Name Charley Rappaport | Role Music master | |
Charley Rappaport (born 1946 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician,5 co-founder of the Balalaika and Domra Society of America,2 which coordinates Russian balalaika and domra orchestras across the United States.4
Rappaport is a mandolinist, and performs in several styles, both on recordings and live, with his band The Great American Gypsies. He received his "musical education" playing in Russian balalaika orchestras, Russian nightclubs (The Two Guitars and The Russian Bear) and in the New York Mandolin Orchestra under Sol Goichberg.5 He has appeared throughout the U.S. as a soloist and with The Great American Gypsies. He is currently music director of the Pittsburgh-based group 3 Rivers Mandolin Consort, and conducts the Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra.3
In 2003 he was the subject of a cover story in Mandolin Magazine, a national publication.5 In 2004 Rappaport was named a "master folk musician" by the state of Pennsylvania and awarded a grant to teach mandolin4 and domra.8&7 His recordings include Set 1 (1973), Standing Room Only (1975), Requests (1992), Mandolin X 4 (1995), and Before, I Had A Red Tomato (2004).