Karen Alley, the 2014 National

Hammered Dulcimer Champion, teaches and performs on ham-mered dulcimer across the US. Her repertoire includes Celtic, classical, hymns, and show tunes, and her style combines percussive techniques with the rich harmonies and broad dynamics that make the dulcimer one of the most expres-sive instruments used in the folk community. She has released two albums showcasing a variety of

styles, as well as a book that demystifies music theory and playing harmonies with melody lines. When she's not playing the dulcimer, Karen is a glaciologist and teaches at the College of Wooster in Ohio.

Mick Doherty has been performing

music on the hammer dulcimer since 1979, busking on the streets of US and European cities. Mick has composed music for film, theatre, and television, and performed in venues from grange hall dances to concert stages in North America and Asia. Based in Portland, Oregon, Mick plays with the Trail Band, and also with shadow puppeteer Deb Chase in the Oregon Shadow Theatre.

Tina Bergmann Hailed by Pete Seeger as “the best ham-

mered dulcimer player I’ve heard in my life,” Tina Bergmann has been performing concerts, and teaching workshops and private lessons from an early age. A fourth-generation musi-cian, Bergmann began playing music at age eight, learning the mountain dulcimer from her mother in the aural tradition and

learning the hammered dulcimer at the knee of West Virginia-native build-er and performer Loy Swiger. Demon-strating gifts for both performance and teaching, she has been a featured performer across the United States, performing solo, as a duo with her husband, bassist Bryan Thomas, with her string band Hu$h-money; and as a featured soloist with Apollo’s Fire.

Andrea Beaton comes from a

long line of well known and respected musicians, composers and dancers on both the Beaton and MacMaster sides of her family. She is an award-winning fiddler, tune compos-er and recording artist who is known for her powerful bow and driving style. She tours and teaches internationally and is in great demand as a teacher at music camps and fiddling/dancing workshops. Andrea has released 6 solo albums, one duo album with her father, Kinnon Beaton, and 3 books of her original tunes.

Nova Scotia's Troy MacGillivray has a musical prowess that can be at-tributed to an especially rare combina-tion of commitment and bloodline. From a young age, Troy was impress-ing audiences with his fiddle, piano and step dancing skills, teaching his first classes at the Gaelic college at the age of 13. Troy has a roots-centered ap-

Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest P.O. Box 1474 Shepherdstown, WV 25443 (304)263-2531 updf@earthlink.net

Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest P.O. Box 1474 Shepherdstown, WV 25443 (304)263-2531 updf@earthlink.net

proach to his fiddling and piano playing that has the power to inspire audiences. He has toured internationally solo, and with Andrea Beaton, Shane Cook, and others. Troy plays not only traditional tunes, but also his own compositions which are re-ceiving international recognition and can be heard on 6 well-received, solo recordings as well as nu-merous collaborations.

Special Guest Artists

Chao Tian, Strathmore artist-in-Residence, completed received her master’s degree in musical perfor-mance in 2010; since then, she has toured throughout the world as leader of the Always Folk Ensemble, bringing her virtuosic talent on the dulcimer to people in more than 30 different coun-tries. In addition to performing, Tian lec-tures at Beijing Language and Culture University and is a pas-sionate advocate for the promotion and preservation of Chi-nese traditional music. Through her work, she strives to create dialogues between Chinese traditional music and music from the rest of the world.

Roya Bahrami, a native of Iran who migrated to the U.S. as a teenager, has studied Persian classical music with several noted masters, and has also studied West-ern classical music, and Spanish flamenco, resulting in a natural blend of these traditions in her com-positions. Roya’s compositions com-bine the mysticism of Persian melo-dies and poetry with Spanish fla-menco, jazz and tango, resulting in an 'innovative fusion with seductive

Tentative Fest Schedule Friday March 9

11:00-12:30 Arrival and Check-In the Rams Den at the

Shepherd University Student Center

1:00-4:30pm Optional Friday Afternoon Classes

8:00pm Showcase Concert featuring

Troy McGillivray with Andrea Beaton

Karen Alley, Tina Bergmann,

and Mick Doherty

at Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church

followed by jamming for those who wish at the Church and around town.

Saturday March 10

9:00-10 Saturday Registration & Tuning in the Shepherd University Student Center

10:00am-Noon Classes

Noon-2:00pm Catered Lunch in the Bistro

2:00-4:30pm Classes

5:00-6:00pm Mini Classes and Jams

8:00pm Open Mike and Jam Sessions

in Shepherd Student Center

8-9:30pm Open Mike of teachers and students

9:30pm on Jamming for all

Sunday March 11

10:00am-Noon: Classes Noon-2:00 Lunch Break 2:00-4:00pm Final Class Session

Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest P.O. Box 1474 Shepherdstown, WV 25443 (304)263-2531 updf@earthlink.net

Saturday Workshops

How to Hit the Hammer Box for Fun and Beauty! with Mick Doherty We’ll start by working on stick control, scales, chords, playing in octaves, and harmonizing scales. Then we’ll play some easy and fun melodies, adding harmony and orna-mentation, playing melody with one hand while keeping a beat going with the other; and playing with dynamics. By the end of the class, we’ll have several fun techniques to take forward as we develop new repertoire. Beg+

Filling out fast tunes with Tina Bergmann

We’ll take three polkas and explore and apply techniques to en-ergize them with rhythm. Lead patterns, accents, and rhythm variations will be covered, as well as some valuable skill strengthening exercises. The skills learned can be applied to any up tempo tune . Adv. Beg.

