marilynn mair mandolin

Welcome to Marilynn’s webpage!

Marilynn — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:30:43 +0000

For more than three decades Marilynn Mair has played music across the globe, recorded over a dozen solo CDs, published two method books, written countless columns, and taught as a Professor of Music at Roger Williams University. She has dedicated herself to establishing the mandolin as an instrument of importance, for her lifetime and the future. Learn from her journey here. para portugues… Marilynn Mair tem se apresentado em todo o mundo por mais de três décadas. Gravou dezenas de CDs solo, publicou dois métodos para mandolim e bandolim, escreveu inúmeras colunas. Atualmente é Professora de Música na Universidade Roger Williams. Ela tem se dedicado a estabelecer o bandolim como instrumento de grande importância, tanto no presente quanto no futuro.

What’s she doing down there?

Marilynn — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:29:31 +0000

You can follow Marilynn’s start to the new year in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro on her blog Celebrating a Year where you will find daily posts with photos and reflections on her experiences, musical and otherwise. You can visit by clicking the link above, or subscribe, as the blog has been going for 3 years and will continue even after her South American idyll ends.

Roda @ Forte Copacabana

Marilynn — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:36:08 +0000

Marilynn is presently in Rio for the month of January and will be playing at a number of rodas during her stay. The Forte Copacabana rodas are January 8 and 22 @ 5:30 and run for two hours. More Information. There are also rodas @ Praca Sao Salvador, Bip Bip, and other locations. Email for other venues and times if you too are in Rio this month.

Announcing SummerKeys, July 9-13, 2012

Marilynn — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:33:51 +0000

The dates for SummerKeys 2012 have been set. The week will convene from July 9-13, 2012 in Lubec, Maine. For more information, download the flyer here. Registration information for Mandolin in Ensemble Week 2012, with Marilynn and Ralph Costanza, and Guitar in Ensemble Week 2012, with Robert N. Martel, is available on the newly redesigned SummerKeys website. The week includes a daily private lesson on your instrument (mandolin family or guitar), daily rehearsals in the all-school ensemble, the American Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra, and workshops on Brazilian music, composition, and other topics. The camaraderie between students and faculty at Marilynn’s music camps is legendary, and evening jam sessions are a common occurrence. The Thursday evening concert in the Summerkeys Series will again feature Marilynn with the SK faculty and Enigmatica, and AMGO will perform in the final recital on Friday night.

From the mailbox:

Marilynn — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:32:58 +0000

From time to time a letter arrives that says so much about Marilynn’s work. Here’s one from Jan. 6, 2012:
Dear Marilynn,
I last communicated with you some time ago when I was seeking advice on acquiring a passable(or any) tremolo. This was after collating your on-line advice from the internet and any hard copy that I could get. My studies were interrupted after only a few months when necessity prevailed and I had to take a job abroad. Since then you have published your book on mandolin and I was pleased to re-commense studies with a copy in my Hebridean surroundings.

I have to say that after daily application (without fail) and following your teachings and advice to the letter, from June 1 last year I can now detect an embryo of a tremolo. That sewing machine tickover is there every time now and I tremolo anything that moves. The section on picks was invaluable and nowhere else in the world would an aspirant find instruction as informative as this.

The mandolin accommodates beautifully the laments of many pipe tunes and it gives me much pleasure to strive to portray the elegiac quality of those airs and times. I would like to thank you most sincerely for your help and your publication on mandolin in which you sit beside the pupil and try to get your expertise and experience across.
Sincerely,
NM

Music of the Season

Marilynn — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:22:39 +0000

Marilynn’s perennial holiday favorite The Sounding Joy is a perfect blend of traditional carols, classical favorites, and international carols arranged for mandolin and guitar. A soothing antidote to the pre-Christmas shopping-party frenzy, you can see a complete list of the tunes and buy this CD here on the website or on Amazon. Happy holidays from Marilynn, Enigmatica, Agua no Feijao, and the rest of our plucked-string family.

Momento Rio Bandolim

Marilynn — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:26:04 +0000

Marilynn is back from her trip to Brazil in November to give a concert and lecture at the international mandolin festival, Momento Rio Bandolim. For the concert, Marilynn focused on compositions written for and dedicated to her over the course of her career. The lecture highlighted the parallel development of music for mandolin/bandolim in Brazil and the USA throughout the 20th century. More information is available here.

New review for Brazilian Choro book

Marilynn — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:25:42 +0000

The Mandolin Journal, magazine of the Classical Mandolin Society of America, has published a new review of Marilynn and Paulo Sa’s method book for Brazilian Choro, that concludes: “For those of us in North America who have no access to this music in its native environment it provides the next best thing to being there…. Highly recommended.“ Exactly what was intended!
Buy it now at Amazon.

AMGuSS at SummerKeys 2011

Marilynn — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:21:44 +0000

Our SummerKeys week was fabulous for students and faculty alike! In the private lessons faculty answered questions and brought up issues of technique and musicianship that had students brimming over with new ideas. The all-school ensemble, The American Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra, played Corelli, Dowland, Martel, and Carrilho in the final recital, delighting all who heard them. Marilynn’s recital, with Bob Martel, Ralph Costanza, Mitch Nelin, and Enigmatica, brought the full house to their feet several times, and had residents of Lubec stopping their cars the next day to roll their windows down and extend congratulations. All in all, a good and artistically rewarding time was had by all. We’re already signed up to return in July 2012. More info will be forthcoming in November.

Interview w/ Marilynn on “Bluebell Books”

Marilynn — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:56:35 +0000

Jamie Dedes has done a short interview w/ Marilynn about her publishing experiences. Is a new book forthcoming? Find out more…