March Mandolin Festival 2013

By Mandolin Cafe
January 1, 2013 - 9:00 pm

Concord, N.H. — The 11th Annual March Mandolin Festival will be held March 1-3, 2013, at the Concord Community Music School in Concord, New Hampshire.

This year, the festival features Matt Flinner, Robin Bullock, Will Patton, and David Surette, with special guest Susie Burke. This two-day event offers group lessons and workshops on a variety of topics, jam sessions, and an evening concert. As in past years, the festival will present a March 1, Friday night concert featuring the same performers over on the seacoast; this year the show will be returning to the Stone Church in Newmarket, one of the Seacoast's premier venues for live roots music (this is a separate ticket from the Concord events). The festival is also continuing to offer a special Sunday night party at the Barley Pub in Dover, a String Jazz Extravaganza.

To register for the festival, send a check for $125 to:

Concord Community Music School
23 Wall St.
Concord, NH 03301

Lodging is available at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Concord, New Hampshire, with a special festival rate. A limited number of rooms have been set aside, so if you are interested, please contact the hotel directly at (603) 225-0303.

Performer bios

Multi-instrumentalist Matt Flinner has made a career out of playing acoustic music in new ways. Starting out as a banjo prodigy who was playing bluegrass festivals before he entered his teens, Flinner later took up the mandolin, won the National Banjo Contest at Winfield Kansas in 1990, and took the mandolin award there the following year. Since then, he has become recognized as one of the premiere mandolinists as well as one of the finest new acoustic/roots music composers today. He has toured and recorded with a wide variety of bluegrass, new acoustic, classical and jazz artists, including Tim O'Brien, Frank Vignola, Steve Martin, Darrell Scott, the Modern Mandolin Quartet, Dave Douglas, Leftover Salmon, Alison Brown, The Ying Quartet, Tony Trischka, Darol Anger, and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra. He has also recorded two Compass Records CDs and toured as part of Phillips, Grier and Flinner with bassist Todd Phillips and guitarist David Grier. His two solo CDs (also on Compass), The View from Here and Latitude, are now widely considered classics in the new acoustic/modern bluegrass style. His current group, the Matt Flinner Trio (with guitarist Ross Martin and bassist Eric Thorin), has forged new pathways in acoustic string band music with their two ground-breaking CDs, Music du Jour and Winter Harvest.

Hailed as a "Celtic guitar god" (Baltimore City Paper), Robin Bullock's virtuosity on guitar, cittern and mandolin blends the ancient melodies of the Celtic lands and their vigorous Appalachian descendants into one powerful musical vision. From 17th-century Irish harp tunes to spirited jigs and reels to haunting and evocative original compositions, a Robin Bullock concert perfectly balances lightning-fast fingerwork one moment with tender, quiet intimacy the next, creating a unique and magical experience. Robin is a winner of the Association for Independent Music's prestigious INDIE Award (with the world-music trio Helicon), multiple Washington Area Music Association WAMMIE Awards, and Acoustic Guitar Magazine's annual "Editor's Pick" Award for his duo CD Celtic Guitar Summit with Steve Baughman.

Will Patton has been playing music since the age of 6, starting on piano and taking up guitar at age 12. Mandolin and bass soon followed, and he's been leading bands since he was thirteen. Based in VT, his travels have taken him to Rio, Paris and the Caribbean as well as all over the U.S. and Canada, playing rock and roll, folk, bluegrass, Brazilian music, and jazz. His bands have opened for Van Morrison, Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs, Maynard Ferguson, John McLaughlin and Toots Thielemans. He has shared the stage with Roy Eldridge and Mose Allison and is featured on many recordings as a bassist and mandolinist. During the last ten years he has been visiting and playing in Paris, and his collaborations with legendary gypsy guitarist Ninine Garcia as documented on his recordings have received critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad. His recordings, made with his long time working ensemble as well as guest artists such as Ninine, have all been very well reviewed nationally and have been heard on folk, World and jazz radio shows all across America, as well as on NPR.

David Surette is highly regarded throughout New England and beyond for his work on the mandolin, guitar (both flatpick and fingerstyle), and bouzouki; Sing Out Magazine wrote that "Surette's playing is always inventive, and sets a new standard for traditional instrumentalists." As part of a duo with his wife, singer Susie Burke, they have performed regularly together for 20 years, recording several albums and building a reputation as one of New England's top folk duos. Surette was a founding member of the Airdance band with fiddler Rodney Miller, with whom he recorded four albums and toured nationally. He has also released five critically-acclaimed solo CDs; his most recent solo release, Sun Dog, is a collection of original guitar solos. He is also an experienced teacher, and coordinates folk music programming and teaches regularly at the Concord Community Music School.

