The Oregon Mandolin Orchestra was conceived by Elizabeth and Brian Oberlin in an effort to revive the beauty and popularity of the traditional mandolin orchestra, which was mainstream in the United States around the turn of the 20th Century. At that time, the mandolin orchestras were highly popular throughout the United States with most cities and high schools having their own.

With the emergence of folk music, the mandolin regained popularity, and mandolin orchestras have since burgeoned. Today, many U.S. cities have mandolin orchestras, and their presence abroad, which never waned, also continues to grow. The available body of music for mandolin orchestras is vast, ranging from classical to swing to jazz and everything in between.

The Oregon Mandolin Orchestra is partnered with the Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro. The Walters Cultural Arts Center is a magnificent facility, borne out of the same ideals as the Oregon Mandolin Orchestra —to nurture the growth of music and art as an integral part of the community.

One of the primary goals of the Oregon Mandolin Orchestra is to provide unique performance and educational opportunities for music enthusiasts of all ages and levels of expertise.

The Oregon Mandolin Orchestra has approximately thirty members and is comprised of mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, and double basses. Within the Oregon Mandolin Orchestra is a smaller group of musicians—the Oregon Mandolin Chamber Orchestra—which rehearses and performs with, as well as separately from, the entire Orchestra, and, occasionally, hosts special guest musicians.

Austin Mandolin Orchestra is dedicated to performing traditional and original works. We seek to nurture the community of mandolin players in central Texas and provide unique educational and performance opportunities for mandolin enthusiasts. - Joel Hobbs, Director

The Seattle Mandolin Orchestra exists to preserve, promote, and extend America’s mandolin ensemble tradition. Featuring the entire mandolin family of instruments, including mandolin, mandola, mandocello, and mandobass, the orchestra offers an opportunity for musicians of any skill level to serve the Puget Sound community through performance, recordings, outreach, musical instruction, and publishing.

The Seattle Mandolin Orchestra is dedicated to revitalizing the mandolin ensemble and expanding its repertoire through commissions and arrangements. The orchestra's repertoire encompasses baroque, classical, jazz, and folk traditions.

It has been our pleasure to host and present to Northwest audiences many of the finest mandolin soloists and ensembles, including Carlo Aonzo and Elena Buttiero, Mike Marshall, Josh Pinkham, Evan Marshall, Duo LaRe (Chris Acquavella and Nate Jarrell), Joe Craven, Duo Capriccioso (Gertrud and Michael Troester), Richard Walz and Mari Tomizuka, Andre St. Clivier, Joan Martin Woodward, the Helsinki Mandoliners from Finland, and the Bavarian and Hessian state mandolin orchestras from Germany. In 2010 we hosted the 24th annual convention of the Classical Mandolin Society of America (CMSA).

The present group was founded in 1980 by Tom Moran. It later merged with the Seattle Mandolin Society, founded in 1968 by Jim Feroe, who recounts some of the group's history in this 1991 article published by CMSA. There were also earlier mandolin orchestras in Seattle, during the golden age of the mandolin (1880–1925). One of these groups was led by composer, arranger, and soloist Carlton Ostrander.

The Sarasota Mandolin Orchestra brightens Sarasota and its regional artistic area with marvelous performances to enthusiastic crowds of mandolin and music aficionados. Through the planning and directing of our conductor, Maestro Joseph Spinella, the S.M.O. shares inspiring music of the past and present with people of all backgrounds and interests: concert performances, churches, country clubs, restaurants, retirement centers , music festivals, local and regional conventions and meetings, and other welcoming places where quality music is enjoyed. Joseph Spinella sings many Italian favorites with the orchestra giving another heart stopping dimension to the show.

