- How is a mandolin better than maybe other instruments, when it comes to an orchestra setting?

- It's an instrument that has a strength as a soloist.

And then when you have different parts, like, you know, like mandolin one, mandolin two, mandola, mandocello, now you have full voice part that can create harmony and therefore enhances the sound and the possibilities of what each instrument can do.

(bright music) - It's a sound that transports you to a different time.

(bright music) What do you think is truly unique about the mandolin?

- It has a very sweet voice.

It can have a very strident voice too at times, depending on how you play it and where you play it.

So there's so much musical vocabulary that you can get out of it.

- [Sandy] Since 1900, this group of primarily amateur musicians has been a constant presence in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra, celebrating their 125th anniversary, preserves a specific era of music using the entire mandolin family.

The bright mandolin, the mellow mandola, the deep mandocello, and the thumping upright base.

They are the oldest continually operating mandolin orchestra in the country.

- We are definitely the oldest in the US and possibly in the world.

- Just turned 125 now in December.

And the challenge is like, where do we go from here?

- On this episode of The Arts Page, we meet the leaders and members of the historic Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra.

(bright music) (soft bright music) Founded at the very beginning of the 20th century, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra formed from the mandolin craze that was sweeping America at that time.

While other mandolin orchestras faded away over the years, the MMO endured.

Fred Pike is a longtime guitarist.

He joined the MMO because he was fascinated by the sound of the mandolin.

Fred, how did you get involved with the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra?

- I've known about the orchestra forever.

I went to their 95th concert in 1995.

It's like, "Oh my God, this orchestra has been around this long."

And that's when I really first became aware of them.

And then in like 2011 or so, or 2012, a friend of mine who was a member of the mandolin orchestra said, "You wanna just come?"

And I said, "I don't have the chops for that.

I can't do that."

"Just come, just come."

So I did and I've never looked back.

- [Rene] One, two.

(bright music) - He is now the president and general manager of the MMO.

So you got your chops, you fit right in.

How do you become president?

- (laughs) You know, it's a question I still wonder, what, was I out of the room or what happened?

But no, I was in the group for about three years, I'd say, and I wanted to get more involved on the board, and just, the person who was the president had been the president for eight years or so, and she was stepping down, so I just kind of stepped in.

- What an honor to be president of the longest running active mandolin orchestra in the country, congratulations.

- Well, thank you.

Thank you, Sandy.

Yeah, no, it's really cool.

Yeah, the fact that, not the fact that I'm president, but the fact that I'm involved with this orchestra, which has been around, you know, 125 years almost.

So that is really cool.

- [Sandy] He credits the longevity of the orchestra to the persistence of its members and a shared love of the craft.

- Yeah, people who kept it going through their own dedication.

And then Rene Izquierdo.

- That part needs to be very tight.

- [Fred] He joined us at the end of 2013, he's been our music director since 2014, and he has brought our level up to a level we never would've thought we'd be able to make.

- [Sandy] On this night, we visited the MMO as they rehearsed for their holiday concert.

- [Rene] I'm originally from Cuba, born and raised.

I came to the United States when I was 20 years old to study, you know, did my master's at Yale University, and then artist diploma in Paris.

- Tell us why, with such worldly experience, why are you here in Milwaukee?

Why'd you choose this city?

- The opportunity.

- [Sandy] Rene is a distinguished professor at UWM.

He serves as the head of the guitar area at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts.

- Just the fact that I could create a guitar program almost from scratch.

There was no classical guitar program at UWM.

And we created a department that, right now, is one of the best in the world and certainly in the United States.

- [Sandy] Ironically, Rene doesn't play the mandolin.

- I don't play mandolin at all.

- Oh, you're simply the music director?

- I don't know.

Well, I mean, I know there are principles.

- Shouldn't say simply, but, you know, but so you are not.

- I am simply the director.

(Sandy and Rene laugh) - Never played along?

- A couple times when I want to do an example, there are similarities from the guitar that I can do.

- So what does it mean to someone who's hearing music conductor, music director?

What is that role in the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra?

- It's maintaining a balance between the vision of, the artistic statement that I want to bring to the orchestra.

When you have an orchestra that is 125 years old, there are some things that are some strong landmarks of the orchestra, repertoire that they play, things that they usually do.

And I wanted to put a new spin to some of that, as well as bringing new repertoire, orchestra repertoire, music that was not originally designated for the mandolin orchestra.

- [Sandy] The MMO's reputation has taken them far beyond Milwaukee.

They've traveled the globe playing to audiences in Europe and Asia.

- [Rene] We took the orchestra to Japan to play a few concerts there.

- Mandolin orchestras are huge in Japan too.

They're all over the place.

There's a mandolin craze there, essentially.

- We went to Italy, to the Venice Mandolin Orchestra.

We just were in Salzburg in Austria.

- Why is it important to you for the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra to get out internationally?

- I think we were, for a long time, only in Milwaukee, and I want other people to know what the orchestra, how it has grown, and what the orchestra actually can do.

- [Sandy] Whether it's in a grand theater in Europe, or a church here at home.

The MMO always brings the same level of precision and joy to their performances.

And in a world of electronic sounds and internet trends, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra, as they celebrate their 125th anniversary, reminds us that some traditions are worth saving.

(bright music) (audience applauds) (audience continues applauding) Thanks for watching The Arts Page.

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