School program (French and Spanish material) co-sponsored, with a grant, by the French and Spanish language departments

We had the pleasure of hosting a Mappamundi concert at our middle school in Jamestown, North Carolina. Students were engaged and excited to hear songs in near perfect French and Spanish! Band members took time in between songs to explain their history and how it tied into the culture. Not only did the concert advance student learning, it also promoted language learning. Students were impressed to see this entertaining and practical use of both languages!

Jake Henry
henryj2@guilford.k12.nc.us

Mappamundi presents Colonial/Early America concerts and workshops.

"Mappamundi recently gave an outdoor concert in our historical park. They provided the community with the best musical performance we have had in five years. The musicianship of each member was incredible ... The Historical Park averages 150-175 people during outdoor performances. Mappamundi attracted over 240 people! for an entertaining, enjoyable, and informative performance."

Kenneth Hartsoe, Curator of Education
High Point Museum and Historical Park

Mappamundi, as its alter ego "Gute Tsaytn," performed for the first-ever Jewish Music Festival this year at congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, the oldest synagogue in Charleston South Carolina. The event, for which we did two workshops and a concert, was produced by produced by the Creative Spark Center for the Arts

Thank you very much for Mappamundi's wonderful performance at KKBE's Jewish Music Festival. We have received countless compliments about the talented musicianship and warm interchange with the audience. It made our first festival so well received. Everyone enjoyed the workshops also. "Singing for Jewish Non-singers" was so much fun. Everyone got into the spirit of the workshop because of your friendly, encouraging approach and the music you chose. Most of all, I was touched by how much my mother-in-law enjoyed the day. It showed me that the music had appeal to a wide age group and that is what made the day so successful. We hope to work with you and Mappamundi again in the future.

Carol Antman
Creativesparkcen@aol.com

WCU has hired us three years in a row to perform in the outdoor summer concert series. In previous years we offered a mixed program; this year the program was entirely of Jewish music (Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino)

Mappamundi crisscrosses the map to pull from diverse traditions and shape into something their own. Their ability to surprise and their relaxed virtuosity made enthusiastic fans of an audience that were left wanting more.

Beth Johnson (johnsonb@email.wcu.edu)
Western Carolina University

This wedding couple specified medieval music for the ceremony and Russian and Polish music for the reception.

Mappamundi helped make our wedding a wonderful experience for everyone. In fact, I can't imagine a better band for any special occasion. Their energy, warmth and enthusiasm are infectious, and they are consummate professionals. We are so glad that we chose Mappamundi for our wedding instead of some run-of-the-mill cover band or DJ! And our guests were glad, too -- we're still receiving compliments about the band from friends and family.

Jim Magaw
(jmagaw@email.unc.edu)

Swing music for an older audience Mappamundi did a back-yard concert -- mainly Forties tunes -- to cheer up Dad after heart surgery. The audience laughed and cried, and even danced. They're still talking about it.

Ken Klein (kklein@oaaa.org)
Washington, DC

Our concert of Slavic music was the culmination of a year-long series focusing on those cultures at UNC-Greensboro

YOU ROCK!
What a great concert! I've already had emails from students saying that it was wonderful--I loved it and I am so pleased that we were able to host you. Thank you for your generosity---next time, I promise a packed house in the Organ Recital Hall. Please pass my thanks on to the rest of Mappamundi--extraordinary!

Kathleen Ahern (k_ahern@uncg.edu)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

We have appeared several times at Durham's "Festival for the Eno" Mappamundi (Italian for "map of the world") brought to the Eno "pub music, soul music, dance-at-your-Greek-friend's-wedding music"

(Kathleen Dayton, The Sun News)

Another cross-cultural wedding: Jewish and Greek. We learned almost an entire cd full of special requests for this bride! Mappamundi performed the ceremony and cocktail music at our wedding at Windy Oaks Inn at Chapel Hill. Being Greek (bride) and Jewish (groom), we wanted to capture the rich traditions of each culture through music. Mappamundi played both genres with soul, eloquence, and scholarly enthusiasm. We were also very impressed by their their willingness to learn new traditional Greek and Jewish music to make our experience even more meaningful for us and our families. Thanks again for putting so much work into our wedding!

Eve Canoutas (ecanoutas@yahoo.com)

We were hired to provide three hours of music to accompany the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the museum (previously we had done three hours of period Italian music for their Caravaggio exhibit)

Jane! You are the greatest. I was just looking at your set list again, and it's just amazing to me that you put all of that together. Your performance was worthy of a more formal concert setting, and I would like to think we could find a way to make that happen. Thank you so much! It was a real treat. All best, and thanks again for a wonderful program.

George Holt (GHolt@ncmamail.dcr.state.nc.us)
North Carolina Museum of Art

We are frequently hired to play world music at the various street festivals across North Carolina.

Thanks for your fantastic performances under almost the worst conditions. I should have left the stage on the shady side of the street...lesson learned. Do you have a CD out? Again thanks beyond words.

Greg Hathaway (artscncl@infi.net)
Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County