Review, Orchestra & News
of the mandolin and as such it was
fantastic to work with her. She was very
enthusiastic, fair and encouraging as
a teacher. She was also eager to work
not only on the correct notes but the
musicality: “The notes are there but
the music is not” were her words of
wisdom during one sectional rehearsal.
The whole experience has helped us
become more acquainted with ‘the
dusty bits’ of our mandolins (the high
frets on the E-string), taught us how to
play artificial harmonics, and shown us
the importance of 50 cent coffee when
practising for long periods of time. I
can safely say the two of us valued and
thoroughly enjoyed the trip and hope
to attend next year’s session! We would
like to thank LGMA for paying our fees
to attend the orchestra which made it
possible for us to go.
Meet the Orchestra:
Mandolin Orchestra of Devon – MOoD
The Mandolin Orchestra of
Devon (MOoD) is one of
many orchestras and choirs
founded and run by Wren
Music. It is a very friendly
orchestra that welcomes
newcomers who share their
enthusiasm for the mandolin
family of instruments. Matt Norman,
composer and Devon based Folk
Artist who has developed the ‘English
Mandolin’ style, was keen to find out if
there were enough mandolin players
in Devon who would be interested to
join an orchestra. As it turned out,
because the mandolin is a relatively
rare instrument it is unusual for
mandolinists to get an opportunity to
play together, and so there was a very
positive response! The result was the
establishment of MOoD in
September 2011.
Wren’s philosophy is
to make music assessable
for all and so anyone with
a basic knowledge of their
instrument who is aged over
14 can join the orchestra.
Matt holds monthly workshops in
Okehampton – the home of Wren.
MOoD encourages as many as
possible to learn specific mandolin
repertoire as well as developing
technique and expertise for players
of the whole range of mandolin
instruments plus supporting bass and
acoustic guitars. This has attracted
a regular ‘core’ of around 15 players
from across Devon and Cornwall to set
aside a Saturday afternoon per month
Bruce Murray
www.wrenmusic.co.uk
to gather in Okehampton. Sometimes,
the numbers swell to over 20 but MOoD
is generally quite a compact group of
players. The types of music played by
MOoD cover a wide range and tend to
differ from the Folk repertoire followed
by other Adult Groups within Wren.
Progress of the orchestra has been
very noticeable as the members have
grown to know each other, become
more confident and have listened more
to the rest of the group. This led to the
decision to enter the BMG Federation
Rally orchestra contest in Bristol to gain
experience and to enjoy listening to
other Mandolin Orchestras.
Anyone interested in joining should
contact Matt Norman:
email [email protected]
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