We opened our 10th concert season with the Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra headlining a Mother’s Day Concert on Saturday, May 12, 2012, at St. John’s Lutheran Church of Highland, in McCandless, PA, with Charley Rappaport conducting. The program featured folk, classical, and world music, compositions by modern composers written specifically for the mandolin family of instruments, as well as spirited Eastern European Klezmer dance tunes. “Bolero”, by Raffaele Calace, a mandolin solo with orchestra accompaniment, was premiered, with 17 year old Gordon Neidinger as soloist. Gordon also composed the cadenza which was also performed for the first time.

The concert featured the Jerry Grcevich Tamburitza Orchestra. Mr. Grcevich is one of the foremost tamburitza musicians in the world, performing with tamburitza groups throughout the United States and Europe. In 2005, he was the first Western Pennsylvania artist to receive the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the nation's highest award for traditional arts. The tamburitza is a traditional stringed instrument originating in the country that used to be named Yugoslavia and was popularized in the United States by the Duquesne University Tamburitzans.

This concert also featured Riversong String Ensemble, a small ensemble that consists of our orchestra members.