Date: March 2nd 2012

Upper Potomac Music Weekends
P.O. Box 1474
Shepherdstown, WV 25443
(304)263-2531
updf@earthlink.net
http://upmw.smad.us

Dear Upper Potomac Weekend students:

I am happy to announce our staff and program for our Spring Music Weekend, March 16-18, 2012. You will find complete information up on our web page, or in the attached PDF of the brochure, but I am including the highlights in the text of this email so that you can share it with friends or mailing lists easily.It has a great staff with a good balance of new faces and interesting traditions and old friends.

Like all of our programs this season, advance registration is scarily low... but we have done OK with last minute registrations, so I hope this will too... Still, Please help us get the word out! If you need a little tuition assistance in order to come, please ask... it is our mission to serve all of the dulcimer community; usually we ask a little help in exchange, but the jobs are not difficult or labor intensive.

The info below is for the Spring Music weekend and appeals mostly to dulcimer students and those who like to play with them... though Paul Oorts Social Orchestra promises to be a great time for any instrument.

I am working on next year's programs... and I wanted to let you know probable dates and some initial line ups....

3 Fall Mini-Weekends (Friday Concert, Saturday daytime workshops, Saturday night jam, etc. These will be intimate and more social; and probably away from the campus center for some of the activities. Limited to about 30 students. September 7-8: TBD... probably a small Irish Retreat... fiddle, pipes, etc. October 12-13: Notorious... Larry and Eden return for a concert and workshops. November 9-10: Bee Eaters (check out their web clips...) with workshops for fiddles, mixed instruments and hammered dulcimer.

Plus our Full Weekend Programs in our usual format January 7-9: Fiddle Retreat with Cabaret Sauvignon (Andrea Hoag, Dave Wiesler, Karen Ashbrook and Paul Oorts), David Kaynor, probably Kimberley Fraser and more. Note weekend change!! January 18-20: Pipers Gathering... Staff still TBD... but special guests will probably include Matt and Shannon Heaton March 8-10: Spring Music Weekend... probably Fiddle and Dulcimer with an Old Time flavor (at least for a few classes). NOTE... new date, moving away from St. Patrick's Day Weekend!

These are still in the firming up stage... so if you have comments, suggestions or requests, please let me know!

Thanks! And I hope to see you at our Spring weekend!

cheers,

Joanie Blanton

Here's a brief description:

Shepherdstown, WV* Upper Potomac Spring Music Weekend

Friday, March 16-Sunday, March 18

This weekend retreat combines workshops for hammered dulcimer players at all levels and a mixed instrument class called "Dr. Oorts' Social Orchesta" which will work on a program combining Latin-American and Irish music for a unique special occasion. Weekend dulcimer staff includes Patti Amelotte, Cindy Ribet, Sam Rizzetta, and, Andy Young and Paul Oorts ("Dr. Oorts' Social Orchestra" for all instruments). All classes are held in the relaxed retreat atmosphere of the Shepherd University campus center and the surrounding historic buildings. Rental Hammered Dulcimers are available for new players. For more information see the webpage at www.upmw.smad.us/dulcimerfest, call Joanie Blanton (304) 263-2531 or email updf@earthlink.net. Now payable by PayPal.

For more information please see the attached PDF or the web page at http://upmw.smad.us/dulcimerfest/

The highlights of the program are here.

Our Staff includes:

Patti Amelotte After attaining a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Chapman University, Patti became interested in the hammered dulcimer and in Irish music. has performed throughout Southern California as a soloist, with several duos, and with the bands Blackthorn, Granuaile, Better than One, Crannog and her current band, Looney's Fortune released their CD "West Coast Irish" last year.In 1990 she won the State Hammered Dulcimer Championship. has performed on many television and movie soundtracks as well as releasing a well-received recording with Granuaile. teaches private and group lessons in Southern California.

Cindy Ribet has been singing and performing for most of her life and has over 25 years experience performing, recording, teaching, and composing for the hammered dulcimer. She also plays and teaches fiddle, recorder and guitar. She has recorded 6 CDs and has taught at the Swannanoah Gathering, John C. Campbell Folk School, the Augusta Heritage Festival, and the first ever County Cork Dulcimer Festival in Ireland. Her enthusiasm when she teaches and plays is evident and contagious.

Sam Rizzetta is a musician and instrument maker whose many design innovations helped to define the contemporary hammered dulcimer. He builds custom instruments, designs for Dusty Strings and has written the Technical Dulcimer column in Dulcimer Players News for many years. In 1975, he formed the renowned dulcimer quartet Trapezoid. He’s performed widely and has taught workshops for over 30 years and has over twelve recordings to his credit.