Festival schedule

Friday, March 1 - March Mandolin Festival concert
featuring Matt Flinner, Robin Bullock, Will Patton, and David Surette, with special guest Susie Burke.
Stone Church Music Club, Zion's Hill, Newmarket, NH 7 p.m., (603) 659-7700 or (603) 659-6321.
This is a separate ticket from Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School.

Saturday, March 2 - all Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School, Concord, NH.

Workshop Room schedule
Community Room - participatory teaching workshops: intermediate level
Recital Hall - participatory sessions: intermediate level
Room 119 - Beginner's session
Studio B - participatory teaching workshops: advanced level

Max and Lauri from Girouard Mandolins, and Adam Buchwald from Circle Strings, will also have a table of instruments in the Community Room, and will be available to assist anyone with care/repair issues on Saturday.

10:00-11:15 class session
Community Room - Playing fiddle tunes with speed and grace - Matt
Recital Hall - Celtic session - Robin
Room 119 - Beginner's class: the basics - David

Studio B (advanced) - Chord overview: a survey of a variety of approaches to chords, including, chop, barre, open, partial, jazz, and exotica - Will

11:30-12:45 class session
Community Room - Music of O' Carolan - Robin
Recital Hall - old-time/Americana session - David
Room 119 - Beginner's: blues basics - Will
Studio B (advanced) - Composition and improvisation - Matt

12:45-1:30 lunch break

There are a number of quick and easy places to get lunch and/or dinner within walking or driving distance of the school, and parking in Concord NH is not a problem at all. We will assemble a short list of good options, and may try to provide an on-site sandwich purchase option. I am also planning to have coffee/tea and light snacks available for purchase at the school. There are basic kitchen facilities at the school, and you are welcome to bring a cold lunch or even something to heat up in the microwave.

1:30-2:00 Group tunes in the Community Room, led by David, open to all

This is a chance for as many as are interested to play through a selection of choice mandolin tunes in a large group setting; written music will be provided in advance to all registrants. Led by David.

2:00-3:15 class session
Community Room - song accompaniment - David
Recital Hall - Jazz and blues session - Will
Room 119 -Beginner's: basic but essential right hand technique - Matt
Studio B (advanced) - Filling out a fiddle tune: drones, double stops, rhythmic devices - Robin

3:30-4:45 class session
Community Room - Elements of Swing: melody, chords, and an improv on a standard - Will
Recital Hall -Bluegrass session - Matt
Room 119 - Beginner's: open chords - Robin
Studio B (advanced) - Developing solo arrangements - David

4:45-7:30 dinner break
See lunch break

7:30-9:30 March Mandolin Festival concert featuring Matt Flinner, Robin Bullock, Will Patton, and David Surette, with special guest Susie Burke. Admission included for Festival participants; general admission tickets for others available through the Music School or (603) 228-1196).

Sunday March 3

10:00-12:00 Mando roundtable and Group Tunes

This is planned as a loose, casual way to consolidate everything that goes on Saturday; a chance to ask questions, fill in last-minute gaps, get a close-up demonstration of that tune from Saturday night's concert that mystified you, compare notes, socialize over coffee, pick a few more tunes,etc. In addition, we will get a second chance to play through the group tunes together.

March Mandolin Festival String Jazz Extravaganza featuring David Surette, Steve Roy, Matt Langley, and Jon Ross playing music of Django, Monk, blues, old swing numbers, hillbilly jazz and other eclecticana and exotica, with lots of improvisation.
Barley Pub, Dover NH, 8:00 p.m.

Hotel info and directions are below. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please email or call. Bring mandos, other instruments for jams, tape/disc recorders, batteries, spare strings, notebooks and pencils, money to buy CDs, and anything else that will make for a fun time.

Lodging is available at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Concord, New Hampshire, with a special festival rate for Saturday night, good for single or double occupancy. A limited number of rooms have been set aside, so if you are interested, please contact the hotel directly at (603) 225-0303.

For more information, contact (207) 384-8151, or email soozendave@surfglobal.net. The Concord Community Music School is located at 23 Wall St. in downtown Concord, New Hampshire, just a few blocks off of Main Street. Their telephone number is (603) 228-1196.

Additional information:
David Surette
David Surett on Facebook
Concord Marriott

Click red map pin below for driving directions to March Mandolin Festival, Concord Community Music School, 23 Wall Street, Concord, NH 03301.

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