Performers wait in the green room before "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. "A lot of times when you do a faculty concert, you're only playing to the students, and that's fun, but this is really fun because it's open to the public and people come," said mandolin performer Don Julin. Jim Richter, Laurelyn Dossett and Laura Boosinger open "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. Dossett served as director of the faculty concert, while Boosinger joined the camp faculty for the first time as an instructor. Mike Compton tunes his mandolin before performing during "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. Compton, a Grammy-winning mandolinist and contributor to the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, returned for his third year as a camp instructor. Campers play their instruments during a jam session at the Jim Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us at the Grant Street Inn on July 9, 2026. During jams, students and instructors take solo breaks, sections where individual musicians play a improvised solo for part of a song. Jim Richter performs with the Banister Bluegrass Band during "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. Richter said the festival showcased the mandolin across multiple musical styles. "I want people to hear that mandolin can be played on a George Harrison tune, it can be played in a jazz context, it can definitely be played in bluegrass, it can be played on singer-songwriter music," Richter said. "The mandolin is such a beautiful and versatile instrument that really just your imagination limits what you can use it on." Laura Boosinger sings with the Knackered Ramblers during "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. Boosinger spent decades performing and teaching Appalachian music and was inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2017. The Columbus Mandolin Orchestra performs during "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. Based in Columbus, Indiana; the orchestra is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization that was founded in 2023 to preserve the musical traditions of plucked string instruments. A camper plays a mandolin during a Jim Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us jam at the Grant Street Inn on July 9, 2026. Richter said the camp’s structure allows students to learn from both instructors and fellow campers. "You can learn as much from the people sitting around you as you can from the instructor, if not more," he said. Eight-year-old Ren Fulcher performs with the Banister Bluegrass Band during "A Night of Mandolin Music: Jim Richter Presents the Midwest Mandolin Festival" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on July 10, 2026. Ren joined the performance after his dad contacted Richter to ask if he could sit in with the band. A camper plays a mandolin during a jam session at the Jim Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us at the Grant Street Inn on July 9, 2026. The camp brought together 33 participants for four days of classes, individual instruction and nightly jams centered on community-based learning.
PHOTOS: Mandolin camp creates space for players of all levels
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