I have just returned from another session of the Goderich Celtic College in (you guessed it) Goderich, Ontario. This year, I spent much of my time learning O'Carolan tunes with the best mandolin player I have ever encountered, an Englishman named Simon Mayor.

He has a website, of course: https://mandolin.co.uk

His playing is clean and crisp, with a delicious singing tone even in the fastest passages, and his repertoire ranges from the usual jigs, reels and hornpipes to the Vivaldi Mandolin Concerto, which he is scheduled to play with the BBC Concert Orchestra this autumn.

It's a long, long time since I last gushed like a fangirl, but Mayor's Carolan album has me quite rapt. Strongly recommended.