Andy Young, from Chicago, IL performs Gypsy Jazz, Irish traditional, and Quebecois tunes on Hammered Dulcimer, Irish Flute, Tin Whistle, and Guitar. He has performed and taught at dulcimer and folk festivals around the Midwest, includingWoods, Evart, Chicago Celtic Festival, Kentucky Music Winter Week, Fox Valley Folk Festival, Blissfest, and Saline Celtic Fest.thoughtful, engaging, simple style of teaching workshops makes even more advanced concepts seem easy.

Paul Oorts a native of Belgium, is adept at musette accordion and almany things with strings. His instrumental versatility and knowledge of many different styles of music has made Paul the accompanist of choice for many hammered dulcimer players and dance bands. He plays English, Scottish, vintage and contra dance with Goldcrest, Gigmeisters, Cabaret Sauvignon and numerous DC area bands.

Friday Afternoon Hammered Dulcimer Classes Classes run from 1:30-5PM. Advanced Beginning with Sam Rizzetta
Melodic Figures: Explore essential melody patterns and hammer skills. Some melodies sound like scales and some sound like chord arpeggios. We will learn hammering techniques and patterns for both, with tips to develop speed and add flavor. Sam will teach by ear but will have written music available.

Advanced-Beg.-Int. with Andy Young
County Clare Dulcimer: Clare is a region in Ireland whose fluid, unhurried style of music is reflective of its people and its geography. This workshop will use this elusive dialect of Irish traditional music as a framework in which to teach a few tunes and examine ornamentation for the hammered dulcimer that is culturally relevant, respectful of tradition, yet innovative.

Int.-Advanced Hammered Dulcimer with Cindy Ribet Arranging Fiddle Tunes: With a focus on strong rhythm and chord theory, we'll work on arranging some traditional fiddle tunes for hammered dulcimer. should know basic root-third-fifth chord shapes on their instruments.

Advanced Dulcimer Technique with Patti Amelotte The Essential Accompanist: Relinquish the melody; learn some great skills to enhance your ability to accompany fast tunes like jigs and reels in sessions with chords, bass runs, and other techniques. A review of chords, scales, modes and hammering patterns, how to work with a metronome and other techniques and exercises to make it fun and easy to accompany fiddles and other lead instruments.

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 March 1, if you would like to teach a class for this discount.

Weekend Classes: Classes are all day on Saturday, and Sunday morning

Beginning Hammered Dulcimer with Cindy Ribet

Dulcimer Basics for New Players: This class hones basic skills of hammering patterns, recognizing scale patterns, simple chord theory, dynamics, embellishments and more using a lively, traditional American repertoire.

Pre-tuned rental instruments are available for new players!

Advanced Beginning HD with Patti Amelotte

Practical Tools for Developing Players: Learn some new repertoire that you'll be able to use in jam sessions and performances, and new techniques for your “bag of tricks” to spice up any tune.

Intermediate Hammered Dulcimer with Sam Rizzetta

Mixed Melodies: When old-time musicians say a tune is "modal," they often mean the tune is in the haunting mixolydian mode, a scale like the major scale but with the 7th note of the scale flatted. Join Sam for some pleasantly twisty tunes that switch from one mode to another. Easier than you’d think on the dulcimer! Class will be taught by ear, but written music will be available.

Advanced HD Technique with Andy Young

Gypsy Swing and Parisian Musette: Using a repertoire from Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz to Parisian musette, we’ll expand our skills with jazz chords, scales, chromatics, hammering skills and techniques exercises to explore ways to get the most out of these two styles of music.

Int.-Adv. Mixed-Instrument Repertoire with Paul Oorts

Dr. Oorts’ Social Orchesta:. An unusual gig awaits members of the orchestra who will combine music from Latin American and Irish traditions for a new-world wedding. The Social Orchestra is open to a variety of instruments at a variety of levels. Music and sound files will be available (in dulcimer-friendly keys) at http://www.pauloorts.com for advance preparation. Sight readers will especially enjoy this class.

Students in intermediate and advanced classes should have a familiarity with their instruments and be able to learn tunes either from sheet music or by ear.

Tuition is $175 for all three days of workshops and includes all evening programs.

Important Lodging Information: 50 rooms have been reserved at the Clarion and Comfort Inn for the weekend. If you want one of those rooms, you need to say that you are part of the Upper Potomac Music Weekends group, otherwise the hotels are both FULL. Our reservation holds those rooms only until February 19, then they go up for grabs to anyone coming to town that weekend.