Playing with Beauty and Emotion with Karen Alley

Using pieces from Bach and O’Carolan, students will work on techniques to develop musicality in their playing. The class will cover how to use dynamics and timing effectively, and work on hammering skills, to build compositions that will captivate your audience. Int.-Adv.

Saturday Guest Artist Programs: Exploration of Chinese Music with Chao Tian 10AM-Noon

Learn some lovely Chinese melodies that fit well on the dulcimer along with some hammering techniques and other exercises and useful tools from the traditional yangqin repertoire.

The Secrets of Persia with Roya Bahrami 2-4:30PM

Explore a few exotic rhythms to spice up your playing in this hands on workshop. Learn to play music from the ancient Irani-an heritage, which has come into contact with other cultures such as the Spanish flamenco, music of the Arab world, and North Indian ragas.

Continued on next page.

Friday Afternoon Workshops Hammered Dulcimer Bootcamp with Tina Bergmann

Learn the relationships between marked courses, half steps, re-peated notes, chords and scales that will unlock a deeper under-standing of your instrument, help you to feel more free when learning tunes, and help you get your money’s worth in lessons and workshops! At least one “AH HA--I never realized that!” mo-ment is pretty much guaranteed. Beg. +

Effective Hammer Techniques with Karen Alley

Explore several approaches to hammering that will help you de-velop your control, dynamic range, and agility. We will begin with the standard drum rudiments developed by the Percussive Arts Society, and work with exercises guaranteed to challenge both your mind and your hands. We'll also use tunes - from fast fiddle tunes to slow airs - to show you how to incorporate these tech-niques directly into your arrangements. We will also discuss lead-hand philosophies and help you determine which system works best for your playing. Adv. Beg-Int.

Klezmer & Israeli Tune Up with Mick Doherty

Learn two tunes Zemer Atick and Araber Tanz that Mick learned from the Klezmonauts, and discover how with just a few notes retuned, Klezmer music becomes easy, and an absolute joy to play on the dulcimer. Int.-Adv.

Intro to Cape Breton Music with Troy and Andrea Beaton

Step into the world of music of Cape Breton Island, with a few iconic tunes and an introduction to the style and rhythms which define the music. All instruments welcome. Intermediate level.

Late Afternoon Mini Classes: Students offering to teach a useful one hour mini-class may receive a $50 tuition discount. Call or email us by February 15, if you would like to teach a class for this discount.

Discover how Persian poetry inspired melodies, phrasing in non-rhythmic and rhythmic motifs used in the classical Persian reper-toire of Iran. The repertoire comprises of hundreds of motifs (melodic and rhythmic), which are used in improvisations as well as compositions. Any special tuning requirements will be an-nounced in advance of the class and will not be extensive (only a few strings).

Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest P.O. Box 1474 Shepherdstown, WV 25443 (304)263-2531 updf@earthlink.net

Saturday Evening Open Mike Students and faculty are invited to share their latest work in an informal concert on Saturday evening. Followed by jam sessions in a variety of levels and styles and maybe even a ceilidh dance or party.

Weekend Cape Breton Music Intensive with

Andrea Beaton and Troy McGillivray

This class will work on building Cape Breton repertoire and build-ing the distinctive Cape Breton style of playing, working with all of the major tune types; jigs, reels, strathspeys, marches, and slow airs; and learning how to construct tune sets in the Cape Breton style.

Emphasis will be placed on learning by ear, and help will be giv-en to make mastery of this easier. Printed music will also be available to aid memory but may be presented after learning a piece of music.

Fiddle players will work on their bowing and fingering technique and building better tone and rhythmic aspects in their playing.

The unique style of Cape Breton piano accompaniment with its lively, intricate dance rhythms, harmony and baselines plays a huge role in making the Cape Breton fiddle sound so distinctive.

The piano is such an important partner to the fiddle in Cape Bre-ton that you will rarely hear the fiddle without it. We will work on distinctive Cape Breton rhythms used to accompany each tune type as well as concepts in harmony and bass line construction.

Step dance is also a major part of this tradition, and if there is interest we can include a step dance workshop and a short even-ing ceilidh dance on Saturday night into the program.

The class will be aimed mostly towards fiddle and piano players, but competent players of other instruments are welcome with the permission of the instructors.

