Mandolins do Bach, Beatles and most of the music in between

Michael Hitchcock, front, and Yvonne Wingard, center, co-founded the Dayton Mandolin Orchestra, which will perform with local members Kathryn Hitchcock, David Nibert and the rest of the orchestra, Sunday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church.

By Lauren Heaton

Many people today, when they hear a mandolin, might think bluegrass or folk music. They may be surprised to learn that the mandolin peaked in America before the bluegrass rage in the early 1900s with the orchestra music of Henry Purcell and Dutch composer Johan Kok. And for several centuries prior, mandolin orchestras across Europe were playing Bach and Handel. To promote an understanding of the mandolin’s true range of sounds, the Dayton Mandolin Orchestra will give its first performance in Yellow Springs in the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m.

The Dayton Mandolin Orchestra is the only mandolin orchestra in Ohio, according to orchestra cofounder Michael Hitchcock. Since its establishment in 2004 with the help of several Yellow Springs musicians, the ensemble has grown from five to 27 members. The group ranges in skill level from classically trained musicians to those who have never played an instrument before. Some read music while others read “tab,” a schematic representation of a note sequence, and the musicians range in age from 13 to 70-something.

But the one thing that ties the disparate group together is the love of the mandolin. According to several local orchestra members, the mandolin is a little-known, beautiful instrument that is related to the violin family but easier to play because it doesn’t require a bow. It has two strings for each of the four notes, which are strummed with a pick in a motion called plectrum.

And according to member Kathryn Hitchcock, several members have developed “mandolin acquisition syndrome,” for which there is no known treatment. Some like the popular Gibson models, and others like the design of the Larsen or the Vega. There are mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, and mandobases, which are said to be the cousins of the violin, viola, cello and bass. And their bell-like sound is a cross between a guitar and a violin, according to orchestra member Yvonne Wingard, who also teaches orchestra in the Yellow Springs schools.

The orchestra got its start when Allen Richmond, a Dayton composer/conductor, and Dottie Palsgrove, former member of the Providence Mandolin Orchestra in Rhode Island, met and recognized the need for a performing mandolin ensemble. Wingard and Hitchcock, both seasoned musicians, joined the group along with Kettering Banjo Band member Daryl Whiting, and they were soon performing at coffee shops and pre-concert venues around Dayton.

The mandolins caught on and the group was soon joined by local resident David Nibert, a violinist who was reformed after he acquired a Harmony Monterey mandolin in town and fell in love with it. Trained as a singer, Kathryn Hitchcock had never played an instrument before succumbing to the sonorous strumming of her husband’s many instruments. The group was joined by several more Dayton area residents and are now rehearsing every Wednesday and performing regularly.

The program for the concert in Yellow Springs includes a range of works beginning with Handel’s “Rejouissance” and the “Joy of Man’s Desire” to a Scott Joplin rag, “Moving Up to Gloryland” by Lee Roy Abernathy, and perhaps even a Beatles tune. The concert will also feature several pieces by the group’s mandolin quartet, including a Richmond original composition, “A Walk in the Village,” which was inspired by Yellow Springs.

The next performances by the Dayton Mandolin Orchestra include several appearances at the Schuster Center as featured guests of the Dayton Opera Company on Oct. 27, Nov. 2 and Nov. 4. The group will also play several Christmas concerts in the greater Dayton area. Their full schedule can be accessed at daytonmandolin.net.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com