ORPHEUS MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA

In 2003, several friends in the Bloomington, Illinois, area decided to form a mandolin appreciation society and orchestra based on the traditional mandolin ensembles found all over the United States in the early 20th-century. All of the typical instruments are represented in the group. We have performed in public and private venues on a frequent basis since inception, including the Champaign-Urbana Folk and Roots Festival, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and other local and state fairs and festivals. The McLean County Mandolin Society consists of anyone interested in mandolins and mandolin-family instruments, or anyone who has ever seen us play. The performing group is known as the Orpheus Mandolin Orchestra, reviving the name of a mandolin ensemble playing in Bloomington in the 1890s through the early teens.