Events

Please contact us if you would like to be put on an email list for periodic mountain dulcimer event announcements.

TENTH ANNUAL!

REDWOOD DULCIMER DAY
Saturday, July 24, 2010

Workshops 10 am-5 pm
Followed by Holistic "Happy Hour"
shared music & tasty snacks
5:00-7:00pm

Admission (includes three workshops and evening music circle):
$45 advance (check must be received by Sat. July 17--one week before event)
$50 at the door
Space and loaner dulcimers still available--register online and then come on down!

PLUS! Redwood Dulcimer Day Faculty Concert
The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist
125 Canterbury Dr
Aptos, California 95003
Friday July 23, 7:30 pm.
Our annual showcase from the talented Dulcimer Day staff and special guests. Always eclectic and delightful! This year we also celebrate the release of a new CD featuring all the RDD artist/teachers from the last ten years! Join the party!

Redwood Dulcimer Day
Join us once again in Bonny Doon, CA, for a full day of workshops on the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer! During each of three 90 minute workshop sessions, there are three or four diverse workshop options to choose from! We cater to players novice to advanced--ability to read music not necessary. Workshop leaders include this year's guest artist Rob Brereton, as well as our resident faculty, Neal Hellman, Janet Herman, Peter Tommerup, and Ron Beardslee.

Pictures from past Redwood Dulcimer Days

This Saturday retreat for adults (responsible teens welcome too!) is located at beautiful Boomeria, a private Renaissance estate in the Santa Cruz mountains complete with castle and catacombs.

Don't have a dulcimer? See our registration page for information about loaner instruments. Affordable rentals may also be available at Sylvan Music, Santa Cruz.

NEW TO DULCIMER?
Our very own dulcimer music book for beginning players will be available for sale! Put together by Ron Beardslee, this fun and affordable compilation features tab arrangements of over 20 traditional tunes.

Community Music School of Santa Cruz. presents Redwood Dulcimer Day with help from our wonderful sponsor, Gourd Music. We also thank our hosts, PQ le Boom and Sara Boomer!

Questions? Contact Janet

NEW THIS YEAR! Dulcimer Day welcomes Rob Brereton of Sherman, CT! 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. He has taught all levels of dulcimer at most of the major dulcimer festivals across the country. We're proud and pleased he'll be adding Redwood Dulcimer Day to this list! www.robertbrereton.com/

Neal Hellman, founder of Gourd music, is a nationally acclaimed dulcimer performer, workshop leader, recording artist and author of numerous books for the dulcimer. His CDs include Emma's Waltz, Oktober Country, Dream of the Manatee and Autumn in the Valley. His books include It's a Dulcimer Life, The Dulcimer Chord Book, The Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method, Beatles Dulcimer Book, The Music of the Shakers for Mountain Dulcimer, and Celtic Songs and Slow Airs for Mountain Dulcimer.

Peter Tommerup (RDD co-founder) has been playing and teaching dulcimer since 1973. He has arranged hundreds of tunes for the dulcimer and has taught them to hundreds of students in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. He has performed at several major festivals and is author of the Kicking Mule tutorial, Teach Yourself to Play the Dulcimer Currently he teaches dulcimer at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto.

Janet Herman (RDD co-founder) is a multi-instrumentalist instructor with Community Music School of Santa Cruz and has been playing dulcimer since her teens. She is also an accomplished singer and is featured on Neal Hellman's Celtic Songs and Slow Airs for Mountain Dulcimer and other recordings. With a doctorate in folklore/ethnomusicology, Janet is an authority on shape-note singing and an avid arranger of all kinds of songs for dulcimer.

Ron Beardslee has been playing mountain dulcimer for about 20 years and is the organizer of our quarterly Redwood Dulcimer Gatherings. He has produced a tab book for beginners and resides in the East Bay where he also gives mountain dulcimer lessons.

Special Events

Redwood Mountain Dulcimer Group occasionally hosts mountain dulcimer concerts and/or workshops with visiting artists outside of our regularly scheduled gatherings.   If you are a mountain dulcimer performer who will be in the vicinity, please contact us to explore setting something up!  (Or if you are already scheduled to perform somewhere in the region, contact us so we can help get the word out).