MEET THE BUCKEYE INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER INSTRUCTORS

HAMMERED DULCIMER INSTRUCTORS

LINDA BROCKINTON

Intermediate/Advanced

Linda Brockinton has been playing music since age eleven. A flute major in college, she became accomplished and played with the Arkansas Symphony, during its inception years of the late 60s. While Linda always dreamed of being a music teacher, she put that dream on the back burner to raise her children. In the late 80s, she took up the mountain dulcimer. Linda had the desire to become proficient enough to teach others how to play.

Linda won the Southern Regional Dulcimer Championship in 1999 and was the first woman to win the National Mountain Dulcimer Championship in 2001. Since then, she has been teaching around the country at dulcimer, folk and Irish festivals. Linda is also available for club workshops.

    Linda teaches private flute and dulcimer lessons in her home and is now offering more concentrated periods of teaching, which are one-on-one, for 5 to 10 days.  If interested, contact Linda for pricing and scheduling. She prefers the softer side of the dulcimer, with her favorite music being Celtic, hymns and folk/old time. Linda writes many pieces with multi-parts for playing by small, intimate groups. Her preferred style of playing the dulcimer is finger picking. She has written a variety of instructional books for the dulcimer and recorded 8 CDs. The word dulcimer comes from the Latin words “dulce melos,” which means “sweet sound” Many folks feel the dulcimer is the most peaceful of all instruments.

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ZOOM OPTION:  Linda's 10 hours of extended instruction will be offered as a Zoom option for those folks who cannot attend in person.  The Zoom feed will be monitored by BDF staff who will be sure that any questions are answered. 

Zoom Registration form

DEE DEE TIBBITS

Intermediate/Advanced

Dee Dee Tibbits has been in love with the hammered dulcimer for over 40 years!

She grew up in a musical family, 6th of seven kids.  She started out on saxophone and French horn, but soon discovered that stringed instruments were her first love!   She loves teaching

She loves teaching at folk festivals around the country performing concerts, and has over 40 private students from ages 6 to 85!

Watching students discover the beauty of the dulcimer, and helping them learn to play it is one of her greatest joys!
 

ZOOM OPTION:  DeeDee's 10 hours of extended instruction will be offered as a Zoom option for those folks who cannot attend in person.  The Zoom feed will be monitored by BDF staff who will be sure that any questions are answered. 

Zoom Registration form

MOLLY MCCORMACK

Past Beginner/Early Intermediate

Molly McCormack is a folk musician from Louisville, Kentucky. She began her dulcimer journey in 1989 after hearing the mountain dulcimer at a local craft fair. Soon after, she found the dulcimer community in Louisville, and the rest, they say, is history. 

Molly’s repertoire spans the range from traditional folk music, jazz, and blues, to original tunes. Her performances include both instrumental and vocal selections.

At festivals, she has shared the stage with many dulcimer luminaries including “The Mother of Folk” Jean Ritchie.

Molly believes that playing music is for everyone, and her gentle teaching style makes her a favorite of students of all levels.

She often performs solo and teaches at festivals around the country.

In Louisville she performs with The Blind Dog String Band and The Upbeats Jazz Combo. 

Molly’s recordings include:
CD “Reds and Blues”
CD “Molly’s Merry Musical Mix”
Illustrated book “Silent Woods” 

Learn more about Molly ...  www.mollymccormack.com

CHRIS STEINER

Past Beginner/Early Intermediate

In 1997, when Chris Steiner responded to a newspaper ad that said, “Learn to play 10 songs on the dulcimer in 2 hours.  Keep the dulcimer. $35”, little did she know where it would lead.  That first dulcimer turned out to be a cardboard mountain dulcimer. Within two weeks, she was performing at the county fair and local nursing homes. A few months later, she saw her first hammered dulcimer, and fell in love all over again. The very first dulcimer festival that she attended was none other than Buckeye, and she has attended every one since then, as a participant the first four years, and an instructor the last eighteen. (Yes, she has all of her name badges to prove it!) As someone who never touched a stringed instrument until she was in her 40s, Chris is living proof that you are never too old to learn, and she just LOVES teaching “old dogs new tricks”.

In addition to private lessons, Chris conducts workshops and performs at several festivals and venues yearly.  Her vita has included assisting with in-school music clubs and programs, and conducting workshops for school teachers for “Bluegrass in the Schools” in conjunction with the International Bluegrass Music Association in Nashville.  Chris (and Joe) are also very instrumental in running a large, twice-yearly bluegrass festival, now in it’s 46th year.

Chris (Cooperrider) Steiner is one-half (the better half, she says!) of Chris and Joe - Old Time Duo.  Chris’ instrument of choice is the hammered dulcimer, but she can also be found playing upright bass when the opportunity arises. For more information about Chris or Old Time Duo, email Chris at Cooperrider@yahoo.com.
 

