Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Franco-American Mandolin Festival.

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra welcomes the Ensemble à Plectre de Toulouse, one of the oldest and largest mandolin orchestras in France to Rhode Island.

In celebration of the Ensemble's visit to the U.S. the Providence Mandolin Orchestra has organized the Franco-American Mandolin Festival, a multi-dimensional festival combining cultural, educational and musical exchange.

On Saturday, November 3, at 8:00, the Providence Mandolin Orchestra and the Ensemble à Plectre will perform a joint program in the accoustically pristine St. Martin's Church 8:00 at 50 Orchard Avenue in Providence (tickets $20) . This concert will feature highlights of each orchestra's individual repertoire and joint performances of masterpieces for modern mandolin ensemble including Yasuo Kuwahara's romantic Song for Japanese Autumn and Claudio Mandonico's energetic Music for Play.

Sunday, November 4, 2:00 in the afternoon, the Toulouse Mandolin Orchestra will give a full concert at St. Ann's Arts and Cultural Center in Woonsocket (82 Cumberland Street, tickets $15/$10 seniors and students). This concert will feature a wide range of contemporary compositions for mandolin orchestra as well as arrangements of pieces from the classical repertoire including Debussey's well known Girl with the Flaxen Hair and Rossini's Il Signor Bruschino. This concert is a benefit for the Woonsocket Arts and Cultural Center.

Tickets for both events are available at http://www.mandolin-orchestra.org/tickets.htm.

In addition, as part of this cultural exchange, the Festival is organizing a series of in-school demonstrations for French language students and for music students featuring performances by the French group combined with individual instruction on the mandolin and a brief history of the mandolin in France. Participants in the demonstrations will have a unique opportunity to explore a new musical outlet and engage in conversation with members of the French orchestra in their native language.

For more information about the festival or the concerts, call Josh Bell at 401-273-6930, or visit the Providence Mandolin Orchestra website.

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