BRATTLEBORO — A concert spotlighting the music and magic of “The American Mandolin” is set for Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Brattleboro Music Center.
The 7 p.m. concert will feature Flynn Cohen and August Watters, who recently played Carnegie Hall. The duo will demonstrate the breadth of mandolin music by performing selections covering 400 years of plucked string compositions ranging from classical, folk, and popular styles.
The Emmy-winning Watters will also deliver a presentation on the American mandolin tradition, tracing its roots from Italy in the 19th century through jazz, bluegrass, and beyond. There will be a chance for audience members to try out a selection of mandolins at the end of the presentation.
Cohen is a professional mandolin and acoustic guitar player with a long resume as both a performer and a teacher. He is a founding member of the nationally-touring American folk band Low Lily, and was a visiting lecturer in music at both Keene State College and Bridgewater State University.
He is also a composer of plucked string music and has had works performed by chamber ensembles across the western world. He specializes in new music for mandolin ensembles, modern interpretations of Renaissance plucked string music, Irish traditional music, and bluegrass mandolin styles.
Watters is a multi-stylistic, improvising mandolinist, composer/arranger, conductor, and teacher. He is deeply involved in today's revival of this elegant instrument, and has made significant contributions to the recovery and advancement of its musical traditions.
His work as an interpreter, improviser, composer, and arranger bridges contemporary classical music, jazz, bluegrass, folk music traditions, and the historical concert mandolin repertoire.