Sunday Hammered Dulcimer Classes

Using Chords to Add Harmony with Karen Alley

This class will help you move beyond playing single melody lines to building full solo arrangements on your dulcimer. Learn what chords are, where to find them on your instrument, and how to apply those chords to simple melodies, such as hymns and Irish airs. Learn how to apply this knowledge to other tunes and mel-odies to build your own arrangements. Beg +. Musicality Intensive with Mick Doherty

The harp music of baroque Irish composer, Turloch O’Carolan fits well on the hammered dulcimer. Using some of his lovely slow airs like Planxty Irwin, Lord Inchequin and Captain O’Kane’s, we will work on hammer technique and control, har-monies, and other ornamentation to make our playing more mu-sical. Adv.beg-Int.

Repertoire of S. America/Cuba/Mexico: La Partida, Al Fin Te Vi, La Llorona with Tina Bergmann

We will learn these powerful and unusual pieces of folk music from our Spanish speaking neighbors. Be prepared to venture into regions of your dulcimer you might usually avoid! A dulcimer that is chromatic from middle C up through high C is needed. We’ll discuss hammering choices, dynamics, tremolos and varia-tions. Int.-Adv.

Tuition is $220 for all three days of workshops and in-cludes all evening programs if registered by Feb. 15th.

Tuition Scholarship Opportunities Two $100 performance scholarships are available to advanced students who are willing to come early and perform in a school, hospital or nursing home to expand the reach of the festival. For those wishing to apply for a scholarship, please submit a brief biography, a description of your playing interests, and a short demo tape of your playing. This does not have to be studio quality, it just assures us that we are sending out someone who can play to represent the festival! A good photo is also very useful. A $50 scholarship is offered for students offering a useful mini-class.

Housing Scholarship Opportunities We may have a few housing scholarships available in the homes of local residents who are friends of the festival. Scholars work several hours dur-ing the festival in the areas of registration, room set up and clean up, con-cert box office and fest store. No classes need be missed.

Scholarship decisions will be made by February 20. We are seeking donations for the scholarship fund, if you’d like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please enclose or contact the festival office! Thank You!

Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest P.O. Box 1474, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 Registration Form (please send one form per person)

Name:______________________________________

Address:____________________________________

City:________________ State:______ Zip_________

Phone: (home) ______________(cell)____________

Email address:______________________________ I play (instruments):___________________Playing Level:_________

Class Choice: (Please list instructor’s name)Friday___________Sat.______________Sun._____________ (Classes may be dropped if there is not sufficient interest by February 15, 2017)

Tuition and Fees _______ Weekend Workshop Sessions (includes Friday concert and Saturday evening events) $195 ($170 Early Bird Tuition Rate until February15) ___(Friday Class is $50 additional for weekend registrants)

_______ Single Day Workshop ___ Friday $85 ($70 before 2/15) ___ Saturday $95 ($75 before 2/15) ___ Sunday $85 ($70 before 2/15)

______ Saturday Catered Lunch ($15)

______ Extra Friday Concert Tickets (tickets are $20 adult, $18 senior, $10 children)

_______ Rental Hammered Dulcimer for 3 days ___$30 for 12/11 ___$40 for a larger chromatic instrument

______ Amount Due March 1

______ Optional Donation to the Scholarship Fund UPDF is a tax-exempt charitable organization. Please help us continue our scholarship program!

______ Grand Total Enclosed ___Invoice by PayPal.

All Classes are filled on a first-come first-served basis. Checks may be made out to UPDF.

Cancellations: If you cancel by February 15, we can refund all but your deposit. If you can-cel later we will keep the entire tuition. Phone cancellations must be followed by written notice of cancellation. Students canceling after March 1 due to una-voidable circumstances may send written documentation of their reason for canceling and request a partial tuition refund. These refund requests will be considered by our board following the end of the program.

Lodging Information For your convenience, we have reserved a block of 20 rooms at a discount at each of two local hotels. These rooms will be held until Feb. 10 at the price listed below. You must say you are booking for Upper Potomac to receive the discount, however other discounts (govt., AARP, etc.) if they apply, may be larger. The cost is per room and rooms may be shared. Clarion Hotel @ $89/night plus 12% tax. (304) 876-7000 Comfort Inn @ $84/night plus 12% tax. (304) 876-3160

Catered Lunch We have arranged for a catered lunch on Saturday to enable us all to have one meal together. You must reserve (and pay) in advance to participate. The lunch is $15 per person. We may set up an open mike or other program during lunch to facilitate sharing of music during this time period.

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UPPER POTOMAC DULCIMER FEST

Spring Music Weekend

March 9-11, 2018

Workshops, Classes and Concerts for the Hammered Dulcimer, Fiddle, Piano

and Mixed Instruments

In Historic Shepherdstown, West Virginia

For information call (304) 263-2531

Or email: upperpotomac@gmail.com