The San Diego Mandolin Orchestra was formed in 1968 by conductor Victor De Guide. When he retired in 1979, Jim Trepasso and Eugene Vacher took over as conductors and arrangers. Jim Trepasso is a retired music teacher from the San Diego City Schools, with degrees in music from Northern Michigan University. In addition to his teaching career in St. Louis, Coronado, and San Diego, he has played in numerous symphonies from Michigan, Kansas, Hawaii, and including the Army Band, the San Diego County Symphony and the San Diego City Guard Band. Jim was awarded the honor of "Band Director of the Year" for San Diego in 2000 for secondary music, and again in 2005 for elementary music. The San Diego Mandolin Orchestra were the hosts for the 2003 CMSA Convention. Gene Vacher, our former conductor who passed away recently at the age of 100, had a musical career that spanned several decades and included traveling around the world as Band Master in the US Army, retiring as Assistant Chief of Bands. Gene also played in the San Diego Symphony beginning in 1929, and taught in public schools. Gene was particularly gifted in creating orchestral arrangements, many of which are still played today. We enjoy performing in a variety of venues: community festivals & concerts, charity events, shopping centers, private parties, weddings, etc. Our instrumentation is similar to that of a classical string orchestra. Among our 35 members, we have first mandolins, second mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, octave mandolins, guitars, string basses and a bass zither. We are also fortunate to have the talented Ted Scafidi leading the group as Concertmaster.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra was founded by the late Hibbard Perry in 1971, fulfilling a lifelong dream to revive his own Providence Plectral Orchestra from the 1930s. This group carries on an American musical tradition which goes back to the 1880s when a group of Spanish bandurria players toured the United States and began a craze for mandolin and guitar music that rivaled the popularity of rock and roll today.

Over the past thirty-odd years, the Providence Mandolin Orchestra has become one of the leading American mandolin ensembles, with appearances throughout the Eastern United States and Canada. In 1989, the PMO became the first American mandolin orchestra to perform at the Festival Internacional de Musica Plectro in Logrono, Spain. In 1999, the PMO performed at festivals and concerts in Germany, Luxembourg and France.

With well over two hundred pieces in its repertoire, the Orchestra features a wide range of musical styles from Renaissance dances to Baroque concertos, from turn-of-the century nostalgia to avant-garde expressions. Within its wide range of musical tastes, the Orchestra is probably best known for its lively interpretations of traditional music from sources as diverse as Appalachian folk ballads and Brazilian chorinho. In addition, the PMO's unique tonality has inspired exciting new works by composers Will Ayton, Stephen Funk Pearson, Michael Nix, Robert Martel, Owen Hartford, and others.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra is under the direction of Mark Davis. Mr. Davis has been associated with the orchestra since its inception, assuming directorship in 1989. Mark Davis pursues an active career as a solo performer, educator and conductor. He also has published numerous compositions and arrangements with Zimmerman Verlag in Frankfort and Plucked String Editions in Washington, D.C. and a series of articles on guitar technique.

About the Pittsburgh Mandolin Society

Pittsburgh, with its "melting pot" history, was an important city in the popularization of the mandolin The instrument was affordable to the working class immigrants who had arrived here, and could be easily purchased from the Sears catalogue. Mandolins were soon found in almost every ethnic neighborhood in the city.

From about 1890 to 1925, companies such as Gibson and Martin employed salesmen who traveled across the United States, selling instruments of the mandolin family. The salesmen quickly found that they could generate more sales by establishing mandolin orchestras in the towns they visited. Playing in the local mandolin orchestra became "all the rage" for the men and women of polite society. Mandolin orchestras soon became plentiful across the nation, with membership sometimes being contingent upon ethnicity, social status or political beliefs. Here is a picture of Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra that existed during that period.

With its scintillating contemporary qualities, the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble has been hailed for revitalizing and reshaping a type of ensemble music that enjoyed nationwide popularity at the turn of the 20th century. Through its array of mandolins, mandola, mandocello, violin, guitar and bass, NME commands expressive string colors of kaleidoscopic range and variety.

Founded in 1991 by Butch Baldassari of the Blair School of Music, NME performs period arrangements for mandolin orchestra along with animated transcriptions of classical, jazz and pop music, along with new music from contemporary composers.

Founded in 1999, The Montana Mandolin Society is one of two Nationally touring mandolin ensembles in America. In their nine-year history they have performed in concert across the country at International Festivals and Mandolin Conferences. Their four acclaimed CD's are currently getting international radio airplay. The Montana Mandolin Society's roots are in community performances, schools, workshops, and concerts across Montana. From its inception, their purpose has been to educate listeners about the flexible versatility of mandolins and mandolin music.

