In 2004 David Grisman and Mike Marshall came together to bring the first Mandolin Symposium to life. It was their vision to create a true symposium, a place where some of today’s best mandolin players would come together to share ideas, meet, teach and discuss the mandolin with students from all over the world. The first symposium exceeded everyone’s hopes and dreams — an enthusiastic revival of the instrument was felt by all who attended.

It was the hope in creating the Mandolin Symposium, that it would fill the void between what was basically a folk music approach to learning and a more systematic approach to studying and learning about the wide range of mandolin styles that exist. For twelve years, the Mandolin Symposium facilitated students’ quest for knowledge about the mandolin and mandolin music.

The Mandolin Symposium was a beautiful week of mandolin heaven that occurred at the end of June in Santa Cruz, CA overlooking the Pacific Ocean. And in 2015 The Mandolin Symposium came to a close. The Mandolin Symposium was a very unique type of experience that was All about Mandolins All of the Time, and it was All about sharing the knowledge, skills and love of the Instrument.

Under the direction of David Grisman and Mike Marshall,

Our Instructors and Guests have included:


Christopher Acquavella
Carlo Aonzo
Jesse Appelman
Dave Badgade
Wayne Benson
Danilo Brito
Ashley Broder
Sam Bush
Choro Das Tres
Jesse Cobb
Mike Compton
Andy Connell
Tim Connell
Almir Côrtes
Rich DelGrosso
Jack Dwyer
Isaac Eischer
Drew Emmitt
Marla Fibish
Paul Glasse
Sharon Gilchrist
Steve Gilchrist
Sam Grisman
Tracy Grisman
Hamilton de Holanda
Paul Hostedder
Sierra Hull
John Paul Jones
Don Julin
Mike Kemnitzer
Andy Leftwich
Emory Lester
Caterina Lichtenberg
Silke Lisko and Rupert Gehrmann
David Long
Dudu Maia
Evan Marshall
Ronnie McCoury
John Monteleone
Mike Mullins
Tim O'Brien
Carlos Oliveira
Peter Ostroushko
Steve Pallazo
Jordan Ramsey
John Reischman
Brian Rice
Tom Rozum
Greg Ruby
Matt Sircely
Herschel Sizemore
Frank Solivan
Andy Statman
Jody Stecher
Adam Steffey
Eric Stein
Don Stiernberg
Chris Thile
Eric Thompson
Suzy Thompson
Steve Uccello
Colin Walker
Roland White
Tony Williamson
Radim Zenkl

With

Lynn Dudenbostel's
Repair Shop