About
The Orchestra Today
The Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra is one of more than thirty-five or so active mandolin orchestras in the United States today. The classical mandolin is currently enjoying a renaissance in our country, and the BMO is proudly riding that wave of popularity.
Mark attended the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts as a double bass major and played the bass professionally for many years. But he had also taken mandolin lessons as a young man. In 2007 he rediscovered the mandolin, and the classical mandolin and classical mandolin music soon became his passion.
In addition to being a very accomplished mandolin player, Mark also composes and arranges for mandolin ensemble and, most importantly for us, he has extensive experience as a conductor of mandolin ensembles as well. He currently is the music director of the Munier Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra in Philadelphia, and he also conducts and plays in several smaller ensembles.
The aim of the original BMO, as stated in the program for one of its first concerts back in 1925, was "to play the best Mandolin Music and further the cause of fretted instruments." We strive to uphold that goal to this day.
As noted on our home page, the BMO is an ensemble of mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, mandobasses, and classical guitars. You all know what guitars look like, but you may not be as familiar with the mandolin family of instruments. You will see significant variations in the shape and color of these instruments in our orchestra, but this photo shows the basic style and comparative size of the teardrop-shaped American instruments. In the front, from left to right, are a mandolin, a mandola and a mandocello. And the mandobass is resting comfortably in the back.
Leadership
The BMO's membership currently hovers around 20 players. We are primarily amateur musicians who have a deep affection for the mandolin and its music.
The BMO performs around 10-12 concerts per season (between September and May) in the Baltimore and south-central Pennsylvania area.
Leadership
Joel Michael-Schwartz, Music Director
Joel Michael-Schwartz is an eclectic, curious mandolinist, composer, and activist. Equally at home playing Bach, flamenco, bebop, swing, funk, celtic, and more, they brings expression, command, and a quirky sense of fun to all their artistic endeavors. They are Associate Director of the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra, music faculty at Goucher College, and regularly appear at premiere venues throughout Maryland.
Passionately dedicated to using music to explore across cultural and personal divides, Joel creates soundscapes that are entirely their own, spinning out melodies, textures, and an endless variety of expression from the mandolin family. Surprising, organic fusions of styles from around the world are always the goal, bringing out firey, angular passages one moment and heart wrenching, lyrical lines the next. They constantly push his boundaries and that of his instrument, be it through composition, improvised concerts, solo performances, or whatever else comes his way.