Instructors

---

As a nationally touring solo performer, Bing Futch brings big energy to every stage. He's headlined at The Walnut Valley Festival, The Florida Folk Festival, the Old Songs Festival, Indiana Fiddlers Gathering, and Common Ground On The Hill, unleashing a torrent of music using Appalachian mountain dulcimer, ukulele, Native American flute, and a looper. With every performance, Bing paints sonic images using both traditional and modern strokes.

His music has been featured in numerous productions, and his theatrical work has included serving as the composer and musical director for The Jungle Book: A Musical Adaptation at Stage Left Theater in Orlando, Florida. He also contributed music to the soundtrack of The Castle of Miracles attraction at Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee, Florida.

Bing is an endorsing artist for Folkcraft Instruments and has written several books for them, including the best-selling Method For Beginning Mountain Dulcimer. He’s also worked with V-Picks to develop a pick specifically for mountain dulcimers. This collaboration resulted in both the “Bing” Lite and “Bing” Ultra-Lite models.

Bing keeps a busy schedule of performances, workshops, and production that includes shooting episodes of Dulcimerica, a video series on YouTube that’s been viewed by millions of people worldwide and is currently in its 17th year. He lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife, Jae, and a menagerie of rescued critters.

  Proud of his WV roots, Hunter is an in-demand musician known for his virtuosity on the mountain dulcimer, as well as clawhammer banjo. His accolades include multiple first place wins as the WV state dulcimer and banjo champion, Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention, The Appalachian Stringband Festival, Mid-Eastern Regional Mountain Diulcimer championship, and multiple other festivals. Hunter is a founding member of Long Point String Band. He’s known for his kind and approachable teaching style and is a frequent instructor at the Augusta Heritage Center, Quarantune Dulcimer Festival, Kentucky Music Week, and other prestigious festivals and venues.

I enjoy helping people experience the joys of making music, especially those who have wanted to play an instrument, but never had the opportunity or never believed they could do it.

In addition to coordinating the Waterbound Dulcimers in Kinston, NC, I teach at workshops and in my home; I play with Flat Mountain Dulcimers, Waterbound, and Dolce Dulcimers; and I enjoy meeting “dulcimer people.”  As a matter of fact, most of my best friends are dulcimer people.  If you don’t play a dulcimer, why not give it a try?

https://sites.google.com/view/maryakatz-dulcimations/home

Marya taught public school music for 33 years before retiring in 2009. She earned National Board Certification in Early/Middle Childhood Music in 2002. Currently, she teaches private dulcimer lessons, directs the adult choir at her church, and enjoys performing with the folk group Simple Gifts of the Blue Ridge. With this group, she appears on 5 CDs of an eclectic mix of traditional Appalachian music, Celtic, New Age, Christmas music, and more. She has also produced 9 self-published books encompassing original compositions, basic theory, and arrangements of traditional music for the hammered dulcimer. Several of her original tunes have been featured in Dulcimer Players News.

After a long professional career of performing, recording and teaching a wide variety of instruments in many settings, Ken has focused his attention on the bowed dulcimer for the last 29 years. He has developed the modern version of this very old way of playing the dulcimer. He is a "failed fiddle player" and has found the bowed dulcimer a good way to "satisfy the bowed Jones!"

Sheila grew up in a music-filled home and can’t remember a time without music in her life. She has sung and played in various music groups for as long as she can remember.

In the late '80's, Sheila heard and saw her first hammered dulcimer and was so captivated by the sound of the instrument, she depleted her savings account to buy one. She has played at church services, weddings, funerals, dances, and school events. She has taught the hammered dulcimer tuning class at the Winston-Salem Dulcimer Festival and she has taught privately for many years. Sheila enjoys playing several stringed instruments, including the piano, guitar, ukulele and Appalachian dulcimer. After retiring from full time professional piano service in 2020, she continues to work part time tuning and repairing harpsichords and clavichords, teaching music and woodcarving. She enjoys sharing her love of music with other aspiring musicians, both young and not-so-young.