*another round of applause*
Cheers,
Victor
It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)
Jim, check out these instructions: How to Post an Image.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Posting for Jim B. Here is a photo of the Classical Mandolin Society of America's 2011 En Masse Orchestra, Dr. Jim Bates conducting.
MLT
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Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
Classical Mandolin Society of America
Labraid Cytole
In addition to the impressive visual documentation that has been retained of that august event, the aural effect was truly amazing. Upon coming out on the stage, Maestro Jim Bates joked with the audience about the orchestra having to take a minute-or-so to tune those 2,800 strings. There are no words by which to describe the actual sonority of those myriad plucked strings. Such a thrill!
Cheers,
Victor
It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)
I have posted (with Victor's permission) a video of the En Masse Orchestra's performance of "Hues of Dusk" over in this thread:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...274#post978274
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Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
Classical Mandolin Society of America
Labraid Cytole
I have posted (with Jonathan's permission) another video of the En Masse Orchestra's performance during the 25th Anniversary Gala Concert. This video is of "Swimming Down the Stars" and is posted over in this thread: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ncerts-of-Note
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Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
Classical Mandolin Society of America
Labraid Cytole
A bunch of photos from the 2011 convention in Baltimore have just been posted on the CMSA website.
http://www.classicalmandolinsociety....011-photos.asp
Jim Blanchard
Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra
Jim,
I tried to access the photos on the CSMA website and failed completely. Something is wrong with the posting.
Robert A. Margo
Bob: There are hundreds of pictures on that one page. I got the page and they take a while to load. Are you getting an error msg?
Ironically, i did not get there until Friday, so I don't think there is any proof of my being there.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Jim (Garber),
Well, I got some of the photos to download on my Iphone, still can't get it to work on the PC, whatever.
You definitely were there. I saw you.
ram
Robert A. Margo
Other people have had trouble viewing the photos too. I can't explain it, since I can view them all right. Maybe go directly to the CMSA website homepage and click on "2011 Convention Photos" ???
Jim G., a little over halfway down through the photos there's a picture of a double-thumbs-up Victor K. Next to him is proof that you were there.
Jim B.
"Maybe go directly to the CMSA website homepage and click on "2011 Convention Photos""
Tried it, twice. Doesn't work either.
Robert A. Margo
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
MLT
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Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
Classical Mandolin Society of America
Labraid Cytole
I use Firefox on PC and Safari on the Mac and have no problems with either.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Hi All,
Several folks have reported difficulty loading the 2011 Convention photo page.
I have broken this page up into 11 smaller pages with navigation buttons. This should hopefully solve the problem for those of you with slower internet connections, which I believe is the difficulty.
Regards
David Betts
- CMSA Webmaster
Firefox works.
Robert A. Margo
My Firefox works, my IE 8 does not. Not sure why that is so, but I note that the pictures could probably have been compressed harder, 250Kb is big for a 640x424 pixel image.
Ideally, a gallery page posts thumbnails as links to bigger files, so the page itself is not very large. Usually stuff like 150x100, jpeg'ed to be about 25K.
Someday I'll make it to one.
Bandcamp -- https://tomwright1.bandcamp.com/
Videos--YouTube
Sound Clips--SoundCloud
The viola is proof that man is not rational
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