The Minnesota Mandolin Orchestra was formed in 1991 to preserve and foster the enjoyment of mandolin music.

We are a group of amateur musicians dedicated to promoting, playing, and performing acoustic music featuring the mandolin. Part of our group has performed as "Mandolindy".

The Louisville Mandolin Orchestra is an acoustic ensemble of mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, guitars and bass performing instrumental music from early baroque and renaissance to classical and modern. Formed in 1988 in Louisville, Kentucky, the LMO's mission has stayed the same: to revive the century-old tradition of community music-making and provide performance opportunities to players of all abilities, while bringing the world's best mandolinists and guitarists to Louisville audiences.

Within these web pages you'll find interesting reading about the early history of the LMO as documented by Robin Harris. For those who have contemplated starting a mandolin orchestra in your own home town you may find some valuable insights to help you on your journey.

Unique on Long Island, the Long Island Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra (LIMAGO) began in the 1950’s as an adult education class sponsored by the Levittown School District in Nassau County. It has since evolved into a non-for-profit organization with its aims being to preserve the music of the mandolin, to increase its awareness of the history and potential of the mandolin and to provide an educational as well as enjoyable listening experience.

The Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra, under the directorship of David T. Evans, is a Baltimore, Maryland-based ensemble of mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, mandobasses, and classical guitars. We play a mix of classical music, marches, rags, show tunes,and a variety of other traditional compositions for mandolin orchestra. Please explore our site and find out more about us!

Atlanta Mandolins was established in 1994, and is made up of mandolinists, guitarists and bassists, who have joined together to form the performing unit of the Atlanta Mandolin Society.
Under the direction of Robb Smith - conductor, music selections range from Turn of the Century Rags and Marches, Classical, Latin, Irish, Jazz, Brazilian, Ethnic compositions to Seasonal compositions. We hope that you enjoy your visit to our website!

The mission of the DMO is to enrich lives through the revival, preservation, and promotion of the mandolin family ensemble and its repertoire. We aim to enrich lives and serve the public though performance, education, and outreach. We are an all-volunteer group of musicians that share the commitment to community service through public musical performance. The DMO offers a unique, friendly, and supportive performance outlet that unites musicians of diverse backgrounds and ability levels.

The San Francisco Mandolin Orchestra has grown rapidly in the last five years to become of the country’s finest mandolin orchestras. From its humble beginnings in 2005 as the Noe Valley Plucked String Orchestra, SFMO was originally comprised of mandolin students of Nicola Swinburne, who then conducted the orchestra. In 2009, Nicola handed the baton to Achille Bocus, who had been conductor of the Orchestra a Plettro, Città di Milano, one of Italy’s largest and oldest mandolin orchestras. Nicola Swinburne Bocus now manages the orchestra.

In 2010 SFMO has 20-25 regular players playing instruments of the mandolin family: mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, and mandocello, in addition to guitar, double bass and harp. Our repertoire changes seasonally and is centered on one particular theme, and our seasons last 6 to 8 months. We love to explore music from different countries and time periods.

Welcome to the Classical Mandolin Society of America website!

CMSA members are found in nearly every state and province in North America as well as in several foreign countries. Our members play primarily mandolin, mandola, mandocello, guitar or bass and also include teachers, conductors and composers of mandolin music. However, it's not even necessary to be a musician to be a member!

Since the CMSA was formed in 1986, interest in classical mandolin has surged. It's the aim of CMSA to nurture the growth and assist those interested in pursuing the art of mandolin playing. CMSA remains at the forefront of things mandolinistic, and we're pleased to invite you to join us!

Die CMSA wurde auf dem Symposium durch Bruce Graybill präsentiert.

The Aurora Mandolin Orchestra (AMO), the largest orchestra of its kind in he San Francisco Bay Area continues to perform many concerts to thousands of audi- ences at festivals and organizations throughout the area.

5 Mandolinenorchester aus San Francisco