LOIS HORNBOSTEL
Lois Hornbostel, of Bryson City, NC, has been an inspiration to mountain dulcimer players for over two decades, and continues to explore and develop new music and playing techniques for the instrument. Her musical versatility and playing skills are presented in her Mel Bay Publications books, The Irish Dulcimer, Dulcimer Fiddle Tunes, Anthology for the Fretted Dulcimer, Dulcimer Duets, American Fiddle Tunes, and Cajun Favorites for the Mountain Dulcimer. Lois’ recordings include Dulcimer Jubilee, Dulcimer Enchantment, and Vive le Dulcimer!, a finalist for an INDIE award in the World Music category. She is a favorite performer at dulcimer and traditional music events across the country, known for the clarity of her teaching and the colorful music in her workshops. She stays young teaching dulcimer to schoolchildren as an artist-in-schools. Lois is the editor of www.dulcimersessions.com, a new internet ‘webzine’ from Mel Bay Publications that features articles and music for mountain and hammered dulcimer players. She has been Coordinator of Dulcimer Week since its inception, staffing the event and organizing the week’s curriculum, activities and schedule. www.loishornbostel.com

STEPHEN SEIFERT
Stephen Seifert’s teaching and playing has made him a favorite with dulcimer players all over the country since 1991. In that time, he’s been a featured performer at hundreds of dulcimer festivals and other music events including Kentucky Music Week in Bardstown, KY, Mountain Dulcimer Week in Cullowhee, NC, Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV, The Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR, Stringalong near Milwaukee, WI, The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS and The Tono American Music Festival, in Tono, Japan. Stephen has been a dulcimer soloist with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra since 1996 and is featured on their Warner Classical recording of Connie Ellisor and David Schnaufer’s Blackberry Winter, a concerto for mountain dulcimer and string orchestra. The piece continues to be in regular rotation on many classical stations around the U.S. Stephen will be performing this piece later this year with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in Charlotte, NC as he opens for virtuoso bassist Edgar Meyer. He was Adjunct Instructor of Mountain Dulcimer with David Schnaufer at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music from 1997 to 2001. He also taught, performed, and recorded with Mr. Schnaufer as a duo throughout the country. Besides festivals and workshops, Stephen keeps busy with his monthly mountain dulcimer video instructional series. Hundreds of students around the world have subscribed. Each student periodically receives a lesson which includes a 50 page book, an hour long DVD, and a practice audio CD. www.stephenseifert.com

BILL ROBINSON
Bill is a third-generation traditional hammered dulcimer player from Illinois. His paternal grandmother, Emma Van Fossen (1868-1944) taught Bill’s father, Ross Robinson (1900-1976), who in turn taught Bill. Bill’s daughter Monica is carrying on the tradition to a fourth generation. Bill started playing music at the age of 6 years, learning the dobro, guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin. While in grade school, he performed at fairs and school programs. When Bill was 19, his father had a stroke and had difficulty playing the dulcimer, so he was able to get Bill started, on the instrument once owned by Bill’s grandmother. In his mid-twenties, he formed a band called the Full House, and a few years later, joined the Illinois Country Opry in New Salem, Illinois, and played with the group for three years. In 1975, he joined the Wagon Wheel Opry in Macomb, Illinois, where he played piano, banjo, fiddle and dulcimer for the next 25 years. In addition to playing for the Wagon Wheel Opry once a month, he formed a band in 1980, named “Bill Robinson & Friends,” which is still going strong today. In the 1960’s, hammered dulcimers were rare and repairs difficult. Bill’s dad designed and built himself an instrument. Bill followed his path, and with the help of his friend, Roy Foley, they began building dulcimers. After building 75 instruments, Bill developed allergies to the wood. He teamed up with Ken Harris to form H & R Dulcimers. Ken builds the dulcimers, while Bill completes the instrument with strings and fine tuning. www.billrobinson-dulcimer.com

BILL TROXLER
Bill began teaching at the Gathering in 1994. He returns this year after teaching college courses in “How to Listen to Music” and “U.S. History as Heard through Blues, Jazz and Rock & Roll.” Hammered dulcimer players will recall Bill through the Performer’s Profile published in the Twentieth Anniversary issue of Dulcimer Players News, his series of articles about music theory published in DPN and his article on arranging techniques publish on Mel Bay’s internet site Dulcimer Sessions (www.dulcimersessions.com). Retired from the Maryland-based duo, Fulcrum Bridge and the presidency of Capitol College, Bill now manages an acoustic music concert series on Chincoteague Island, VA, teaches hammer dulcimer and produces recordings.

