07/22/2026
Mark & Maggie are incredible musicians and the nicest folks. This is the string camp we discussed on our Thanksgiving interview. A wonderful way to spend a part of your summer.
For Immediate Release
July 21, 2026
GRAMMY-WINNING AMERICANA ARTISTS
MARK AND MAGGIE O’CONNOR
TO HOLD ANNUAL STRING CAMP IN CHARLOTTE
Legendary Musician, Composer and Author Mark O’Connor
Has Hosted String Camps in Boston, New York City and Charlotte
for more than 30 years
O'Connor's current digital single, "Restless," is available now as a newly re-mastered track from his acclaimed instrumental album
The New Nashville Cats featuring Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs
and Steve Wariner -- Listen here: (link tree)
https://restlessoconnorgillskaggswariner.lnk.to/Restless
A cornerstone of Nashville's recording community
Mark O'Connor's credits include George Jones, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash, Chet Atkins, Earl Scruggs, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Alabama, Reba McEntire, Johnny Cash and many more
During his years in Nashville between 1985 - 1993, Mark O'Connor became one of the industry's most sought-after studio musician in any genre appearing on more than 500 albums and countless chart-topping recordings helping shape the sound of a generation
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —The 10th annual O’Connor Method String Camp in Charlotte, N.C., will be held July 27-31 in the Heaton Hall complex at Myers Park Baptist Church. A free public concert featuring Mark and Maggie O’Connor and the students and faculty will be held at the conclusion of the event at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday in the main auditorium.
O'Connor's current digital single “Restless” is out now and is re-mastered from his hit instrumental album The New Nashville Cats featuring Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner. It represents one of the biggest country instrumental albums in history. "Restless” won CMA's "Music Event of the Year" in 1991 and opened the CMA Awards show with the principal artists, plus Carl Perkins, and a host of Nashville luminaries joining in while then President George Herbert Walker Bush was seated in the front row:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWefNLAw7aI&list=PL998590464505EED1&index=6
The O’Connor Method String Camp is a music instruction camp for violin, viola, cello, double bass and string orchestra based on the O’Connor Method. This camp uses American music, creativity, cultural diversity and improvisation to improve learning for both children and adults who want to take string lessons while enjoying and excelling at music. Students of all levels (who will study from Method Book I-IV) are encouraged to attend.
The O’Connors began holding the Charlotte camp when they moved to the city a decade ago, but Mark O’Connor began offering Method Camps when his Method Book series debuted 15 years ago. They were first held in Boston at Berklee College of Music and then in New York City at Turtle Bay Music School. Overall, he has been hosting string camps for 32 years, originating in Montgomery Bell Park just outside of Nashville, instructing thousands of students from across the country and internationally.
For more information or to register for the five-day camp, go to oconnormethodstringcamp.com. Typically the camps average 50 - 100 students and faculty.
https://oconnormethodstringcamp.com/
“We are thrilled to offer this camp in celebration of our 10th year in Charlotte,” Mark O’Connor says. “It’s the only time I’ll be teaching this year, so make plans to join us—either as a student or for the public concert Friday night. It will be a real treat!”
As the LA Times notes, he has "crossed over so many boundaries, that his style is purely personal."
For further information on the O’Connor Method, go to oconnormethod.com; for more on the O’Connors, check out www.markandmaggieoconnor.com,
www.markoconnor.com and YouTube Channel, where subscribers have reached 75,000.
https://www.youtube.com/
For more on Mark O’Connor’s illustrious career, look for his memoir, Crossing Bridges: My Journey from Child Prodigy to Fiddler Who Dared the World, available on Amazon and featured on NPR’s Morning Edition:
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1156723270/violinist-fiddler-mark-oconnor-50-years-new-memoir-crossing-bridges
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About Mark and Maggie O’Connor
Mark O’Connor, a three-time Grammy Award winner and seven-time CMA "Musician of the Year," is a legendary multi-instrumentalist famous for his work on fiddle, guitar and mandolin. He is also a ground-breaking American classical composer known for pieces like “Appalachia Waltz” and “The Fiddle Concerto.” Georgia native Maggie O’Connor, also a Grammy winner, earned a master’s degree in classical violin performance from the famed Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore before returning to her own Americana music roots and teaming up as a duo partner with her husband Mark. Their recent album Life After Life featuring Maggie as lead singer and Mark as songwriter went to #2 and #7 on Billboard's Bluegrass and Classical crossover charts.
O'Connor was only the 3rd instrumentalist signed to a major record deal in the 1980s, behind Chet Atkins and Earl Scruggs, when the hit making producer Jim Ed Norman signed him to Warner Bros. Records at age 23 as artist/producer.
Since Mark and Maggie's release 15 years, the O’Connor Method books have been used all over the world by thousands of students teaching them American music and creativity on the violin/fiddle and strings. www.oconnormethod.com
“An Appalachian Christmas" featuring his wife Maggie, will tour performing art centers and theaters around the country for a 15th season; represented by The Kurland Agency. The duo’s most recent release is A Christmas Duo.
For further information, contact: Melissa Mathews / MPR
PHOTO: Maia Rosenfeld
