Susie Burke and David Surette

Susie Burke & David Surette Schedule
Spring 2008

Saturday April 19 Elysium Arts Folk Club
Lower Mills at Salmon Falls, Rollinsford, NH 8:00 pm
www.elysiumarts.com/folkclub/ for more info
A split bill/collaboration with singer/songwriter/guitar ace Brooks Williams

April 25-27 Mandolin Camp North (David solo)
Groton MA www.mugwumps.com/mcn.html for more info

Sunday May 4 Maine Fiddle Camp Extravaganza
Franco American Heritage Center, Lewiston, ME
2:00 pm www.mainefiddle.org for more info

Thursday May 22 Old Berwick Historical Society
Counting House, South Berwick ME
New England folk heritage concert program for their annual meeting
7:00 pm www.obhs.net for more info

Saturday May 24 CRAPO concert
Centre Régional d’Animation du Patrimoine Oral
St. Jean de Matha, Quebec www.crapo.qc.ca for more info

Tuesday June 3 Johnny D’s CD Release concert
17 Holland St. Somerville MA 8:30 w/ Kent Allyn on bass, keyboards
www.johnnyds.com for more info

Saturday, June 7, 7:30pm Campton Historical Society
Old Town Hall, Route 175S, Campton Hollow NH
(603) 726-7752 or (603) 726-3804 for more info

March Mandolin Festival 2008

The Sixth Annual March Mandolin Festival will be held March 8-9, 2008, at the Concord Community Music School in Concord, New Hampshire. This year, the festival features Barry Mitterhof, John McGann, Keith Murphy, and David Surette. This two-day event offers group lessons, and workshops on a variety of topics, jam sessions, and an evening concert. Additionally, the festival will present a March 7, Friday night concert featuring the same performers at The Stone Church in Newmarket, NH (this is a separate ticket from the Concord events).

To register for the festival, send a check for $110 made out to:

Concord Community Music School
23 Wall St., Concord, NH 03301

Lodging is available at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Concord, New Hampshire, with a special festival rate. A limited number of rooms have been set aside, so if you are interested, please contact the hotel directly at 603-225-0303.

For more information, contact 207-384-8151, 603-228-1196 (Music School) or email soozendave@surfglobal.net.

Sponsors include the NH State Council on the Arts Traditional Arts Program, www.MandolinCafe.com, and the Concord Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

Performer bios

One of the nation’s leading mandolinists, Barry Mitterhoff has explored all the instrument’s various styles, and it has carried him to Broadway, the silver screen, thousands of live performances and the recording studio for dozens of projects, even the White House. Within the bluegrass world, Barry is probably best known from his time with the band Skyline, with whom he toured and recorded for most of a decade. Barry, Danny Weiss, and Larry Cohen have continued to tour from time to time under the name Silk City. He has also extensively explored the mandolin in ethnic and European traditional music of many kinds. He is a regular member of Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, and for the last five years has toured with Hot Tuna and with Jorma Kaukonen; he appears on Jorma’s current album, “Stars In My Crown.” In addition to mandolin, he plays several varieties of electric mandolin and octave mandolin, four-string banjo, and is one of the leaders in the revival of the tenor guitar. Though regularly touring, making festival appearances, and teaching at workshops, Barry still calls New Jersey home.

John McGann is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, specializing in mandolin family instruments as well as electric and acoustic guitar; he won the 1986 National Flatpicking Championship on mandolin, and is currently Associate Professor of Mandolin at Berklee College of Music. He has worked within a wide variety of idioms, including jazz, bluegrass, American traditional music, and traditional Irish dance music. He has performed and recorded with numerous artists, including David Grisman, Russ Barenberg, Darol Anger, Joe Derrane, Seamus Connolly, The Wayfaring Strangers, Celtic Fiddle Festival, and many others. His solo CD “Upslide” includes the ASCAP award-winning composition “Canyon Moonrise”. John is an active columnist and author, with five book/CD sets for Mel Bay Publications, including “Developing Melodic Variations on Fiddle Tunes” and “Guide to Octave Mandolin/Bouzouki”. He also owns and operates an independent music transcription company, which has been in business since 1981 serving both individual clients and major publishers.

Newfoundland-born Keith Murphy began absorbing his native musical languages - folksongs, ballads and dance music - from an early age. A proficient multi-instrumentalist, he has long applied much of his considerable energy to the rhythmic side, becoming a valued band member (Nightingale, Fair Play) and sought-after sideman on guitar, mandolin and foot percussion. At the same time, Murphy's natural and lyrical singing and piano playing add a complementary dimension to his music, a thoughtful, well-crafted and ever-respectful take on tradition. A skillful band arranger schooled in the decades-long folk revival, Murphy brings all of these many talents to the plate for his first vocally-oriented solo outing, Bound for Canaan, which was released in 2005.

