Album Notes

The Providence Mandolin Orchestra was founded by the late Hibbard Perry in 1971, fulfilling a lifelong dream to revive his own Providence Plectral Orchestra from the 1930s. This group carries on an American musical tradition which goes back to the 1880s when a group of Spanish bandurria players toured the United States and began a craze for mandolin and guitar music that rivaled the popularity of rock and roll today.

Over the past thirty-odd years, the Providence Mandolin Orchestra has become one of the leading American mandolin ensembles, with appearances throughout the Eastern United States and Canada. In 1989, the PMO became the first American mandolin orchestra to perform at the Festival Internacional de Musica Plectro in Logrono, Spain. In 1999, the PMO performed at festivals and concerts in Germany, Luxembourg and France.