American Mandolin & Guitar Summer School

Marilynn, Ralph, Catherine, Bob & Jim

invite you to join us for

AMGuSS 2026 - The Final Year!

 

Below: AMGuSS Class of 2023 with Guest Artists, Choro das 3.

AMGuSS (The American Mandolin & Guitar Summer School) was founded in 1986 to promote the art of ensemble playing for the guitar and mandolin family instruments. Each session combines classical study with a dollop of Brazilian Choro music and other styles, in workshops, small chamber ensembles and an all-school plucked-string orchestra. AMGuSS is dedicated to improving the musicianship and broadening the musical horizons of its students.

Below: AMGuSS Class of 2025, with Guest Artist Chris Acquavella

One of the first American summer schools for mandolin & guitar, AMGuSS has run continuously since 1986. With small classes, accomplished faculty, and an emphasis on fun, AMGuSS will present its final session this year.

AMGuSS dates for 2026: June 15 – 20

Download a Registration Form for 2026 

or Register and Pay online

 We are delighted to return to the waterfront campus of Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island, for 2026. Check-in will be at 10:00 on June 15; check-out will be after lunch on June 20.  

"At AMGuSS we create musical experiences together."

The American Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra

A highlight of AMGuSS is the opportunity to develop your musicianship skills through rehearsals, sectionals, and a concert performance. Music for 2026 will include pieces written for the AMGuSS orchestra for various anniversaries by Adam Larrabee (20th), Bob Martel (25th), and Marilynn Mair (40th) along with classical and Brazilian pieces.

Learn about decision-making

in a small ensemble

You'll be placed in groups of 6-7 students, created and coached daily by our faculty. Ensemble choices may include Renaissance, Baroque, Classical-Era, Romantic-Era, Brazilian, Folk, and Beginner options.

Broaden your musical horizons and knowledge

Besides your orchestra and small ensemble experiences, the AMGuSS week includes informative workshops, inspiring concerts, an open mic, and nightime informal jam sessions.

On-campus room & board options are available

Single and double dormitory rooms are available in small suites, with 1- or 2- bedrooms sharing a bathroom, kitchenette, and living room. Meals are served cafeteria-style in the nationally recognized campus dining facility, with food options for vegetarian, gluten-free and other diets. Meals run from lunch on June 15th through lunch on June 20th.

Registration is limited to 35 players

There are full-tuition scholarships available if you between 18 and 30 years old! Apply by May 1st. We do not have the facilities, oversight, or insurance to accept students under 18.

Tuition reductions are also available to anyone who needs one.

For more information, to register by mail, to inquire about our scholarships, or to donate to our scholarship fund,

Email: Marilynn Mair, AMGuSS Director @ email hidden; JavaScript is required

Our Faculty for 2026 includes:

 

Marilynn Mair - AMGuSS Director, mandolin, chamber music coaching

Marilynn Mair has shown the world what the mandolin can achieve in the hands of a skillful artist. Internationally praised for her concerts and recordings, she has established classical mandolin in chamber music circles worldwide, earning the title, “First Lady of the Mandolin”. Marilynn has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the White House, and Lincoln Center, and internationally in Europe, Japan, China, and Brazil. She has released over two dozen highly acclaimed solo and ensemble CDs, and appeared on numerous compilations. Marilynn published her 224-page method book, The Complete Mandolinist, in 2008, and her bilingual choro method book for bandolim, Brazilian Choro – A Method for Mandolin written with Rio-based bandolimist and professor Paulo Sá, in 2010. Her third book, The 100 – Techniques and Exercises for Mandolinists, published in 2017, chronicles Marilynn's journey on mandolin with a series of original exercises and ideas to improve practice technique and performance. Marilynn's 4th book, The Complete Mandolinist Volume 2, includes over 100 pieces of music, presented in their musical context from the Renaissance to the present day. Marilynn's latest book, The Complete Mandolinist Volume 3 includes over 60 of her compositions along with downloads of over an hour of her performances. The Complete Mandolinist Volume 4 - Ensemble & Etudes will be released in spring 2026. Marilynn is an Emeritus Professor of Music at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, where she taught courses in music and cultural history specializing in the Americas. She has spent time over many years in Rio de Janeiro, where she researches and performs Choro music in rodas throughout the city. As well as founding and directing AMGuSS, Marilynn also founded and directs Enigmatica-- a plucked-string chamber ensemble now in its 26th year.

Catherine Hawkes - mandola, orchestra conductor, chamber music coaching

Catherine is an Emeritus Professor of Music at Roger Williams University, where she established and directed the Instrumental Ensemble. Her interest in Medieval music led her to Indiana University’s Early Music Institute, where she earned a Doctorate in Music, as well as pursuing studio work in fine arts textiles. She was a producer for IU’s Focus record label and wrote several seasons of the Public Radio program Harmonia. Catherine was a founder of the early music quartet Melusine and the Smiling Dog Band and has performed extensively in genres ranging from opera to circus to jam band. She and her compositions have appeared on numerous recordings, and she released a CD of her own compositions, Natural History, in 2022. Catherine plays mandola and recorder with Enigmatica.  

