Italian Classical Solo Mandolin. Book and CD featuring 10 virtuoso mandolin pieces arranged by Brian Oberlin.

 
Howdy music lovers and welcome to my Kickstarter campaign. For the past six years, as a solo mandolinist and vocalist, I have been performing swing and bluegrass. From the West Coast, to the Midwest, to western Europe, I have played for audiences great and small. Throughout the beautiful landscape of Italy – on the beaches of Savona, castles in Bolzano and Ferrara;  festivals and concert halls in Holland, Germany, Poland and around the U.S.  It is in these travels where I have discovered a new avenue for creativity and music.

My new solo album, which I am currently recording, features classical Italian solo mandolin. In 2011, I fell in love with the music from the great Italian mandolin composers of the mid 1800s (and a few from the 1700s and early 1900s.)  This music represents the roots of modern day mandolin, and I have a deep passion to learn the music and the compositions.

I first started with about 20 pieces of music and narrowed them down to ten. Valzer Fantastico by Enrico Marucelli, Capriccio #5 and #6 by Pietro Denis, Costumi Siciliani by Giovanni Gioviale, Notturno  by Constantino Bertucci, Piccola Gavotta by Rafaele Calace, and Polka Studio by Giuseppi Silvestri.  This album will also feature three arrangements that I wrote: Santa Lucia (Duo-style), Melodie by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and a swinging version of Piccola Gavotta called Piccola Gavotta Brucichiatta.  (Imagine Jethro Burns and Rafaele Calace drinking a half rack of Old Style and jamming.)

This music is a completely different approach to playing the mandolin.  One uses many different right and left-hand techniques that are seldom, if ever, used in American style mandolin playing, which is the attraction for me.

With your kind donations, you can help me publish my new CD that will be accompanied by a book that includes all ten pieces of sheet music. I have taken a scientific approach by notating the music while making step-by-step changes to the arrangement and, likewise, my techniques. This music is rare and hard to find, so I decided to make the book as a companion to the CD.

If you are not familiar with Kickstarter, let me explain. In my campaign, there are eight different donation levels. The first two levels start at $20 or $40 which includes the CD and  CD/book, and shipping outside of the Portland metro area. The next level is $55 which includes the book and CD and my Mandolin Troubadour CD. The donation levels continue to climb, and some include private lessons in Portland or on Skype, a copy of theGiuseppi Silvestri book, and my other CDs. The donation summits at $400, which includes my entire CD library of 12 CDs and two books. All of this information is provided in great detail on the right side of this webpage .

This project, including the recording time, editing, CD duplication, book printing, and graphic design, will cost approximately $4200, but I am setting the pledge amount at $3200 so the campaign will have a better chance of success.

I will have a European album release on May 29th at Eurofestival in Bruchsal, Germany. The U.S. release will be on Wednesday, June 4th at the World Mandolin Concert in downtown Portland, Oregon. You can pick up your CDs and books at these events, at the River of the West Mandolin Camp, or by contacting me directly.

Time is of the essence as this campaign will end on Friday, April 4th.

With your help, I can publish my 4th solo album and book – Capriccio Fantastico – composition in free style, whimsical, and fantastic.

Thanks for your time.

Risks and challenges

Quite frankly, the biggest challenge about this project (other than of course playing the music) is fronting $4000 to get my new product available to the public. For three years, I have worked hard to prepare the music for performance and the sheet music. The album and book will be finished and ready for printing in April. This project is an exceptionally big step for me in my career, and it all starts here!!