About Judy and Mark

 Husband and wife duo, Handler and Levesque have performed over 2,500 concerts together in the United States & Europe over the past 30 years. Their sophisticated & expressive arrangements blend classical, Brazilian, Latin American, Klezmer, gypsy, jazz, Celtic and folk music influences to create a unique and extraordinary sound. This, matched with their impeccable musicianship, has won them a widespread enthusiastic following.  

 Judy Handler, guitar 

Judy has given concerts & workshops throughout the United States and Europe. Her solo playing spans diverse genres of music including classical, Latin American, Brazilian, and jazz arrangements. She has performed with many prominent guitarists including Charlie Byrd and Oscar Ghiglia. Judy has received numerous awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

Judy Handler received a Master of Music in guitar performance from the Hartt School of Music, a Bachelor of Music from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Diploma of Merit from Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, a Certificate from Curs Internacional de Música at the Vila-Seca i Salou Conservatory in Spain and a Diploma from the Aspen Music School. She has performed and given workshops and classes throughout the United States. Judy teaches at a private studio in Vernon, CT and leads performance classes that are open to all levels. She is Co-Founder of the Connecticut Guitar Society.

 Mark Levesque, guitar & mandolin 

Mark started playing guitar at age 10 and soon began working with rock and blues bands. He also became interested in other styles of guitar music including jazz, classical and international. Mark has composed songs and instrumental music, worked with synthesizer orchestration, and learned the art of studio recording. 

 Mark Levesque has performed on guitar (classical, jazz archtop,12 string, electric & gypsy), mandolin, plectrum banjo and Puerto Rican cuatro in numerous ensembles throughout the United States and Europe, most recently with the CitySingers of Hartford. He has played and arranged world, jazz, Latin and blues music and has worked with synthesizer orchestration and studio recording.

  Mark’s passion for guitar and mandolin music has led him to research music from all over the world and his creative ideas have been the stimulus for many of the arrangements performed by the group. He currently teaches mandolin and guitar at a private studio in Vernon, CT.  

 Handler & Levesque have performed for festivals, arts centers, universities and museums, some of which include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA in 2018, St. Ethelberga's Centre, London England in 2018, The 45 Festival Internacional de Plectro Roja in La Rioja Spain in 2016, The Casa Branca do Gramido in Porto Portugal, Eurofest 2014 in Bruchsal Germany, The English Church in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Classical Mandolin Society of America Convention 2014 in Portland Oregon, Brighton Fringe Festival, Brighton England, The Folk House, Bristol United Kingdom, The Performing Arts Complex of Delaware

County PA, The United Methodist Church in New Market Maryland, Troy NY Music Hall, International Festival of Arts & Ideas, New Haven CT, The Brooklyn NY Museum of Art, The Hudson River Museum, NY, Roger Williams University, RI, The University of Connecticut, The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, Hartford CT, The Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s  Musical Dialogue Series, Music Mountain and the Jewish Museum in Manhattan.  
 

  Judy and Mark have performed for many community events including First Night Westport, The Mystic Arts Café, Bean Blossom Music Series in Indiana, the Rainbow’s End Series in Chicago, Nashua Public Library in New Hampshire and the Quechee Club in Vermont. 

  Judy and Mark are founding members of the New American Mandolin Ensemble which formed in 2013, has performed internationally and released a CD Contemporary Works for Plucked Strings in 2017. 

Judy Handler & Mark Levesque are on the roster of Cantaloupe Music Productions in Manhattan, New England Foundation for the Arts and the Connecticut Library Consortium.

Currently they give online lessons and performance workshops. They also run a studio for private lessons and groups in Vernon, CT.     

"New England Treasures!"

J.B. South Glastonbury, CT

"Thank you so much Judy. I am getting so much positive feedback from your performance, it was a terrific afternoon."  

D.F. Mahopac, NY
 

 "Thank you for such a wonderful program.  Everyone thought you were terrific. We loved your selections. They introduced us to music we may not have heard before. You are a great duo! Most definitely I will keep you in mind for future."

P.G. Orange, CT
 

     "My thanks to you and Mark for a wonderful concert! We don't see too many standing ovations, but you certainly deserved that."

