MIKE MARSHALL - Special Guest Lecturer
Mike Marshall has been at the forefront of New Acoustic music for over 40 years having been the founding member of many groups including the Montreux Band, Psychograss, Choro Famoso and The Anger Marshall Band. He is indeed a living compendium of musical styles and has the ability to seamlessly blend his American roots background with a deep understanding of European classical music, Brazilian choro and other world music. Mike is a fluid Jazz improviser and a master on mandolin, guitar, mandocello and violin.

In 2014 Mike was nominated for his third Grammy Award for his recording with the Turtle Island Quartet. Currently, Mike is touring with German mandolin virtuoso Caterina Lichtenberg. Mike’s past duet projects have included tours and Cds with mandolinists Chris Thile, violinist Darol Anger, bassist Edgar Meyer, Brazilian Mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda and pianists Jovino Santos Neto and Andy Narell. His recordings can be found on the Windham Hill, Sony Classical, Rounder, Sugar Hill, and Compass labels as well as his own Adventure Music label.

Between 2003 and 2015 Mike directed the Mandolin Symposium at the University of California in Santa Cruz with partner David Grisman and in 2017 he will be launching the Global Mandolin Retreats project, which will be a mandolin educational experience located in various inspiring locations around the world.

MATT FLINNER
Multi-instrumentalist Matt Flinner has made a career out of playing acoustic music in new ways. Starting out as a banjo prodigy who was playing bluegrass festivals before he entered his teens, Flinner later took up the mandolin, won the National Banjo Contest at Winfield Kansas in 1990, and took the mandolin award there the following year. Since then, he has become recognized as one of the premiere mandolinists as well as one of the finest new acoustic/roots music composers today.

He has toured and recorded with a wide variety of bluegrass, new acoustic, classical and jazz artists, including Tim O’Brien, Frank Vignola, Steve Martin, Darrell Scott, the Modern Mandolin Quartet, Dave Douglas, Leftover Salmon, Alison Brown, The Ying Quartet, Tony Trischka, Darol Anger, and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra. He has also recorded two Compass Records CDs and toured as part of Phillips, Grier and Flinner with bassist Todd Phillips and guitarist David Grier. His two solo CDs (also on Compass), “The View from Here” and “Latitude,” are now widely considered classics in the new acoustic/modern bluegrass style.

His current group, the Matt Flinner Trio (with guitarist Ross Martin and bassist Eric Thorin), has forged new pathways in acoustic string band music with their two ground-breaking CDs, “Music du Jour” and “Winter Harvest” (coming soon!). For more information about the Matt Flinner Trio and their “Music du Jour” tours, visit the Trio page. And for more information about the Modern Mandolin Quartet, visit their website.

JAKE JOLLIFF
Jacob Jolliff was born into a musical family in Newberg, OR. His dad started him on the mandolin at age seven and required him to practice ten minutes a day. But after six months of practicing this minimal amount, something clicked, and almost overnight he started putting in several hours of intense practice daily. And this hasn't really changed in the last 20 years.

Jacob was awarded a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a sophomore, he joined the New England based roots music band, Joy Kills Sorrow. Over the next few years the group toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, playing hundreds of clubs, theaters, and festivals. Shortly after graduating from Berklee he won the National Mandolin Championship in Winfield, Kansas.

In 2014, after three records, hundreds of shows, and thousands of miles in a 15 passenger van, Joy Kills Sorrow went on an indefinite hiatus. Fortuitously, as this chapter of Jacob's musical journey ended, another important one began. Within a couple weeks of the band's last show, the young mandolinist got a call from the progressive bluegrass jam group, Yonder Mountain String Band. They had parted ways with their original mandolin player and were looking to try out someone new. Jacob went on his first tour with YMSB in June of that year. He immediately connected musically and personally with the band, and they asked him to play the rest of 2014 with them. In May 2015, they announced him as an official member. They released one album, Black Sheep, featuring Jacob 

DAVID BENEDICT

David Benedict is becoming one of the premier figures in the mandolin world. After graduating with a mandolin music performance degree and spending a 3-year stint in Nashville touring and recording with acclaimed bass player Missy Raines, David was looking for the next chapter in his musical career. In 2017, he made the move to Boston to join the bluegrass band Mile Twelve. The group quickly gained notice receiving the 2017 IBMA Band Momentum Award and touring extensively around the US, Canada, England, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. David also claimed the 2018 IBMA Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year. Additionally, the following year, Mile Twelve was nominated for IBMA Album of Year with their 2019 sophomore release City on a Hill produced by Bryan Sutton.

