LOIS HORNBOSTEL
Lois Hornbostel, of Bryson City, NC, is a well-known developer of playing techniques and repertoire for the mountain dulcimer, and has set the standards in the organization of dulcimer instruction and events. Her musical versatility and playing skills are showcased in her eight dulcimer music books published by Mel Bay Publications. She has made several recordings, including Vive le Dulcimer!, a finalist for an INDIE award in the World Music category. Lois learned traditional Appalachian dulcimer playing from Stanley Hicks and Frank Proffitt, Jr., and has won the dulcimer competitions at the Galax, Mt. Airy, Fiddlers Grove, and other old-time music events. In the late 1970s in New York City, Lois was one of the first to study and apply traditional Irish music to the mountain dulcimer. Later, living in Louisiana, she learned Cajun music, which resulted in her book, Cajun Favorites for Mountain Dulcimer. Lois is the editor of www.DulcimerSessions.com, Mel Bay Publications’ webzine presenting current developments in mountain and hammered dulcimer music. She has been Coordinator of Dulcimer Week since its inception, and has created a new dulcimer event to be held in June: www.Dulcimerville.com. Lois teaches and performs at dulcimer and acoustic events nationally. www.loishornbostel.com

WALT MICHAEL
Walt Michael is considered to be a virtuoso of tremendous influence in the revival of the hammered dulcimer. His wide repertoire ranges from old-time southern Appalachian, to Celtic, to original compositions. Walt’s various musical incarnations, including Bottle Hill, Michael, McCreesh & Campbell and Walt Michael & Co. span almost 40 years and have taken him from the coal camps of Appalachia to the Closing Ceremonies of the 13th Olympic Winter Games. As a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, he has recorded fourteen albums, two instructional videos on Homespun Tapes, and has appeared at the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers and toured internationally. His music has been heard on ABC-TV, NBC’s Tonight Show, Broadway, BBC, TNN, CBC and PBS. Walt has taught at numerous dulcimer events, including the Swannanoa Gathering, the Augusta Heritage Center and Common Ground Scotland. Walt is the Founder, Artistic and Executive Director of Common Ground on the Hill and the Artist in Residence at McDaniel College. www.waltmichael.com

JEM MOORE
With a unique style in the dulcimer world, Jem Moore has been charting new ground for over 25 years. He has tackled monumental classical pieces including Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” and created haunting, poly-rhythmic original compositions that have been featured NPR’s Echoes. His performances have included top-tier folk festivals such as Philadelphia and Winnipeg, and a whole host of dulcimer festivals around the country. Jem has recorded 15 albums and has toured North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, continuing to inspire audiences around the world. In 1986, he joined with talented singer/guitarist Ariane Lydon, and they went on to record eight albums and perform around the country for the next ten years, including a mainstage performance at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and two appearances at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Canada. Over the years, Jem has performed and taught at numerous festivals, including the Summer Solstice festival in Southern California, the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia, and Kentucky Music Week in Bardstown, KY. In 2001, Jem took a haitus from performing to take a degree in aviation, and obtained all of his licenses to be a commercial pilot. He now works with Republic Airlines, flying 86-passenger jets for USAirways Express and continues to travel the world playing music, teaching dulcimer, and playing Irish flute at sessions whenever possible.

BING FUTCH
With both African and Seminole Indian roots, Bing Futch’s window on America is a unique landscape of music, words and imagery. He began playing mountain dulcimer at Knott’s Berry Farm theme park in 1986, working at a Ghost Town shop for Bud & Donna Ford. As a member of the award-winning Americana band, Mohave, he has performed all around the state of Florida including multiple shows at The House Of Blues at Walt Disney World, Hard Rock Live Orlando, The Orlando Fringe Festival, The Central Florida Fair and Mohave has opened shows for national acts Molly Hatchet, Subject To Change, St. Somewhere and The Crests. As a solo performer, Bing’s high-energy, crowd pleasing shows and unique approach to the mountain dulcimer combine to make him a much-sought performer and instructor from California to Connecticut. He has become a regularly featured artist at festivals, house concerts and other venues across the country, teaching workshops and offering private instruction on subjects ranging from mountain dulcimer and Native American flute to home studio recording. He’s opened for Scott Ainslie, shared the stage with Chubby Carrier, Tom Constanten (The Grateful Dead) and Robert Force, released a number of recordings, just published his fifth music book and is widely known and recognized for his road-tripping video-podcast Dulcimerica.

