The O’Connor Band is the product of Mark O’Connor’s imagination – one that has served him well over the course of his four-decade professional career. A former child prodigy and national champion on the fiddle, guitar, and mandolin, Mark has won numerous GRAMMYs and CMA Awards, appeared on hundreds of commercial country albums, collaborated with the likes of Johnny Cash, Wynton Marsalis, Dolly Parton, and Yo-Yo Ma, and performed everything from original violin concertos to swing and jazz. But until recently, he had not worked on a project quite like this.
At Music City Roots in Franklin, TN.
“It’s been one of the most surprising and rewarding experiences to perform with my family members on stage,” says Mark. “It’s really exciting to bend these American genres in new ways, combining accessibility with a real depth of musicianship and writing.”
In addition to Mark, the band features his son Forrest, (Harvard graduate and former Tennessee State Mandolin Champion), daughter-in-law Kate (frequent performer on the CMA Awards and CMA Country Christmas shows), and wife Maggie (graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University). The four of them play together as though they have been sharing the stage for many years – and in some ways, they have.
“We all grew up listening to my dad’s music,” says Forrest, “so in a sense, we’ve been preparing for this band for a majority of our lives.”
The band is rounded out by Joe Smart (national flatpick champion on guitar) and Geoff Saunders (bassist/banjoist extraordinaire and recent graduate of the University of Miami’s DMA program).
All six band members possess charisma that, when combined onstage,
audiences from start to finish. All are masters of their instruments, all improvise as readily as they play parts in counterpoint, all can sing, and all move about the stage in a free but gripping choreography. Kate’s beautiful and powerful voice belies her age. Forrest’s songwriting is at once poetic and accessible. Maggie’s violin playing blends effortlessly with her husband’s, so much so that, at times, the two sound like one player. Joe rips solos on the acoustic guitar as though he were playing electric. Geoff arcos high as commandingly as he grooves low. And Mark, of c
ourse, does things on the fiddle that has Paganini turning in his grave.
If the band’s first year was a flash flood, their second will be a calculated, steady rise. They are touring throughout summer and fall 2017 in support of O’Connor Band Live!, performing an array of original songs, classics, and barnburners that require versatility and a depth of musical knowledge that most bands on the scene today – on any scene, for that matter – simply don’t have.
Pintgrass is for our youngest musicians. Your 4-6 year olds will learn easy tunes, begin developing a sense of rhythm, and have the opportunity to learn more Bluegrass and folk music in an encouraging environment. Your young students will love working with Ayrian Moore and her staff of caring instructors.
The Wintergrass Youth Academy has long been the lynchpin the the Wintergrass youth education program. Beth Fortune and the irrepressible Joe Craven lead a stellar team of both adult and junior teachers who work to instill the seeds of a lifelong love of music in their young charges. Even if your child doesn’t yet play an instrument, the Youth Academy is a fantastically fun, affirming entry point into a musical life.
Designed to bridge the gap between classical and oral tradition music, The Youth Orchestra provides an opportunity for middle and high school students to learn improvisation, ear training, and the study of traditional songs and styles; it offers exposure to both classical and traditional bluegrass instruments and the transfer of skills from classical orchestra to folk ensembles, and vice versa. This year students will be working with Aoife O’Donovan & Sarah Jarosz; Matuto; Darol Anger’s Mr. Sun, and Mark O’Connor.
Youth Academy Teacher Training is designed for young skilled musicians ages 14 to 21 to encourage growth in the areas of showmanship and band ensemble and prepare students for teaching possibilities.
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