
Bill Dempsey
Bill Dempsey: “I started playing trombone when I was 9
years old. I did my first professional gig when I was in Jr.
High. I started teaching in 1973. I built my first dulcimer
in 1976. My main influences are Jean Ritchie and Richard
Farina. I play 4 equidistant string dulcimer. I'm a
singer/multi-instrumentalist. The dulcimer has helped me
maintain and find peace and serenity while teaching
beginning band, violin & recorder to 3rd, 4th, & 5th
graders.” Bill is now retired from a long career as a
full-time public school music teacher. Bill continues an
active performing and private teaching schedule. He teaches
online and from his home in San Juan Capistrano, CA. An avid
surfer, he has a deep and abiding love of the sea and sea
music of all kinds.
CLASS 30 Minutes:
Singing & Playing with Dulcimer. Intros, endings, solos, and
most importantly, phrasing. When to stop. When to slow down.
Options for vocal accompaniment.
Bill will teach and demonstrate!
www.billdempseymusic.net

Leo Kretzner
Leo Kretzner – Tradition Meets Innovation
Leo and the mountain dulcimer met in 1975, and neither has
been the same ever since. He has been a major innovator of
the instrument, spanning from Celtic jigs and reels to blues
and rock, and from Appalachian to contemporary, with guitar
and vocals added to the mix.
Leo has performed and taught for over forty years at folk
festivals and coffee houses all over the country. His newest
album is Mixed Colors/Art of the 4-String Dulcimer, 2022. His other albums are Dulcimer
Fair (’77), Pigtown Fling (’79, Bold Orion (’84), and
Not-So-Still-Life (’90).
https://www.leokretznermusic.com
CLASS 30 Minutes:
Basic String-Bending. We’ll apply bluesy string bends
to the old-time songs 'Old Man At the Mill' and 'Cluck Old
Hen.' (D-A-D)
leokretz@gmail.com

Joellen Lapidus
Joellen Lapidus is one of the pioneers of contemporary
mountain dulcimer playing, songwriting, and building. She
blends Appalachian, Indian, Arabic, jazz, classical, and pop
musical styles to give the mountain dulcimer a new range of
rhythmic, melodic, and tuning possibilities. As a dulcimer
maker, her work influenced many of the dulcimer builders of
the 70's and 80's. Her instruments were known for their
innovative shapes, exquisite sound hole and peghead inlay
work. She introduced the dulcimer to Joni Mitchell and made
three instruments for her between 1968 and 1976. She has
also made instruments for David Crosby, Jackson Browne,
Wendy Waldman, Garth Hudson and Harry Stiles.
She is a gifted teacher and is the author of the 2nd edition
of her classic dulcimer instruction book “LAPIDUS ON
DULCIMER 2". She has recorded 2 CDs, “Joellen Lapidus Live
in Concert” and “Dulcimer Music For the Pelican Ballet”.
CLASS 30 Minutes:
Joellen will be demonstrating and teaching the "Mandolin
Strum": that fast tremolo mandolin players do on their 4
sets of double strings. “I’ll be teaching you how to do that
tremolo on your dulcimer whether you have a double melody
string or not. I’ll use a prerecorded chord track and we’ll
add the melody with tremolo.”
You can view her work and reach her at
www.lapidusmusic.com

Grant Olson
Grant is currently a senior at Cedarville University,
from Andover, Minnesota, who has played the mountain
dulcimer for ten years. He plays fiddle tunes, hymns, and
arranges classical songs for chromatic mountain dulcimer. He
enjoys composing his own tunes, and building his own
dulcimers out of cardboard and styrofoam. In 2019 he
competed and won the mountain dulcimer championship at
Winfield, using a cardboard dulcimer he made for 2 of the
songs. Since then, he has continued writing and arranging,
and built up a collection of youtube videos sharing his
music.
https://www.grantolsondulcimer.com/
CLASS 60 Minutes:
Title: Introduction to Fingerpicking
Level: Advanced Beginner/ Intermediate
If you consider yourself past the beginner level, but have
never really learned how to fingerpick, this class will be a
great option for you!
We will discuss the basics of fingerpicking, including how I
fingerpick and why, along with the other ways people
fingerpick. After that we'll work through a few exercises to
practice fingerpicking, and end by learning a fingerpicking
arrangement of "Jesus Paid it All".
YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@GOdulcimer
Example Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgrWn_oBzM8

