Providence Mandolin Orchestra

OUR MISSION The Providence Mandolin Orchestra is a group of amateur and professional musicians united by the love of performing a unique style of music. We are committed to carrying on the rich tradition of the American mandolin orchestra while actively promoting original, new pieces. We welcome new members and take pride in introducing audiences to our unique sound and instruments. We strive to enrich our community with our cultural presence and have become a major contributor in the international field of plucked string music. OUR HISTORY The Providence Mandolin Orchestra was formed, as clearly as we can tell, in 1914, making 2014 the one hundredth anniversary of the orchestra’s founding. News articles and programs tell us of performances in the first decades of the twentieth century with Giuseppe Pettine and William Place Jr., both premier mandolin virtuosos in the United States during the instrument’s “Golden Age”. The modern version of the PMO dates from 1971, when it was revived by Hibbard Perry. Since then the PMO has become the leading American mandolin ensemble with regular performances throughout the eastern United States and Western Europe. The PMO is dedicated to the performance of contemporary music, including pieces written for the ensemble. In the past several years the PMO has given US or world premieres of new works by Clarice Assad, Betty Beath, Richard Charlton, Jim Dalton, Owen Hartford, Victor Kioulaphides, Annette Kruisbrink, Stephen Lalor, Olaf Naslund, Michael Nix, Robert Schultz, Emile Stopler, Caroline Szeto, Francine Trester, Frank Wallace, and August Watters. Also over the past several years the PMO has embarked on an ambitious program of joint performances with leading European mandolin ensembles, including Het Consort (The Netherlands); the Ensemble a Plectre de Toulouse (France); the JZO NRW (Germany); and the Orchestra of the International Mandolin Academy (Italy), and the Saarländisches Zupforchester (Germany). PMO Music Director Mark Davis began his guitar and mandolin studies with Hibbard Perry, and continued his studies with the pioneering German guitarist/conductor/composer Siegfried Behrend from whom he inherited his fascination with contemporary forms of musical expression. He has been Music Director of the Providence Mandolin Orchestra since 1989. Over the past thirty-odd years, the Providence Mandolin Orchestra has become one of the leading American mandolin ensembles, with appearances throughout the Eastern United States and Canada. In 1989, the PMO became the first American mandolin orchestra to perform at the Festival Internacional de Musica Plectro in Logrono, Spain. In 1999, the PMO performed at festivals and concerts in Germany, Luxembourg and France.

Cumberland, RI