David Surette is highly regarded throughout New England and beyond for his work on the mandolin, guitar (both flatpick and fingerstyle), and bouzouki. He plays regularly with Susie Burke, with Rodney Miller and Airdance and as a soloist and has recorded in all these configurations. His most recent solo release, Northern Roots, is a collection of traditional New-England based music that has drawn strong praise. "We can't recommend it highly enough," wrote Mandolin Cafe. "One of the best discs of 2005." His diverse repertoire includes traditional American roots music, Celtic and contra tunes, original compositions, bluegrass, blues and ragtime, and folk music from a variety of traditions, all played with finesse, taste, and virtuosity. He is also an experienced teacher, and coordinates folk music programming and teaches regularly at the Concord Community Music School.

Festival schedule

Friday March 7
March Mandolin Festival concert featuring Barry Mitterhof (accompanied by Joe Selly), John McGann, Keith Murphy, and David Surette, at the Stone Church Music Club in Newmarket, NH 7 pm (www.thestonechurch.com, 603-659-6321 for more info). This is a separate ticket from Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School.

Saturday March 8
(all Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School, Concord NH)

Workshop Room schedule

Community Room - participatory teaching workshops: int/adv
Recital Hall – sessions/special presentation: levels vary
Studio B - Beginner's session
Room 119 - participatory teaching workshops: int/adv

10:45-12:00 class session

Community Room - Blues and ragtime w/ Barry Mitterhoff
Recital Hall - Celtic tune session w/ Keith Murphy
Studio B – Beginner's class: The Basics w/ David Surette
Room 119 - Melodic Improvisation (basing improvisation on the melody rather than chord changes) w/ John McGann

12:00-1:00 lunch break
There are a number of quick and easy places to get lunch and/or dinner within walking or driving distance of the school, and parking in Concord NH is not a problem at all. We will assemble a short list of good options, and may try to provide an on-site sandwich purchase option. I am also planning to have coffee/tea and light snacks available for purchase at the school. There are basic kitchen facilities at the school, and you are welcome to bring a cold lunch or even something to heat up in the microwave.

1:00 – 1:30 Group tunes in the Community Room, led by David, open to all

This is a chance for as many as are interested to play through a selection of choice mandolin tunes in a large group setting; written music (melody, harmony, and chords) will be provided in advance to all registrants.

1:30-2:45 class session

Community Room - De-Mystifying Jazz Theory with some chord voicing basics, soloing strategies, and Q and A w/ John McGann
Recital Hall – Bluegrass session w/ Barry Mitterhoff
Studio B - Beginner’s session: strumming w/ Keith Murphy
Room 119 – French and Breton tunes w/ David Surette

3:00-4:15 class session

Community Room – Luthier’s Presentation w/ Rolfe Gerhardt of Phoenix Mandolins
Recital Hall - Jazz/swing session w/ John McGann
Studio B – Beginner's class: chords and chording w/ Barry Mitterhoff
Room 119 - Open chording accompaniment for tunes and songs w/ Keith Murphy

4:30-5:30 class session

Community Room – Tunesmithing: write your own tune w/ Keith Murphy
Recital Hall - Mandolin duets/harmony w/ David Surette
Studio B - Beginner’s class: scales and arpeggios w/ John McGann
Room 119 – Mundo mando: world and ethnic tunes w/ Barry Mitterhoff

5:30-7:30 dinner break
See lunch break

7:30-9:30 March Mandolin Festival concert featuring Barry Mitterhof (accompanied by Joe Selly), John McGann, Keith Murphy, and David Surette. Admission included for Festival participants; general admission tickets

Sunday March 9

10:30-12:30 Mando roundtable and Group Tunes

This is planned as a loose, casual way to consolidate everything that goes on Saturday; a chance to ask questions, fill in last-minute gaps, get a close-up demonstration of that tune from Saturday night's concert that mystified you, compare notes, socialize over coffee, pick a few more tunes,etc. In addition, we will get a second chance to play through the group tunes together.

David Surette
POBox 433, South Berwick ME 03908
207-384-8151
www.BurkeSurette.com
www.MySpace.com/BurkeSurette

MADRINA MUSIC POBox 433, South Berwick ME 03908 (207)384-8151

e-mail to: soozendave@surfglobal.net