Musical Instrument Gallery Talk and Demonstration

Local performer Flynn Cohen will talk about the music, playing technique, and design of steel-strung mandolins made in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. He will demonstrate a Gibson style A2 flat-back mandolin instrument from his own collection, as well as a similar instrument belonging to the MFA that dates to 1918. Also featured will be two turn-of-the century bowl-back mandolins from the MFA’s collection, made in Rome and in Boston, both of which are handsomely decorated.