Thursday, October 21, 2021

New Florian Rumpf Album Kickstarter

 If you've chatted with Lou about mandolins for very long, I'm sure you've heard him sing the praises of Florian Rumpf, an up-and-coming classical German mandolin player. Lou and Florian also share a mentor, Chris Acquavella.

The classical mandolin world is smaller than some would like to acknowledge, so producing new albums can be tough, especially for younger players.  Florian is running a Kickstarter to press his new CD, a solo album of his mandolin, baroque mandolin, liuto cantabile, and octave mandolin work.  You can hear some of his previous work on YouTube, for example last year on Mandolin Mondays or earlier this year supporting his yearbook series.

If you're not familiar with Kickstarter, it's an on-line fundraising operation that collects money for artists and entrepreneurs to reach predefined goals.  If the project doesn't achieve its fundraising goal, Kickstarter returns your money.

You can fund projects at different levels depending upon your level of enthusiasm, which also correspond to products you receive.  Re Florian, he's an accomplished sewer, so some of the gifts include custom made mandolin-case quilts and hand-sewn pick envelopes, in addition to his recorded work.  It's worth visiting the Kickstarter page just to check out the case quilts.

Saturday, October 9, 2021

Update on article for CMSA Mandolin Journal

Lon, Dave Ingham, Ben Gieske, Jonathon Bredin and I had a lovely luncheon with founders Jack El-Hai and Phillip Rukavina.

In the who knew department:

  • Phil is a past president of the Lute Society of America! He performs in the US and internationally.
  • Jack El-Hai was friends with CMSA founder Norman Levine and was on the CMSA Board of Directors beginning in 1996. Jack is an author of many books.
  • Dave's wife Linda (who, sadly, is no longer with us) was a founder.
Check Phil and Jack out online to learn more.

Speaking of the CMSA, Lou Chouinard is a past president and Lon continues the important role of readying the En Masse Orchestra music for conventions. If you were wondering where on earth Spagna came from and why we read through it.

This year's CMSA convention is again a virtual convention. If you want to dip your toe in the water but not have the travel/hotel expense, this is the convention for you! It runs Friday November 12th through Sunday November 14th. Several of us attended last year's convention -- the organization rallied and delivered an excellent experience, including a virtual En Masse Orchestra. Talk to anyone who's attended the CMSA, the En Masse is a peak experience. (Those of you who contributed to MMO's videos...you are more than qualified to contribute your playing to the virtual En Masse video.) You can find out more and register on the CMSA site.

Reasons to attend a CMSA convention:
  • It's inspiring!
  • The mandolin world is small and you can rub shoulders with amazing players no matter what your playing level.
  • You can take your air mandolin playing to a whole new level in the En Masse Orchestra while also improving your non-air mandolin chops.
  • You may get so inspired you might wake up at a workshop/performance some day in New York, Milwaukee, Italy or Japan. (This has happened to MMO members)
Reason to become a CMSA member:
  • Convention discount
  • Quarterly Mandolin Journal Subscription
  • Access to Members Only content including past editions of the journal, the Nankano library and other treats (videos and recordings from past conventions)
You can find out more at their website: Classical Mandolin Society of America.