 Laura Norris, mandolin. Laura was born in Manchester, UK. She studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London and subsequently played with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She came to the U.S. in 1962 and set out as a free-lance violinist in Washington, DC, where she played with the National Gallery Orchestra and with several chamber groups. She also taught violin for about ten years for Dale Music Company in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1972 Laura and her husband, Tony, founded Bertha's Dining Room, a now famous eatery in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore. You've probably seen their ubiquitous green bumper sticker: Eat Bertha's Mussels . Around 1998 Tony, who is a classical guitarist, joined the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra. Laura went to one of the BMO's concerts to see him play and she fell in love with the mandolin. So she took up the mandolin--it came quite easily to her thanks to her extensive violin training and experience--and she joined the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra as well. She's been an avid mandolinist ever since. In addition to the trio and BMO, Laura has also been playing in the Baltimore Mandolin Quartet since its inception in 1999. This "quartetto romantico" has recorded a CD entitled "Grandmother's Ghost." Laura's mandolins of choice are her 1957 Calace bowlback and her brand-new 2009 Roman style bowlback made by Canadian luthier Brian Dean.  Jim Blanchard, mandolin. Jim's introduction to instrumental music dates back to his elementary school days when he played trumpet in the school band. That lasted through high school and into college where he played in the ROTC marching band. He bought his first guitar in college and taught himself to play. That got him nicely through the folk music and early Beatles eras. Then in the early 1970s Jim bought his first mandolin. He is primarily self-taught on the mandolin too, although he has taken lessons from bluegrass and classical instructors. In 2002 Jim scratched a 20-year itch and joined the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra, and he has been irreversibly hooked on classical and traditional mandolin music ever since. But he also plays old pop and standard tunes as a member of two other small mandolin ensembles. In addition to playing, Jim also enjoys the challenges of adapting and arranging pieces for the trio. Jim currently alternates between a 1921 Gibson A-4 mandolin and a 2009 Old Wave A model mandolin.  Jeff Doll, classical guitar. Jeff earned a B.S. degree in Education from Kutztown University and a B.S. in Guitar Performance from Towson University, where he studied guitar with Michael Decker. Jeff has been teaching guitar since 1972, and he previously taught music at a private school in Baltimore for more than sixteen years. He has given recitals/workshops at Kutztown University and Wilson College. Jeff was also a member of the Baltimore Mandolin Orchestra for a couple of years, but he had to give it up in order to accommodate an increased teaching schedule. In addition to playing in the trio, Jeff performs as a guitar soloist and in a guitar duo. Jeff is also a prolific composer and arranger for solo guitar, for guitar duo and for the Nonesuch Trio. In June 2000 Jeff released a CD of his own compositions and transcriptions entitled "Original Works and Transcriptions" and he released his second solo guitar CD ("Sassafras, Cherry, Arrowheads & Poke") in April 2008. He currently teaches guitar, mandolin and piano, and he is working on his third CD, which will be a collection of ensemble pieces of his own composition. |
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