March Mandolin Festival 2012
The Tenth Annual March Mandolin Festival will be held March 2-4, 2012, at the Concord Community Music School in Concord, New Hampshire. This year, the festival features Jesse Brock, Claudine Langille, Skip Gorman, and David Surette, with special guests Susie Burke and Baron Collins-Hill. 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 2, Friday night concert featuring the same performers, this year at The Elysium Arts Folk Club, Rollinsford, NH (this is a separate ticket from the Concord events). The festival is also branching out to offer a special 10th anniversary Sunday night party at the Barley Pub in Dover, a String Jazz Extravaganza. More info on all three concerts below.
To register for the festival, send a check for $110 made out 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.
For more information, contact 207-384-8151, 603-228-1196 (Music School) or email soozendave@surfglobal.net.
Festival sponsors include Sanborn, Head and Associates, the NH State Council on the Arts Traditional Arts program, and the Concord Courtyard by Marriott, where festival accommodations are available at a special rate. Support is also provided by www.MandolinCafe.com.
Performer bios
Claudine Langille is best known for her mandolin, tenor banjo and vocal work with Touchstone, the highly acclaimed Irish-Appalachian fusion band. Touchstone recorded two award-winning albums on Green Linnet records, The New Land and Jealousy. She currently performs with Gypsy Reel, who have recorded six CDs in Claudine’s Mount Hollywood Studio in Vermont and have been recipients of a National Endowment for the Arts award for touring artists. Claudine maintains a musical connection with the traditional music of the maritime provinces of Canada, especially her father’s native Nova Scotia, and has been a guest singer at the Celtic Colours Festival in Cape Breton. Claudine has led workshops at folk festivals in the US, Canada, and England, including the Swannanoa Gathering’s Celtic Week. She founded the Mount Holly Folk Club, a weekly gathering of singers and players in her Vermont community.
Winner of the 2009 International Bluegrass Music Awards Mandolin Performer of the Year, Jesse Brock has spent a lifetime in bluegrass, starting with his family band at the age of nine, and later with national acts such as Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, The Lynn Morris Band, and The Dale Ann Bradley Band. Jesse was an integral part of Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, who won numerous awards as instrumental group of the year. Jesse is also a solo artist in his own right, with an IBMA award-nominated CD Kickin' Grass on Pinecastle Records that includes A-list pickers such as Jason Moore, Ron Stewart, Tom Adams, Jason Carter, Rob Ickes, Marshall Wilborn, Alan O'Bryant and many others. When Jesse is not touring he makes his home in Maine.
Skip Gorman is one of the leading teachers and players of Bill Monroe-style mandolin in the country, as well as being a masterful cowboy singer and fine fiddler. An encounter with Monroe at age twelve was a pivotal moment in the young musician's life, and he was lucky to have the opportunity to see musicians like Monroe, legendary Texas fiddler Eck Robertson, and Mother Maybelle Carter at the historic Newport Folk Festival. He has taught bluegrass mandolin at top festivals such as IBMA World of Bluegrass, European World of Bluegrass and Grass Valley Bluegrass Festival. He has released a number of fine recordings, including three acclaimed Rounder releases focusing on cowboy music, and two focused on "old-style" bluegrass mandolin. His most recent release is a two-CD set of mandolin tunes titled Mandolin in the Cowcamp.
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 2 March Mandolin Festival concert
featuring Jesse Brock, Claudine Langille, Skip Gorman, and David Surette, with special guest Susie Burke
Elysium Arts Folk Club, Lower Mills at Salmon Falls, Rollinsford, New Hampshire 8:00 pm www.elysiumarts.com/folkclub/ for more info
This is a separate ticket from Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School.
Saturday March 3
(all Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School, Concord NH)
Workshop Room schedule
Community Room - participatory teaching workshops: int/adv
Recital Hall – participatory sessions: int/adv
Room 119 - Beginner's session
Studio B - participatory teaching workshops: int/adv
Rolfe Gerhardt of Phoenix Mandolins will also have a table of instruments in the Community Room, and will be available to assist anyone with care/repair issues from 9:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. on Saturday.
10:00-11:15 class session
Community Room – Creating breaks for songs and tunes w/ Jesse
Recital Hall – Irish session w/ Claudine
Room 119 – Beginner's class: the basics w/ David
Studio B – Classic Monroe instrumentals w/ Skip
11:30-12:45 class session
Community Room – mando eclecticana w/ David
Recital Hall – bluegrass session w/ Jesse
Room 119 - Beginner’s class: basic picking w/ Skip
Studio B – Jig picking w/ Claudine
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 – singing with the mandolin w/ Claudine
Recital Hall – old-time session w/ Skip
Room 119 –Beginner's class: bluegrass 101 w/ Jesse
Studio B – Fiddle tunes for mandolin: the next generation w/ Baron
3:30-4:45 class session
Community Room – Waltzes for mandolin w/ Skip
Recital Hall – blues/swing session w/ David and Baron
Room 119 – Beginner's class: chord strumming w/ Claudine
Studio B – chop chords w/ Jesse
4:45-7:30 dinner break
See lunch break
7:30-9:30 March Mandolin Festival concert featuring Jesse Brock, Claudine Langille, Skip Gorman, and David Surette, with special guests Susie Burke and Baron Collins-Hill. Admission included for Festival participants; general admission tickets for others available through the Music School (www.ccmusicschool.org or 603-228-1196).
Sunday March 4
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.
Sunday March 4 March Mandolin Festival String Jazz Extravaganza
featuring David Surette, Steve Roy, Matt Langley, and Jon Ross
music of Django, Monk, blues, old swing numbers, hillbilly jazz and other eclecticana and exotica, with lots of improvisation
Barley Pub, 328 Central Ave. Dover NH 8pm www.barleypub.com for more info
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 St. Their telephone number is 603-228-1196.
Directions to the school
>From the South:
Route 93 North to Exit 12 North (South Main St.). Take second left on to Broadway. Stay on Broadway to first set of lights and take a right on to South St. Fayette Street is about 7 streets down on the right. There is a red brick church at the corner. Take a right and you’ll see the Music School on your left after Fletcher Murphy Park.
>From the East:
Route 4, 9 or 202 to Route 393. Take 393 to North Main Street and take a left at the lights. Follow Main Street downtown and take a right on Pleasant Street. Go to second set of lights and take a left. Take second left onto Fayette Street. The Music School is on left after Fletcher Murphy Park.
>From the West:
Take 202 to 89 South to Clinton Street Exit (route 13). Go to end of exit and take a right on to Clinton Street (13N). Follow Clinton Street 1.9 miles to lights at McGee Square and take a left on to South Street. Fayette Street is about 7 streets down on the right. There is a red brick church on the corner. Take a right and you’ll see the Music School on your left after Fletcher Murphy Park.
>From the North:
From Route 93 take Exit 14. Take a right on to Bridge Street to intersection of Main Street (Holiday Inn on left.) Take a right on to Main Street and follow Main Street downtown and take a right on Pleasant Street. Go to second set of lights and take a left. Take second left on to Fayette Street. The Music School is on left after Fletcher Murphy Park.
David Surette
PO Box 433, South Berwick ME 03908
207-384-8151
www.BurkeSurette.com
www.MySpace.com/BurkeSurette