The Golden Angle is David’s most recent solo album. Produced by Grammy-Nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner, it presents an original body of instrumental string band music. With an emphasis on virtuosic instrumental interplay and memorable melodies, the record weaves a complex yet compelling soundscape.

David’s compositions, arrangements, and playing style on The Golden Angle demonstrate his ability to integrate seamlessly with the high-caliber company he keeps and confirms his place among notable emerging acoustic musicians. Jazz guitar sensation Julian Lage notes, “David is one of the most inspiring lights on the creative acoustic music scene today. A talented player and composer who is paving the way for new and exciting music! I can’t wait to see where he takes us!”

CASEY CAMPBELL

In a remarkably short time, Nashville native Casey Campbell has become one of the most influential young voices in bluegrass mandolin and a respected teacher of traditional and modern mandolin styles. 

His performing and recording resume includes gigs with bluegrass legends Ricky Skaggs, Bryan Sutton, Del McCoury, Roland White, David Grier, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Chris Stapleton, John Oates, Mac Wiseman, Vince Gill, Dierks Bentley, Roland White, Jim Lauderdale, Noam Pikelny, Becky Buller, and many more. He has performed for audiences at major venues and events including the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame, The Station Inn, A Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio, Bonnaroo, Walnut Valley Festival, GreyFox, DelFest, ROMP Festival, RockyGrass, Merlefest, Strawberry Music Festival, the IBMA World of Bluegrass, and more. 

Winner of the prestigious Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) in 2017, Campbell currently records and performs with various artists in and around Nashville, TN. 

His innovative project, Mandolin Duets: Volume One, features the talented young musician playing duos with bluegrass mandolin masters David Grisman, Bobby Osborne, Sam Bush, Ronnie McCoury, Roland White, Mike Compton, Jesse McReynolds, Andy Statman, Buck White, Ricky Skaggs, and Tim O’Brien. 

DOMINICK LESLIE

Colorado native Dominick Leslie has been around live music all his life,

having attended his first bluegrass festival when he was just five months old. His innovative mandolin playing and musical curiosity are clearly informed by these deep roots. Dominick has studied with mandolin masters David Grisman, Mike Marshall and Chris Thile, won numerous mandolin championships, and performed abroad with several different musical configurations. He has toured with The Deadly Gentlemen, Missy Raines, The Bee Eaters, The Grant Gordy Quartet, Noam Pikelny and Friends, The Infamous Stringdusters, Tony Trischka, The Brotet featuring Sam Grisman, Alex Hargreaves and Nathaniel Smith and is currently playing with Hawktail, Sam Reider and the Human Hands and Phoebe Hunt and the Gatherers.

MADDIE WITLER

Maddie Witler hails originally from LaCrescenta, CA, and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Maddie picked up the mandolin when she was 14 and fell in love with the instrument and bluegrass music. She spent the next few years studying with mandolinist Evan Marshall, with whom she worked her way through a lot of Bach, Jazz, and other musical styles, as well as bluegrass. Maddie attended the Berklee College of Music from 2010-2014. While in school she studied with some of her musical heroes including John McGann, Joe Walsh, Julian Lage, Mike Compton, Andy Statman, and many others. Maddie has been a member of the Lonely Heartstring Band since it began in 2012. Over the years she has also performed with folks like Peter Rowan, Darol Anger, Michael Daves, Tony Trischka, Molly Tuttle, and she is currently touring full time with Della Mae.