How did it all begin?
In 1941, a group of six musicians met in the backroom of a local
barbershop to discuss their dream of forming a mandolin orchestra.
However, their dreams were put aside as our nation prepared to
fight in World War II. At the conclusion of the war in 1945, these
music pioneers formed the Orange and Vicinities Mandolin Society,
under the direction of Elia Ciricillo. In a few years, this group
quickly expanded into a sixty-member orchestra.
At the same time there were four local smaller mandolin ensembles,
located in Jersey City, Bloomfield, Montclair, and Irvington, and
together with the Orange group were actively assisting each other
concretizing. The goal of popularizing mandolin playing in the New
Jersey area had a strong start in part due to the generosity of the
Bloomfield Recreation Commission, which offered free rehearsal
space in the Bloomfield Civic Center to the New Jersey mandolin
groups.
Due to the increasing loss of older members during the 1950s and
early 1960s the existence of these small mandolin groups was
threatened. The members of the groups decided to merge as the
Bloomfield Mandolin Orchestra. The Bloomfield Recreation
Commission also financed a new non-profit performing arts
organization, the Bloomfield Federation of Music, was founded
on the principle of providing great musical opportunities for the
community. The Federation is the only organization in the United
States, which offers membership in a civic chorus, symphony
orchestra, youth band, civic band, and a mandolin orchestra.
Since 1998, the orchestra has experienced a resurgence of growth
and today; the orchestra is comprised of forty-four volunteer
musicians from northern and central New Jersey and New York.
The age range of the musicians is from 20 to 89. Two of the players,
guitarist Ralph Galle of Belleville, and mandola player Peter Longo
of West Orange, have been members of the orchestra since it’s
founding in 1941. The current members of the orchestra represent a
vast cross section of backgrounds and careers.
The Bloomfield Mandolin Orchestra has been under the direction of
Gabriel L. Nevola for the past twenty-nine years and has amassed an
extensive repertoire, which includes Old Italian favorites, traditional
and popular American songs, Broadway selections, and operatic and
classical music. The orchestra has also received a dedicated work by
composer Mario Grasso. Conductor Gabriel L. Nevola, a veteran
performer, composer, conductor, and music teacher specifically
arranged many of the musical selections, which the orchestra
performs.
In previous concerts the Mandolin Orchestra has featured special
guest artists such as, Tamara Volskaya, “The Paganini of the
Domra” and Anatoly Trofimov, bayan, Barry Mitterhoff, mandolin,
and Duo Capriccioso (Getrud Troster, mandolin, and Michael
Troster, guitar).
The orchestra, with its unique sound, regularly participates in the
annual Bloomfield Harvest Fest, held the third weekend of
September, and the annual Spring Concert, held the first Sunday in
May at the historic Presbyterian Church On-the-Green. The
orchestra also performs several times a year at social events
throughout the New York metropolitan area and at local nursing
homes and senior residences.
Recent concert highlights for the Mandolin Orchestra include:
60th
Anniversary concert,
"Stars of the Orchestra", May 2002
Bloomfield Civic Chorus concert, “A Celebration of Italian Music”,
guest of the Civic Chorus, November 2001.
Bergen County Academies concert, guest of the music dept., October,
2001
Summit Cultural Heritage Festival, Summit, NJ, October, 2001
Spring concert, special guests T. Volskaya & A. Trofimov, May,
2001
Westchester Community College, May 2000
Oakeside Cultural Center, special guest Duo Capriccioso, October,
1999
29th Annual Festa Italiana, PNC Bank Arts Center, June 1999
Charles Ives: “The Commuter” music celebration, guest of the Presbyterian
Church On-the-Green,
Feburary, 1999
Slice of Heaven Italian Festival, Jersey City, NJ, Oct. 1998
New Jersey Italian Experience, Seton Hall University, September,
1998
The Bloomfield Mandolin Orchestra is dedicated to preserving the
tradition of mandolin playing and welcomes players of all levels to
join. Our rehearsals, which are open to the public, take place every
Tuesday evening from 7:30 to 9:30 PM, starting from the first week
of September and ending the second week of May. We meet in the
basement of the Bloomfield Civic Center, located on 84 Broad
Street in Bloomfield, NJ.
In 1996 a free introductory mandolin course was offered to the
community through the generosity of a special grant in memory of
former concertmaster Moe Sharenow. The Adult School of Montclair
extended this special gift to the community and in the spring of 1999,
both an introductory and intermediate group mandolin course were
offered. Due to the success of the initial courses, the program
continued at the Adult School from the fall 1999 through the fall
2001 semesters, but is currently on break for the 2002 semesters.
In October 2001 the Bloomfield Mandolin Orchestra sponsored a
mandolin and guitar workshop at the Bloomfield Civic Center with
instructors Getrud Troster, mandolin, and Michael Troster, guitar.
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