The New York Mandolin Orchestra turns 100 next month, marking a century of bringing people together around a shared love of making music and fostering community.
“I think this is a special moment for us as an organization,” said Carol Bloom, 80, a former teacher and guidance counselor from the Upper West Side who plays second mandolin in the orchestra. .
This intrepid group of professional and amateur musicians meet once a week to rehearse and hone their skills while practicing songs like “Ukrainian Melody,” “Bulgar,” and “Flatbush Waltz.”
Founded in 1924, it was originally called the New York Freiheit Mandolin Orchestra after its affiliation with a Jewish community newspaper. fly heightthe founding members of the New York Mandolin Orchestra were Eastern European immigrants who carefully carried their instruments with them on their journeys to the New World.
Judith Farratt, 67, a full-time attorney in Morris Plains, New Jersey, and the group’s concertmaster, said, “This orchestra is really influenced by Eastern European immigrants, and it also has a big Jewish influence.” I received it,” he said.
“If you look back 100 years, these people are working in factories,” said Farrat, who joined the orchestra in 1997. “They would get off work, let off steam, collect music from their hometown, play it, dance, and get together. That’s what they would do at night.”
Today, the orchestra’s members come from a wide range of backgrounds, with members from all five New York boroughs, Nassau, Orange, Dutchess, and Rockland counties, as well as throughout New Jersey.
Its members include composers, lawyers, and doctors, as well as school teachers and painters, and nearly all of them are at or near retirement age.
In the 1920s, the Big Apple had a number of mandolin orchestras, many of which were affiliated with labor unions, such as the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union Orchestra, the International Labor Order Mandolin Orchestra, and the Jewish People’s Fraternal Order Orchestra.
By the 1980s, as the membership was aging, musicians from disbanded groups began to join the ranks of the New York Mandolin Orchestra.
Around the same time, the group expanded its activities to include genres such as bluegrass, jazz, show tunes, folk, and world music.
Over the decades, while most of its peers have declined, the New York Mandolin Orchestra has remained strong and is now the oldest continuously performing mandolin orchestra in the country. It has become one.
“Like any living thing, it’s going through change. It’s certainly not the same as it was 100 years ago. It’s evolved over many years,” said Bloom, who joined the group nearly a decade ago. Ta.
“But somehow it’s still an orchestra, the New York Mandolin Orchestra.”
In its 100 years of existence, the orchestra has only canceled performances once. As a result of the pandemic. Live rehearsals have been canceled until fall 2021.
At any other time, you can set your clock for Tuesday night’s group rehearsal.
That comfort of consistency is part of the reason Harvey Weitzner, 70, of Mahwah, N.J., has returned every week since 1986, making him the group’s longest-tenured member. .
“We rehearse on Tuesday nights, and then we forget all the frustration and stress,” the former music store’s second-generation owner told the Post.
“It’s a very supportive group of people. Great people. Many of the members of the orchestra are older than my parents’ generation. Some of our former members are over 100 years old.”
Orchestra member Michael Resnick, 88, a Brooklyn-born retired orthopedic surgeon who now lives in Suffern, New York, joined the group in 2012 after a chance encounter with Weitzner at a music store.
Though he admits to being completely self-taught, the mandolin is in his blood, and his father taught him to play it on the streets of Brooklyn.
Resnick has three children, six grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. His son Andrew, 59, recently joined the orchestra.
“It’s such a thrill to play with him,” Resnick said with a big smile.
“I feel like I owe a huge debt to the orchestra because I had no musical education. I learned that being able to play with other people is one of the best things in life,” he says, leaning on a cane. said.
“I think it’s amazing that an organization has lasted 100 years. I think the people there were very dedicated.”
The orchestra’s conductor is Dr. Yuanlin Chen, 67, a famous composer from Kew Gardens whose works have been performed at major concerts around the world.
He described the group as “amazing” and praised the evolution of their style over their 100-year history.
“It’s fun. I really enjoy working with musicians.”
The New York Mandolin Orchestra will hold a 100th Anniversary Concert on Sunday, April 28th at 2pm at Holy Trinity Church, 316 East 88th Street.
Doors open at 1:30 p.m., and the orchestra will perform from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., with one intermission. Admission is free.