KEN KOLODNER
Ken Kolodner is perhaps our most experienced instructor, having taught hammered dulcimer during our Old-Time, Celtic and Dulcimer Weeks (22 weeks in all!). Recognized as one of the finest hammered dulcimer players in the U.S., Ken’s unique improvisational style has been described as “nothing short of astonishing.” Performing on dulcimer and fiddle as a soloist, and with Helicon (Chris Norman and Robin Bullock) and with fiddlers Laura Risk, Elke Baker and Jim Eagan, Ken has performed and taught extensively throughout North America and Europe for over 25 years. He is one of the most sought-after teachers at music camps and festivals across the country, including Common Ground, the Swannanoa Gathering, Meadowlark, Augusta, Kentucky Music Week, and The John C. Campbell Folk School. Ken’s credits include numerous features on NPR’s The Thistle and Shamrock and All Things Considered, the CBC, The Voice of America and German National Radio; an Emmy-nominated CBS-TV Christmas special; eleven recordings including an “Indie” winner (Helicon’s Winter Solstice for “Best Seasonal Recording”), a #1 World Music title and bestseller for BMG (Walking Stones with over 55,000 sold); six instructional CDs and three books. www.kenkolodner.com

ROB BRERETON
Rob Brereton is considered one of the pioneers in contemporary mountain dulcimer playing. His years of studying classical guitar have polished his playing style while his degree in music theory and composition has given him a fresh approach to arranging. Rob was one of the first dulcimer players to arrange extensively in the chromatic 1-3-5, and other alternate tunings. Although he specializes in the standards and early jazz tunes of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and the like, Rob is equally adept at playing the more traditional styles and dulcimer repertoire. David Schnaufer called Rob’s playing “masterful...strong and innovative,” and his music is featured on his CD, Someone to Watch Over Me. Rob has taught all levels of dulcimer at most of the major dulcimer festivals across the country. He was one of the organizers of the Housatonic Dulcimer Celebration and continues to organize the occasional Dulcimer Cruise. In his everyday life, Rob teaches music in several schools and has many private students. He also composes and directs several choirs near his home in Sherman, CT. Feel free to contact him at www.robertbrereton.com

BONNIE LEIGH
Bonnie Leigh, is a New Jersey native and very active performer, singer/songwriter and Certified Music Practitioner. She has been performing since 1990 and teaching since 1992, and her gentle style has proved popular with audiences at such dulcimer festivals as August Dulcimer Days in Vermont, Mountain Dulcimer Music Fest, Cranberry Autoharp & Dulcimer Gathering, Winter Dulcimer Fest, Bay Path Dulcimer Festival, and the Strum-A-Long Festival. Bonnie also performs at historical villages, social teas, schools, libraries, coffee houses, etc. As a Certified Music Practitioner, Bonnie plays music at the bedside of hospice patients using the dulcimer or harp. Her recordings, each published with a companion songbook with dulcimer tab, reflect her ideas on family, life, love and the outdoors. They include: Straight From the Heart, Down in the Shady Grove, and Bridge of Flowers. Bonnie has published three books of poetry and a booklet called From My Heart to Yours, Thoughts and Experiences of a Music Pracitioner Intern, and wrote an article on “The Mountain Dulcimer and Healing Music” for Mel Bay’s internet webzine, www.DulcimerSessions.com. www.bonnieleigh.com

THOMASINA
Connecticut State Troubadour (2005/2006), Thomasina Levy, M.S. Ed, is an internationally recognized mountain dulcimer player, singer, and songwriter whose performances weave together the best of traditional and contemporary folk music. A charismatic performer, she touches audiences with a simplicity, humanity, and strength drawn from the deep roots of the folk tradition. Thomasina has produced recordings and instructional books for both children and adults. Her most recent CD, Chasing Cloud Shadows, has been aired in over twenty countries across the globe, and been described as “pure sunlight, a dazzling marriage of new and traditional folk music, jazz, country and bluegrass.” She is a certified Facilitator of Music Improvisation from Music for People, the non-profit organization that promotes self-expression through music and improvisation, and was included in the Mel Bay Publications book, Dulcimer 2000, featuring solos by the world’s best mountain dulcimer players. www.thomasina.net

DAN LANDRUM
Dan’s hammered dulcimer playing has taken him from street performing in Chattanooga, TN, to Olympic Ceremonies, presidential inaugurations, multiple festivals around the country and major stages in hundreds of cities from the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, to New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. Since 2003, he’s been a featured soloist in the live touring band for international recording star, Yanni. The Yanni Live tour is available as a CD/DVD and is currently airing around the nation as a PBS television special. In 2006, Dan and his wife, Angie, took over publication of the internationally-distributed Dulcimer Players News magazine. In print since 1974, DPN is a full-color quarterly publication for dulcimer enthusiasts which includes a CD with each issue. Dan lives in Signal Mountain, TN, and does his best to balance a schedule of touring, teaching, writing and occasionally finding enough time to perform in the street outside Chattanooga’s famed Tennessee Aquarium. www.danlandrum.com

JOE HOLBERT
Joe was born and raised in the foothills of the Tennessee mountains. He learned to play the hammered dulcimer in 1978 from John McCutcheon at the Augusta Heritage Center, and taught music full-time, for over 30 years, to children in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. He has taught hammered dulcimer, guitar, mountain dulcimer, and shape-note singing to adults at numerous workshops including the Augusta Heritage Center, the Folk Art Center, Mars Hill College, the University of Tennessee, and the Swannanoa Gathering. Joe is a singer/songwriter with Master of Music degree who has recorded with Madeline MacNeil and Jim Taylor, and he has opened shows for John Hartford and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and performed on a variety of stages including the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the Asheville Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, and concerts for the Philadelphia Folksong Society.