Mandolin Mashup at Berklee – and online

It’s a bird… it’s a plane… it’s Mandolin Mashup 5!

Tonight (May 4) at 8:15 p.m., Berklee College of Music mandolin instructor John McGann will host a concert at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston to celebrate the skill and artistry of the many mandolin students who are currently studying at the school. Berklee has long been a beacon for students of a wide variety of modern music, but only agreed to allow mandolin and banjo as principal instruments in 2006.

John tells us that the concert will include performances by Sierra Hull, set to complete her Berklee diploma program later this month, and Jacob Jolliff, who finishes a four year degree this year as well. Dominick Leslie will be featured with the group with whom he regularly performs, The Deadly Gentlemen, which also includes Crooked Still banjoist Greg Liszt.

Other students and student-led groups scheduled to take the stage tonight are Alex Gable and Cuarteto Pasado de Moda, Bryce Milano, Dan Bui, Chasing Blue, Matthew Wittler, and Liam Lewis. In keeping with Berklee’s reputation as an international institution, McGann says that the show will highlight students from Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, and all across the US.

He is understandably pumped for this opportunity to show off his young mando-charges…

“Styles are sure to include bluegrass, jazz, Brazilian and original music; but you never know – you may hear the dawn of a brand new genre.

This is a very special showcase for some of the finest young players on Planet Earth!”

For those who won’t be in Boston this evening, you can watch live video of the concert online at www.ConcertWindow.com. Be sure to log in at 8:15 tonight (EDT), as there will be no archive of the concert preserved.