MARILYNN MAIR
She has shown the world what the mandolin can achieve in the hands of a skillful artist. Internationally praised for her beautiful tone, versatile technique, and impeccable choice of repertoire, she established classical mandolin in chamber music circles worldwide, then branched out to play choro in Rio, jazz at Berklee, avant-garde premieres in Europe and Japan, and to write her own compositions. Through her concerts, recordings, and books she has created a potent legacy for generations of players and audiences to come. Marilynn has been performing internationally for nearly four decades, appearing at Carnegie Hall, the White House, the Newport Music Festival, Lincoln Center, Sala Cecilia Meireles, the Palacio de Cristal, the Palffy Palace, Tivoli Concert Hall, Schloss Eggersberg, the Kennedy Center, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and hundreds of other venues.
She has represented the United States at music festivals in Italy, France, Spain, England, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, and Japan, earning the title, "First Lady of the Mandolin." She has inspired, recorded, and premiered significant new works for mandolin by Ernst Krenek, Guido Santorsola, Evan Ziporyn, Daniel Pinkham, Ann Carr Boyd, Siegfried Behrend, David Jaffe, and many others. She has given more than 1000 concerts and released over two dozen highly acclaimed CDs and LPs.
Although best known as a performer and recording artist, Marilynn is held in high regard as a teacher and scholar. She directs the American Mandolin & Guitar Summer School and runs an annual Mandolin Week at SummerKeys in Lubec, Maine. Marilynn is a Professor of Music at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, where she teaches courses in music and cultural history, specializing in the Americas.