Mandolin/Guitar Workshop with U.S. National Mandolin Champion Radim Zenkl

Saturday , April 24, 2004
01:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location: Elderly Instruments
workshop ($30.00)

Hands-on instruction for two-plus hours with U.S. National Mandolin Champion Radim Zenkl will go far to help sharpen your chops. A successful composer, artist, instructor, and Breedlove designer and endorser, Radim will cover basic and special flatpicking techniques, shortcuts to developing and maintaining speed, tremolo, fingerpicking, crosspicking, and innovative techniques including his modified "duo-style," which sounds like two instruments played simultaneously. The workshop will also focus on step-by-step bluegrass and swing improvisation practice.

Born in the Czech Republic where his father teaches classical music at the University of Ostrava, Radim commenced his musical studies with piano and classical guitar. In addition to classical studies, his early influences were Czech folk music and his homeland's unique "tramp music." He first picked up a mandolin at age 13 and began playing...

Bluegrass music in the Czech Republic? Yes: he discovered this American art-form by listening to records smuggled illegally into the Republic. The sound of a bluegrass mandolin led to his decision to make a career of music and, later, to master an eclectic array of musical styles: progressive original and eastern European traditional music flavored with string jazz, new age, flamenco, rock, and more.

In the '80s, he led several bluegrass bands and performed solo with the State Opera Orchestra of Ostrava, winning the Czechoslovak Mandolin Championship in 1987. He traveled to Poland, Hungary, and Germany with his acoustic duo "Mondo Mando," which was inspired by the music of David [Dawg] Grisman. In the spring of 1989 he recorded "Mandolin Parade," the first mandolin album produced in Czechoslovakia.

Radim escaped and settled in the San Francisco Bay area, performing at major festivals and sharing the stage with Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Tim O'Brien, Peter Rowan, and many other exceptional musicians. Playing original compositions, he won the prestigious U.S. Mandolin Championship in 1992. On several occasions he has substituted for Mike Marshall in the classical Mondern Mandolin Quartet.

Here's one of many inspiring quotations from students pleased with Radim's instruction: "I loved the way you approached teaching picking styles, Radim. I went to Berklee College of Music for 4 years, taught there for 3, and have been around...teachers the better part of my whole life...and NO ONE breaks it down the way you did." - Eric Miller, owner of Hands On Guitars

Radim's workshop is recommended for intermediate- to advanced-
level players. Please bring your instrument. Space is limited, so sign up early to assure a spot; call Elderly to reserve space with a credit card, or sign up at the counter.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Radim Zenkl