KEN KOLODNER
Ken Kolodner is perhaps our most experienced instructor, having taught hammered dulcimer during our Old-Time, Celtic and Dulcimer Weeks (19 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, with Helicon (with Chris Norman and Robin Bullock) and with fiddler Laura Risk, Ken has performed and taught extensively throughout North America and Europe for over 19 years. His 1999 appearance as soloist with a combined chorus (The Baltimore Choral Arts) and chamber orchestra from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was broadcast in an Emmy-nominated CBS-TV Christmas special. Known for his expressive and improvisational style, among his eight recordings, Ken’s first solo release in 1997, Walking Stones, hit the top of the World Music charts and was a top seller for BMG in their Classical/World Music category. Helicon’s 1999 recording, A Winter Solstice, won an INDIE award for Best Seasonal Recording. He has also been featured numerous times on radio, including nationally-broadcast concerts on NPR, German National Radio, CBC and the Voice of America, as well as on NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock and All Things Considered. www.kenkolodner.com

TERRY LEWIS
Terry began playing stringed instruments in grade school. He played guitar in rock’n’roll bands as a teenager and upright bass in bluegrass bands as an adult. He also plays banjo, violin, dobro, as well as the dulcimer. He gives private lessons, group lessons, has conducted mountain dulcimer workshops around the country and has authored 5 dulcimer books. He enjoys working with children and often gives concerts in the local schools. Terry volunteers in the Cumberland Gap National Park giving concerts and entertaining in the visitor’s center. He is now working to build new interest in mountain dulcimer in the Cumberland Gap area. www.terrylewisdulcimer.com

JODY MARSHALL
With nearly twenty years of experience as a hammered dulcimer instructor, Jody is well known for her clear and accessible teaching style. She has taught at festivals in both the U.S. and abroad, including the Augusta Heritage Center and Upper Potomac Dulcimer Festival in West Virginia, the North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Association Festival in Georgia, and the Summer Folk Camp in Gooik, Belgium. Nominated as “Best Folk Instrumentalist” by the Washington Area Music Association, Jody embraces genres ranging from Celtic to classical to pop, and has won critical acclaim for her creative arrangements of both solo and ensemble pieces. Her performance credits include the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center, and the White House. Jody was a founding member of the bands Ironweed and MoonFire, and in 2005 she released her debut solo CD, Cottage in the Glen, on the Maggie’s Music label. When she’s not playing, teaching, composing, or recording music, Jody writes stories and articles for children’s magazines, digs in the dirt in her native plant garden, and plays with the assorted felines that allow her to live in their house. www.jodymarshall.net

STEVE EULBERG
Steve Eulberg has won several awards in the National Mountain Dulcimer Championships at Winfield, and several times been a finalist in the National Hammered Dulcimer contest as well. His music has been included in the Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer compilations (vol.s #2 and #3) and Great Players of the Mountain Dulcimer, and has been featured on PBS’ RoadTrip Nation, United Airlines Inflight Audio and NPR. His most recent recording, A Piece Of It All was on the first Grammy ballot in the Best Contemporary Folk/Americana category and one track, “War Is Sweet (To Those Who Never Taste It)” topped the Top 40 Independent Country Charts reported by The Music Review in New York. Eulberg owns Owl Mountain Music, Inc., through which he has produced multiple recordings, publishes the Dulcimer-Friendly Worship series and the Mountain Dulcimer Orchestra Library. Students respond enthusiastically to his engaging style and warm sense of humor, making him a favorite at festivals across the U.S. “I live for the aha! experiences that people have and am dedicated to helping people enjoy their musical explorations on dulcimers and share them with others,” Eulberg says. He has had articles published at www.dulcimersessions.com, and teaches guitar on-line at www.jamplay.com

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. Dan will be assisted by 2007 National Hammered Dulcimer Champion Stephen Humphries.

LORINDA JONES
As a member of the Kentucky Arts on Tour Directory, Lorinda brings the roots of American music to her audiences through the music of the mountain dulcimer and folk harp. Lorinda has authored numerous books and recordings, and in addition, is a board certified music therapist. She teaches and performs at camps and festivals all over the United States, has 3 books published by Mel Bay Publications, and teaches private and group lessons on mountain dulcimer and folk harp. Lorinda has experienced a varied career in music, ranging from that of a band director, private and public school music instructor from preschool through college, to work as a music therapist. She continues to appreciate and discover her musical roots through the playing of Celtic and American folk music as a performer and recording artist.