Kevin Roth
Kevin Roth entered the dulcimer scene in 1974 and
quickly became known as one of the innovators of dulcimer
music. From 1974-1978 he recorded a dozen albums for
Folkways Records and then formed his own label now numbering
a total of forty-nine albums to his discography. In 2020
Kevin introduced ‘Dulcimeditation’ to the dulcimer world,
and now teaches this form of playing along with his personal
life-coaching career.
CLASS 30 Minutes:
“I'll be teaching "Dulcimeditation" for both three string
and four equidistant. Dulcimeditation is an easy technique I
developed to relieve stress and bring more mindfulness and
clarity into your life on a daily basis. In addition I will
be playing some very sweet and meditative 'lullabies' and
folk songs on the four string dulcimer showing you unusual
chording and phrasing.”
www.kevinroth.org
www.kevinrothmusic.com

Pam Setser
When Pam was 5-years-old she began singing with her mom and
dad's family band and continued for 16 years. Later, she
became a working mother and raised her own family while
still continuing to make her music. For Pam Setser, music
has always played a role in her everyday life and still does
today for the talented singer and multi-instrumentalist.
Along the way, Pam's voice has been heard on numerous
albums, with her parents and on three solo works, including
her current CD “Now”. The 13-song Now album is a collection
of Americana music containing folk, bluegrass, gospel,
country, and 1930s swing. Wow! Pam embraces a wide variety
of styles and sounds within her musical toolbox.
www.pamsetser.com
CLASS 60 Minutes:
I will be showing you the Ozark Traditional Style
which my mother taught me to play. I plan to teach
"Boneparte's Crossing the Alps", which is a fiddle tune I
learned from a local family here in my area, "Crooked Ridge"
a tune I wrote for the Mountain Dulcimer which includes
chords and if time another tune from our area, "Harrison
Town", If time permits, I will show you my alternating thumb
finger picking style. Tuning will be DAD
https://youtu.be/PL-iC2Ad7Ns Youtube Crooked Ridge
an original tune
https://youtu.be/ncP5gtJaaeM Hayes’ Hoedown (an
original tune)

Aubrey Atwater
From Warren, Rhode Island, award-winning musician,
singer, dancer, writer, teacher and public radio
commentator, Aubrey Atwater presents captivating programs of
folk music, dance, and narration. Aubrey has performed
throughout the United States and beyond, singing and playing
mountain dulcimer, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and whistle, and
thrilling audiences with her highly percussive freestyle
clogging. In a scholarly, yet humorous way, Aubrey conveys
the heritage behind traditional folk music and dance,
showing deep passion and understanding of folk history and
key players.
CLASS DETAILS TO FOLLOW SHORTLY!
aubreyfolk@aol.com
www.atwater-donnelly.com

Nina Zanetti
Nina Zanetti is the 2008 National Mountain Dulcimer
Champion. She comes to the mountain dulcimer from a diverse
musical background, including choral music, violin, viola,
piano, and shape note singing. She plays regularly at
churches, historic sites, and community events and has
taught at dulcimer festivals throughout the country and
online. Nina is especially fond of the “softer side of
dulcimer” and has a strong interest in American folk hymns,
Early Music, and ensemble playing. She has published ten
books of tablature arrangements for mountain dulcimer. She
is featured on Masters of the Mountain Dulcimer Play Music
for Christmas (CD) and she has recorded a CD of solos and
duets with Bill Collins, as well as two solo CDs, Beside
Still Waters and Winter’s Light.
http://www.ninazanetti.com
CLASS 60 Minutes:
Title:Playing with Expression
Level: Novice and up
Tuning: DAD
Description: You’ve picked a beautiful tune, mastered the
notes, and maybe even memorized it. Now you’d like to “play
it with feeling”. This workshop will first introduce some
technical strategies for making your playing as expressive
and elegant as lovely singing. We’ll also spend time
exploring what it means to “play with feeling”, different
approaches to achieving this goal, and the possible role of
mindset and ease. You’ll get to try out these “tools” as we
learn a lovely tune. The workshop will conclude with a
mini-concert that will illustrate some of the principles of
expressive playing.
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgx2sCGtK4A