 A.C. Brookfield, CT

"The audience loved your performance, and can’t wait to see you & Mark again!"
B.K. Agawam, MA

 "Your concert was such a beautiful and meaningful way to celebrate International Week at CCSU, thank you! We continue to hear praise about your performance and look forward to next year (and perhaps other times in between) when we shall hear your music again."
    N.B. New Britain, CT
 

  Our CDs, Passion, Acoustic Blend & Two Guitars Live! have received critical acclaim and have been sold in dozens of countries throughout the world.  All three CDs have been used by the Greater Hartford Arts Council as gifts to 1,000’s of donors to their United Arts Campaign.  

  In September 2019 we released a delightful holiday CD, Joy to the World with special arrangements for classical guitar & mandolin. We have been featured on numerous compilation CDs with other artists and many radio & cable T.V. programs.   

• Joy to the World  - Holiday Music for Mandolin and Classical Guitar (2019)
• Contemporary Works for Plucked Strings  - New American Mandolin Ensemble (2017)
• Songs and Dances of Early America
• The Rosewood Chamber Ensemble (2015)
• Passion (2008)
• Scantic Valley Association DVD soundtrack (2004)
• Two Guitars Live! (2003)
• Hartford's Hidden Treasures DVD soundtrack (2002)
• Acoustic Blend (2001)

Recordings featuring Judy and Mark:

• (2019) Celtic Fire! - CitySingers of Hartford
• (2018) Django Festival 12 (The best of gypsy jazz today) Hot Club Records, Norway
• (2008) A Sugar Tree Carol - Gayla D. Matos
• (2001) Prelude 
• (2001) The Gift of the Guitar 
• (2000) New England Landscapes II 
• (1999) New England Landscapes 
• (1998) Romantic Reverie 
• (1997) A Winter Fantasy 

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA  
• 45th Festival Internacional de Plectro de La Rioja, Spain 
• St. Ethelberga's Centre, London, England
• Casa Branca do Gramido, Porto, Portugal
• Brighton Fringe Festival, Brighton, England
•  Bushnell Performing Arts Center, Hartford, CT 
• Teatro Gran Coliseo, Fuenmayor, Spain
• Sala Gonzalo de Berceo, Logroño, Spain
• Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, NY 
• Eurofest, Bruchsal, Germany
• The Classical Mandolin Society of America, Portland, OR
• English Reformed Church at Begijnhof, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Europaische Akadamie Otzaehausen, Saarland, Germany
• Museo Würth, Agoncillo, Spain
• Doopsgezinde Kerk in Steenwijk, The Netherlands
• The Folk House, Bristol, United Kingdom
• The Connecticut Forum, Hartford, CT
• Stage One - The Performing Arts Complex of Delaware County, Wallingford, PA
• Rainbow's End Concert Series, Skokie, IL
• The Bean Blossom Music Series, Bean Blossom, IN
• Mark Twain House, Hartford, CT
• Marlborough Arts Center, Marlborough, CT
• Town and County Club, Hartford, CT
• The Wadsworth Mansion, Middletown, CT

•  Troy Music Hall, Troy, NY 
• International Festival of Arts and Ideas, New Haven, CT
• Chateaugay Lakes Arts Association, Chateaugay, New York
• Music Mountain, Falls Village, CT
• Grace Performance Hall, Haddonfield, NJ
• Quechee Club, Quechee, VT
• The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
• Mystic Arts Cafe, Mystic, CT
• Madison Beach Hotel, Madison, CT
• Roger Williams University: The American Mandolin & Guitar Summer Program, Bristol, RI
• Hartford International Jazz Festival Encore Stage, Hartford, CT
• First Night New Haven, CT
• University of Connecticut, West Hartford, CT
• The Jewish Museum, Manhattan, NY
• The Eclectic Cafe, Bay Shore, NY
• New Market United Methodist Church, New Market, MD
• Fremont Public Library, Mundelein, IL  
• University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT
• Studio 450, Manhattan, NY
• Northwest Park Coffeehouse, Windsor, CT
• Governor's Mansion, Hartford, CT
• New Britain Museum Of American Art, New Britain, CT
• University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT
• University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
• Perishable Theatre, Providence, RI
• Great Falls Discovery Center, Turner Falls, MA
• New Rochelle Library, New Rochelle, NY
• Westminister School, Simsbury, CT
• Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT
• All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN
• Temple Shearith Israel, Ridgefield, CT
• Byron Colby Barn, Grayslake, IL
• Bing Arts Center, Springfield, MA