Celtic Mandolin Encyclopedia

Bobby Bancalari, aka baroquenoise, is a musician and composer in Long Beach, CA. He started his musical career at the age of 14 while playing viola for the Burbank Philharmonic. Through his high school years, he performed in various rock bands, during which time he began to compose contrapuntal music. Other endeavors included original bands The Chant, Charming Billy, Bustopher Jones, and Marmalade Skies, whose music was featured on the WB show "Felicity." He was also a regular player in Groove Therapy, Ken Garcia Band, Hempstring Orchestra, The Kombis, The Tone Smugglers, Christopher Perez, and Jack Maness of Sublime. For the past couple of decades, he has written books for Mel Bay Publications. In 2008 and 09, Bobby toured the US with Greg Ginn (founder of the punk band Black Flag and SST Records). In 2010, he got to perform with Donovan Leitch at the El Rey Theatre for a concert benefiting the David Lynch Foundation. Most recently he and his partner Michele Rene formed The Funny Valentines, a parlor jazz trio specializing in the 20s & 30s tunes. In 2017, the Cape Symphony performed Bobby's "Overture in G" for two sold-out nights. Bobby keeps busy with his YouTube Channel that features electronic versions of Bach pieces, as well as original pop and contrapuntal instrumentals.