Ralph Costanza - mandolin, chamber music coaching

Ralph has been part of the AMGuSS faculty nearly since it began. Originally attending as a student in year 2, his enthusiasm and instructional expertise-- honed from years of teaching public-school music-- along with his charismatic leadership in after-hour jam sessions quickly earned him a promotion to faculty in charge of beginners. Known for his ability to engage players in developing technique and musicianship skills, whether in the 2nd-mandolin section of the orchestra or in chamber music coaching sessions, Ralph takes beginners under his wing to ensure that they experience AMGuSS to the fullest. And he remains the heart and soul of the AMGuSS informal night-time jam sessions, where his broad musical knowledge has lead to many a memorable experience.  

Bob Martel - guitar, chamber music coaching

Bob is returning to the AMGuSS faculty for our final year. He was on the faculty previously, both in Rhode Island, and in the years AMGuSS was held in Lubec, Maine, where he taught composition as well as guitar.  Bob’s compositions are often impressionistic, evoking nature and landscape, and his music has been performed and recorded in the USA, Europe and Australia, including on Slovenian National Television!  Bob taught guitar and directed a variety of ensembles in the public schools for many years. He is currently a member of Enigmatica, and has performed throughout New England with Marilynn in their "Composers Duo." In 2009, they were the featured guest artists at the Classical Mandolin Society of American convention in Dayton, Ohio.    

Jim Dalton - mandolin family instruments, chamber music coaching

Jim is new to the AMGuSS faculty, but has been performing with Enigmatica for the past couple of years. He teaches music theory and ear training courses at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

 Dalton performs on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and other plucked string instruments with soprano Maggi Smith-Dalton, specializing in historically informed performance of 19th- and 20th-century American music. Their duo has released four recordings. As a soloist, Jim has played with orchestras around the world, including the Macao Orchestra (China) and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco (Mexico). 

Jim is a prolific composer, and his music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe by a variety of ensembles. He earned a B.A. with honors from Rutgers University and an M.M. from the University of Idaho. Jim is the author of Mandolin for Beginners (Alfred, 2001).

Enigmatica - Ensemble-in-Residence

Enigmatica is a New England-based mandolin ensemble directed by Marilynn Mair. Part chamber orchestra and part plucked-string double-quartet, Enigmatica performs a variety of music: Baroque, Brazilian, eclectic contemporary, and Americana music written by group members and friends. The ensemble features instruments of the mandolin family — currently: mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, and 6- and 7-string guitars. Ensemble members come from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Their repertoire includes Baroque music by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, and Purcell; Brazilian music by Villa-Lobos, Jacob do Bandolim, and Pixinguinha; and 20th-century music by Britten, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Rhiannon Giddens. Original compositions for mandolin ensemble have been written for them by American composers Pam Marshall, John Goodin, Robert N. Martel, Catherine Hawkes, Adam Larrabee and Marilynn Mair. Enigmatica has released 5 highly acclaimed recordings, the most recent, "The Road Less Traveled," released in the spring of 2024.

    • “Smudging the lines between folk and classical is an intrepid endeavor… Mair’s a superb mandolin player who has brought the instrument to unexpected places…” – Jim Macnie, The Providence Phoenix (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair has always had the keen ability to balance classical mandolin traditions and repertoire, while constantly breaking new musical ground…a superb and versatile mandolinist and composer.” – – Butch Baldassari, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    • “Mair travels by mandolin to Brazil and brilliance… her commitment to the music shines through.” – Rick Massimo, The Providence Journal

    • “Stepping back to the 18th-century masterworks gave her the opportunity to highlight her technique with a fresh light… her playing is thoughtful, vibrant and a delight to listen to.” — Terence Pender, Mandolin Quarterly (USA)

    • “She’s a fabulous player with a wonderfully clear and lyrical sound.” – The Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

    • “Mair displays an exceptionally gifted approach to this music, using her formidable mandolin technique with grace and sensitivity… It’s the next best thing to a trip to Rio.” – David McCarty, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair performs Brazilian mandolin music… she plays the mandolin as an instrument for all occasions.” – Vaughn Watson, The Providence Journal (USA)

    • “Bring a talented ensemble of gifted musicians together playing some of the great concertos and chamber music pieces of the 1700s, present the extraordinary classical mandolinist Marilynn Mair front and center, and you have a rare combination of the right musicians performing the right music at the right time.” – David McCarty, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair é uma bandolinista americana de formação erudita” — Paulo Eduardo Neves, Agenda do Samba Choro (Brasil)

    • “Mair is unstoppable… capable of evoking any landscape, past or present, you’d care to conjure.” – Mike Caito, Providence Phoenix (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair on mandolin…touches the deepest and most engaging reaches of the ancient and passionate ‘Latin soul’.” – Carlos Agudelo, Billboard Magazine

    • “A lovely concert! We estimate your spell-bound and enthusiastic audience at close to 1800 people…” – Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors (USA)

    • “The final repeat of the melody transmitted a strong feeling of peace and tenderness that escaped no one in the audience. It is this sensitivity and subtleness that characterized the overall performance.” – Brian Hodel, Guitar Review (USA)

    • “A brilliant concert from beginning to end…The performance was extraordinary.” – La Rioja (Spain)

    • “A sparkling concert… absolutely brilliant!” – Guitar Magazine (England)

    • “Marilynn Mair acquits herself very well indeed, a most accomplished player, able to deal with the many intricacies the repertoire demands of her.” – Chris Kilvington, Classical Guitar (England)

    • “Marilynn Mair lives up to her reputation as an excellent mandolinist, with clear tone, a beautiful tremolo, and creative expressiveness.” – Zupfmusik Magazin (Germany)