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; Black Mountain Music Festival in Black Mountain, NC; Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV; John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC; Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR; Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS; Nonsuch in England, and the Tono American Music Festival, in Tono, Japan.
Stephen was dulcimer soloist with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and was featured on their Warner Classical recording of Conni 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. (The recording album is titled "Conversations in Silence" and can be sampled and purchased on iTunes.) Stephen has performed this piece with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, the Knoxville Symphony, and many others. Conni wrote Stephen a second piece for dulcimer and full orchestra. Mark Steighner has also written two pieces for Stephen and full orchestra.
Stephen 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.
Most recently he's been one of the five coordinators of QuaranTune, a four-day festival that takes place entirely online three times a year featuring dozens of instructors and performers from all over the world. Stephen has authored ten books, four CDs, and hundreds of instructional videos. Learn more about him on stephenseifert.com and mountaindulcimeratoz.com.
Robert Brereton
Rob Brereton is widely recognized as a pioneer of contemporary mountain dulcimer playing. His background in classical guitar has refined his style, while his degree in music theory and composition brings a fresh, creative approach to arranging.
Rob was among the first dulcimer players to explore chromatic and alternate tunings extensively. He is known for his distinctive arrangements of early jazz standards by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and others, while remaining equally at home with traditional Celtic, Appalachian, and old-time repertoire.
A performer and teacher for over three decades, Rob has taught at major music festivals and folk schools across the U.S. and abroad. He has earned multiple awards, including a coveted Winfield National Flatpicking title. He co-founded the Housatonic Dulcimer Celebration and continues to organize the Dulcimer Adventures festivals. His first CD, Someone to Watch Over Me (1992), established him as an internationally recognized performer and instructor. Dulcimer legend David Schnaufer praised his playing as “strong and innovative.”
Beyond dulcimer, Rob teaches K–6 music, directs choirs in his Connecticut community, and maintains a roster of private students. He also composes, arranges, and remains active in music education.
And yes — much to his friends’ dismay — he also yodels. Please don’t hold that against him.
Thomasina Levy
I was Connecticut State Troubadour for 2005 & 2006 and am an award-winning, internationally recognized mountain dulcimer player, singer, poet and songwriter whose performances weave together the best of traditional and contemporary folk music. I have found that the best way to play a musical instrument is to treat it as if were part of you and have been passionate about the dulcimer ever since I encountered one in West Virginia when I was 18 years old. My four years of studies and graduation as a Facilitator of Music Improvisation with cello master, David Darling, and Music for People reaffirm my belief that music is in each one of us and just waiting for the right time to emerge.
In August 2018 I released an album titled, Parallel Universe, which I co-produced with renowned Grammy winning cellist, David Darling. It is on the esteemed Hearts of Space Records label. This eclectic collection of instrumental music includes the instrumentation of cello, mt. and hammer dulcimers, hang drum, flute, piano, percussion, bass and a host of other instruments. As Jerry Rockwell states: The instrumentation and arrangements are so colorful and happy and hopeful — just the kind of music we need RIGHT NOW in our very broken world. In December 2018, it was awarded three silver medals from Global Music Awards. In 2019, a track on it titled, Walk in Beauty, won the NAMA Award for Song of the Year.
My music is a fresh weave of traditional and contemporary folk music rooted deeply in the folk tradition. Songs I have made independently and collaboratively have been aired in over twenty countries across the globe. Chasing Cloud Shadows has been described as “pure sunlight, a dazzling marriage of new and traditional folk music, jazz, country and bluegrass that makes for an hour of joyous listening.” A song I co-wrote with Joan Spear titled Out of Many We Are One, received the 2011 NAMA Award for Best Song/Single of the Year. Click Here to listen!
My newest album, Parallel Universe, is a testament to the joy that results from the collaborative process when artists are allowed to create and express themselves through the enigmatic power of music.