The 13th Annual March Mandolin Festival will take place March 6-8, at the Concord Community Music School, 23 Wall St. in Concord. This three-day event offers group lessons, jam sessions and workshops on a variety of topics, and presents two concerts, including one on the Seacoast and one in Concord. All lessons, workshops and jam sessions are sold out, but you can still go to the concerts.
This year, the festival features nationally known folk musicians Don Stiernberg, Skip Gorman, Glen Loper and David Surette, with special guest Susie Burke.
“The concerts are a real highlight, and a great opportunity for listeners to hear some of the finest players in New England—and the whole country, for that matter,” said David Surette, who organizes the Mandolin Festival and heads the Folk Department at the Music School. “Don is one of the top jazz mandolin players in the country, so you can expect plenty of jazz and swing. But we also have bluegrass and old-time, Irish, Celtic, and contradance tunes, and folk and blues as well.”
As in past years, the festival will begin with a kick-off concert on Friday in Newmarket. This year the show will be returning to the Stone Church, one of the Seacoast’s premier venues for live roots music. The concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at the Stone Church Music Club, 5 Granite St. in Newmarket. Admission is $10 in advance or $12 on the day of the show. For more information or to purchase a ticket, please call 659-7700 or visit stonechurchrocks.com.
Saturday’s festival concert in Concord, which features festival faculty and participants, is open to the public and will take place at 7:30 p.m. on March 7 in the Concord Community Music School’s Recital Hall. The cost of admission is included for festival participants. For others, general admission tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 228-1196 or visit ccmusicschool.org.
“People should expect the unexpected,” said Surette. “There will be a lot of collaborating, some rehearsed, some by the seat of the pants. It’s always a fabulous night of music.”
For more information on the Festival, please call 228-1196 or visit ccmusicschool.org.