DIANE HOCHSTETLER

New Players/Beginners

MELANIE SHAPIRO

New Players/Beginners

Melanie Shapiro began playing the marimba when she was 10 years old and earned a degree in percussion performance from Indiana University.  Soon after college she took a break from playing music and instead kept her connection to music through listening to it at folk dances.  At dances she would frequently see a hammered dulcimer in the band and thought “someday...” but raising kids and working kept her from pursuing the dulcimer for many years.  After her husband gifted her with her first hammered dulcimer, she brought it to her first festival in 2012—the Buckeye Dulcimer Festival—for her first ever lessons on the dulcimer.  She soon fell in love with and became thoroughly addicted to the hammered dulcimer.  Melanie studied hammered dulcimer with Mark Alan Wade for 10 years.

With Melanie’s classical background, her repertoire tends to include a fair amount of classical music but Celtic music  and ragtime are other favorites.  Melanie is co-founder of the Central Ohio Hammered Dulcimer Club and can be found at one of the Columbus Irish Sessions on most Tuesdays. Melanie loves to share her enthusiasm for the hammered dulcimer with people who are new to the instrument and looks forward to working with you!

LES GUSTAFSON-ZOOK

Autoharp

Les Gustafson-Zook, from Goshen, Indiana is a popular autoharp instructor, performer and multi-instrumentalist at festivals and music schools across the U. S. 

He's an engaging entertainer, having performed in elementary schools for over 20 years introducing traditional instruments and music to multi-generational audiences with a presentation of Songs of the Pioneers. More recently, Les added a variety of homemade novelty instruments to his concerts, bringing rhythm, smiles and intrigue to all ages.

Les is the 2001 and 2018 International Autoharp Champion at Winfield, KS, the 1989 National Autoharp Champion and the 2023 Mountain Laurel Autoharp Champion. In 2014 he was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame. 

Les is known for his patient, clear and encouraging teaching style, his fast clean picking of fiddle tunes, his energetic and entertaining performances and for his creative arrangements of hymns, waltzes, jazz standards and Christmas carols.

Les has recorded six CDs and has three books of arrangements for autoharp.

He’s also a core member of the contradance band - Band o’ Goshen. When not doing music, you’ll find he and his wife, Gwen, chasing discs on the local disc golf course.

ZOOM OPTION:  Les' 10 hours of extended instruction will be offered as a Zoom option for those folks who cannot attend in person.  The Zoom feed will be monitored by BDF staff who will be sure that any questions are answered. 

Zoom Registration form

JOE STEINER

Clawhammer Banjo

Joe is a well-respected and innovative instructor on several instruments, and he has several recordings to his credit with various old-time and bluegrass groups. Joe is recognized for his banjo knowledge and skills, but he is also comfortable with mountain dulcimer, harmonica, guitar, and string bass.  He has been performing, playing and teaching stringed instruments for over 40 years.

A sought-after instructor and jam leader, Joe is involved with workshops and performances at many festivals. He has coordinated many in-school music programs, workshops, clubs, and performances for children and adolescents, including the TriState Youth Bluegrass Academy (in cooperation with the Black Swamp Arts Council.)

Joe is the host and programmer of Blue Ridge Breakdown, a bluegrass and old-time music program on WLFC 88.3, University of Findlay.

He performs with several ensembles including the Old-Time Duo with Chris Steiner and Buckeye Roadshow with Chris and Shari Wolf.

ZOOM OPTION:  Joe's 10 hours of extended instruction will be offered as a Zoom option for those folks who cannot attend in person.  The Zoom feed will be monitored by BDF staff who will be sure that any questions are answered. 

Zoom Registration form

SHARI WOLF, BAND IT!  INSTRUCTOR  

For many years, Shari created, taught, led, and facilitated the Band workshop here at Buckeye.  It's the type of workshop that draws on a lifetime of music experience to bring out the best in all players.  Shari has been involved in teaching music workshops on guitar and mountain dulcimer, developing workshop schedules, creating and running festivals and camps as a member of Sweetwater, Country Strings, and as a past officer, president, and member of the Mountain Dulcimer Society of Dayton, music leader for a local community group, Nine Mile Creek out of Russia, Ohio.  She is now a member of a new group that has arose from the festival, meet Buckeye Junction (Chris & Joe Steiner, Joyce Harrison and Shari).

Here at Buckeye, she has been stirring the pot as assistant director to Louise Ziegler (Director Emeritus), as Co-Director with Joyce Harrison and now Director with invaluable help from Chris & Joe Steiner, Shirley Green, and Brian & Debbie Doggett, Diane & Mike Hochstetler, and more. 

For the past four years, Shari seized the opportunity to once again lead the Band-it! workshop. This workshop is so special in that each participant has a purpose and will add to their music.  It's a wonderful class to keep and sharpen music skills.   She is really excited to be doing it again this year.