The Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra has been around longer than the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Florentine Opera and every other musical ensemble in the city. As the orchestra’s archivist Paul Ruppa adds, “We’re older than Harley-Davidson. And the Milwaukee Rescue Mission is the only non-profit in town older than us.” With that comparison in mind, Music Director Rene Izquierdo jumps in: “We’re rescuing souls—musically.”
The lifespan of the Mandolin Orchestra is almost miraculous, considering how many performing arts groups without substantial endowments and millionaire boards of directors have come and gone since 1900. “It’s because of the leadership we’ve had over the years,” explains the orchestra’s manager, Ruth Williams.
Leadership changed last year when Izquierdo replaced Linda Binder, whose fresh ideas included adding a touch of Brazil to the song list. An accomplished classical guitarist, not a mandolinist, Izquierdo conducts the orchestra with a baton and has broadened their scope to include works by Edvard Grieg and other classical composers. Occupying the first chair, Assistant Music Director Katy Vandenberg plays a role comparable to concertmaster in a symphony orchestra. A violinist by training, she joined the orchestra three years ago.
“It was an easy transition,” she says. “Violins and mandolins are tuned the same; the fingering is the same. I started playing under the tutelage of Paul [Ruppa] and then started playing in the orchestra. It’s taken over my life!”
After 30 years, Ruppa is the longest-serving member of the orchestra and its keeper of memory. While embracing change, he is determined to keep the orchestra grounded in the mandolin music of a century ago—a diverse body of arrangements for tango, fox trot, ragtime and pop music of the day. He is working to scan the orchestra’s enormous sheet music collection and donate the hard copies to UW-Milwaukee. Many of those tunes were written in Milwaukee; the Cream City was a center for song publishing and instrument making at the turn of the last century. “On Wisconsin” sounds just as good from a chorus of mandolins as by a brass band.
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“We have an ambitious business plan,” Izquierdo says. “I want to grow our numbers and take us on tour—if we can get 25 people to get off work for a week. That’s our biggest challenge right now!”
The Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra’s upcoming concert features guest performances by one of the most acclaimed contemporary mandolinists, Carlo Aonzo, along with solo spots for Linda and Jeff Binder, Mischa Litvin and Izquierdo. The concert begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2 at the UWM Recital Hall, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. For tickets visit mandolin.bpt.me.
