Simon Mayor’s Spring Mandolins
- Start
- Mon 17 Feb 2025 / 4pm
- Duration
- 2 hours
- Tags
- Simon Mayor’s Spring Mandolins
Pricing
Full board Including accommodation, tution and meals | |
|---|---|
Single in ensuite room | £460 |
Shared in ensuite room | £420 |
Single in non-ensuite room | £420 |
Shared in non-ensuite room | £380 |
Camping Including tution and meals | |
Per person | £275 |
Course only Includes tution and lunch and dinner | |
Non-resident | £255 |
Join Simon Mayor, possibly this country’s finest mandolin player, for Spring Mandolins, an extended chance to work on techniques, musicianship, and an eclectic range of repertoire. Simon will cover all right & left hand techniques including position shifting, tremolo, decoration, tone production & more. There will also be the opportunity to accompany songs with singers from Hilary James’ Spring Sing.
Workshops will take place each morning, with afternoons free for personal practice, exploring the local area, delving into the library, or impromptu ensemble work.
Halsway Manor will be hosting this workshop alongside Hilary James’s course for singers. Click here for further details of that course.
Who is it for?
Mandolinists, mandola players, mandocellists and mandobassists (are there any out there?) are all invited to this group experience involving some ensemble playing (with easy parts to follow).
All ability levels are welcome, with the exception of complete beginners who may find themselves struggling. Ideally you’ll be able to get from start to finish of a fairly simple tune without stalling, and you’ll be able to read music or tablature to a reasonable standard (if you’re an experienced player but have only ever played by ear, tablature is very easy to learn). If you’re a guitarist or violinist trying a mandolin for the first time, you should be OK, but this is otherwise not going to be suitable for a beginner. Simon will send out PDFs of music/tablature and sound files in advance.
The Tutor
Simon Mayor is one of the world’s leading mandolin virtuosos and composers for the instruments. His many faceted career includes his own series on BBC Radio 2, an album in the Classic FM Top Ten chart and causing mayhem at a Canadian humour festival, but his most thrilling moment was a journey through the square window on BBC’s Playschool!
Simon moves effortlessly between classical, traditional folk, jazz & blues. His dazzling technical skills grace all the music he plays. He’s also a fine guitarist & fiddle player, with a delicious sense of humour & great teaching ability. In 2022, he and Hilary James were awarded honorary directorships of The Classical Mandolin Society of America.
“Sheer musical brilliance” BBC World Service
“Matchless playing and breadth of genres, from classical to ragtime. Superb.” Musician Magazine
“A master musician at his absolute best” The Living Tradition
Simon will be joined by fellow Mandolinquents Florence Petit and Elias Sibley.
An innovative and exciting young violoncellist, and the recipient of a diverse host of awards, Florence Petit has appeared many times on BBC Radio 3, and is in huge demand in the world of baroque music. She joins the Mandolinquents adding the mandocello to her armoury.
Given his consummate skill as a classical guitarist, it’s easy to overlook Elias Sibley’s other talents. He’s one of the finest finger-style ukulele players of his generation, and an authority on classic banjo (pre-bluegrass styles of ragtime and early jazz). Going back a few tears, Elias was a young musical prodigy feted for his fine mandolin playing Now, after a long absence he’s been tempted to pick up the instrument again by Simon…. Vivaldi’s Double Mandolin Concerto beckons!
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