Mandolinata Orchestra Inc.

Soon after arriving in New Zealand from Holland with her family, Doris Flameling (1932–2004) began teaching guitar and mandolins in West Auckland. In 1969, she formed a small ensemble for her students, which eventually grew into a full-sized mandolin orchestra comprising mainly plucked-string instruments. Doris served as the musical director and conductor of the orchestra until 1976. Read the full story.

Isable Meekins (formerly Isabel Briggs), another long standing member of the orchestra, took over the role of musical director & conductor of the orchestra for the next 23 years. Read the transcript of Bryan's speech on her retirement and eulogy on her passing in Jan 2020.

In 1995, the orchestra was incorporated as a society under the name of The Auckland Mandolinata Orchestra Incorporated (AMO). Bryan Holden took over the baton from Isabel in 1999 and has served as the musical director and conductor since.

AMO has maintained a busy schedule, performing annual concerts and participating in larger community events. To cater for daytime activities and smaller events, Iris Jeffreys, a long-standing member of AMO, started a small mandolin ensemble in 1986 called Mandolynos, which remained active until 2011. Read the full story of Mandolynos.

The orchestra has an aim to foster an interest in, and to encourage the playing of, the mandolin family and related instruments. The size of the orchestra ranges from twenty to thirty members playing mandolins, mandolas, mandocello or Liuto, Mandolon (bass mandolin), guitars, contra-bass, flute, and accordions.

The orchestra is continuously recruiting new players of any level of musical skills and has a training programme in place for any of the instruments.