Marilynn & Luiz

Musicians
Marilynn Mair ~ bandolim
Luiz Simas ~ piano

Recordings: Featured on Nadando em Luz and Meu Bandolim

Formed in 2001
Currently available for concerts, workshops, residencies, festivals and other events. Workshop topics include Brazilian music history, Brazilian performance style, technique for bandolim and piano, ensemble coaching, and traditional masterclasses.
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Marilynn Mair and Luiz Simas play the music of Brazil with elegance and brilliance. Although their early careers followed different paths in different countries, they are connected by a musical bond. The duo plays Brazilian Choro, the music of Heitor Villa Lobos,  Jacob do Bandolim, Pixinguinha, Joel Nascimento, and their own compositions written in a number of Brazilian styles.  Their concerts include a mix of Choro, bossa nova, samba, and classical music. Their love and understanding of the music they play, and their clear delight in performing together, makes every performance a very special event.  Marilynn & Luiz have performed together in Rio, Rhode Island, and New York over the course of the past decade.

Marilynn Mair, mandolin & bandolim, lives in the USA, but since 2007 has spent nearly a third of her time in Rio de Janeiro. She has performed throughout Europe, North America, the Far East, and Brazil, earning her the title, “First Lady of the Mandolin.”  She plays with the Rio-based group Água no Feijão, founded and directs the American Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra, and is a Professor of Music at Roger Williams University.

Luiz Simas, composer and pianist, grew up in Rio de Janeiro and now lives in Manhattan. He began his musical career in Brazilian rock as a member of Módulo 1000 and Vimana, two progressive rock band whose recordings still have an international following today.  Luiz moved to the US in the 1980s and and established his solo career in 1992 with the release of his first solo CD, “New Chorinhos from Brazil,” performing his own original music.  Today Luiz performs at concerts and club in NYC and Rio as a soloist and with his quartet.

    • “Smudging the lines between folk and classical is an intrepid endeavor… Mair’s a superb mandolin player who has brought the instrument to unexpected places…” – Jim Macnie, The Providence Phoenix (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair has always had the keen ability to balance classical mandolin traditions and repertoire, while constantly breaking new musical ground…a superb and versatile mandolinist and composer.” – – Butch Baldassari, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    • “Mair travels by mandolin to Brazil and brilliance… her commitment to the music shines through.” – Rick Massimo, The Providence Journal

    • “Stepping back to the 18th-century masterworks gave her the opportunity to highlight her technique with a fresh light… her playing is thoughtful, vibrant and a delight to listen to.” — Terence Pender, Mandolin Quarterly (USA)

    • “She’s a fabulous player with a wonderfully clear and lyrical sound.” – The Ottawa Citizen (Canada)

    • “Mair displays an exceptionally gifted approach to this music, using her formidable mandolin technique with grace and sensitivity…It’s the next best thing to a trip to Rio.” – David McCarty, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair performs Brazilian mandolin music… she plays the mandolin as an instrument for all occasions.” – Vaughn Watson, The Providence Journal (USA)

    • Bring a talented ensemble of gifted musicians together playing some of the great concertos and chamber music pieces of the 1700s, present the extraordinary classical mandolinist Marilynn Mair front and center, and you have a rare combination of the right musicians performing the right music at the right time. – David McCarty, Mandolin Magazine (USA)

    • “Marilynn Mair é uma bandolinista americana de formação erudita” — Paulo Eduardo Neves, Agenda do Samba Choro (Brasil)

    • “Mair is unstoppable…capable of evoking any landscape, past or present, you’d care to conjure.” – Mike Caito, Providence Phoenix (USA)