Dulcimer U Instructors
Summer 2024 Dulcimer U Instructors
Larry Conger - Gatlinburg, Tennessee – Dulcimer U Artistic Director
A graduate of The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Larry has been involved with
music as a vocation for over 40 years. Besides being a popular performer and instructor
at various dulcimer festivals around the country, Larry is involved with distance
learning via online lessons.
Larry has served as a Church Music Director for several churches. He has been involved
with the Tennessee Arts Commission's Arts in Education program and the Kentucky Arts
Council's Teacher Incentive Program, presenting dulcimer programs in the public schools.
In 1995, Larry won the Southern Regional Mountain Dulcimer Championship at the Ozark
Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. In 1996, he teamed with Jim Curley of Kansas
City to win the Southern Regional Dulcimer Ensemble Championship at the Folk Center.
In 1998, Larry won the prestigious National Mountain Dulcimer Championship at the
Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
Larry has several dulcimer books and recordings to his credit, including contributions
to Great Players of the Mountain Dulcimer, National Champions, and Masters of the
Mountain Dulcimer II, compilation CDs featuring many of today's top dulcimer artists.
He has also been featured on three Japanese compilation CDs of international acoustic
music. The Acoustic Breath CD series has enjoyed widespread acclaim in Japan.
Larry and his wife Elaine are directors of Dulcimer U at Western Carolina University,
hosting numerous dulcimer related workshops throughout the year. They are also directors
of their own Duet Dulcimer Retreat, Dulcimer Hymnposium, and September on The Mississippi
Dulcimer Retreat.
Elaine Conger - Gatlinburg, Tennessee – Dulcimer U Artistic Director
Elaine is a native of Nashville, Tennessee. She is a lifelong musician and music
educator. After years of teaching and touring, she’s finally settled down in the mountains
of East Tennessee for another chapter in her musical journey. Her current passion
is writing and performing worshipful songs that stir the soul and encourage spiritual
reflection.
Music has been at her foundation from the beginning. She began piano lessons at the
age of 4½ and started playing in church by age 12. Singing and playing guitar for
church youth groups led to being involved in most every musical offering throughout
her school career. She received a music education degree from Tennessee Tech, majoring
in piano and minoring in voice and organ. She earned further music education certification
in Orff-Schulwerk from the University of Memphis and a Master’s in Elementary Education
from Tennessee State University.
After teaching in Nashville for a few years, she decided to join a band and go out on the road. Her years as a professional musician include playing keyboards and singing back-up vocals for country artist Faith Hill and performing on the General Jackson Showboat. Once the biological clock started ticking, she went back to teaching and had her daughter, Krislen Sherrill, now a 24-year-old actress living in New York. Elaine’s tenure as the Senior Director of Music at The Renaissance Center had her playing and musically directing numerous music theater productions, including appearing in a few herself. Her favorite role to date is as Patsy in Always, Patsy Cline.
That experience at a fine arts and technological center led her to meet and marry Larry Conger, a former National Mountain Dulcimer Champion. She now adds bass dulcimer to the mix, and they’re found quite often out on the road teaching and performing on the dulcimer when they’re not performing around their hometown of Gatlinburg, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Linda Brockinton – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives and Evening Concerts
Linda 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. Linda is also a poet and songwriter.
Jeff Furman - Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives & Evening Concerts
Jeff is an award-winning mountain dulcimer player who is known for his smooth and expressive style. His gentle, humorous, and effective teaching style has made him a very popular instructor at numerous mountain dulcimer workshops across the country.
Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist who has been playing old-time music since 1980. Primarily a clawhammer banjo player for many years, he developed a rhythmic and melodic style which has heavily influenced his dulcimer playing. He has an extensive repertoire of old-time fiddle music which crosses over to a strong interest in Celtic music. He has a particular fondness for waltzes and Celtic airs on the dulcimer.
He has been performing for more than 35 years, and his technical abilities, quick ear, musical sensitivity, and expression have made Jeff a popular choice for playing on multiple recordings, including music from Ireland, Scotland, the Appalachian Mountains, and American folk tunes. Touching someone’s heart with his music is Jeff’s most rewarding goal.
Stephen Seifert – Murfreesboro, Tennessee – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives, Evening Concerts
Steve’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. He 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. He continues to perform this piece as well as three others written for dulcimer and 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.
Rob Brereton – Sherman, Connecticut – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives and Evening Concerts
Rob is considered one of the pioneers in contemporary mountain dulcimer playing. His years of studying classical guitar have polished his playing style while his degree in music theory and composition has given him a fresh approach to arranging.
Rob was one of the first dulcimer players to arrange extensively in chromatic and other alternate tunings. Although he specializes in the standards and early jazz tunes of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and the like, Rob is equally adept at playing the more traditional celtic, Appalachian, old time, and other dulcimer repertoire.
Rob has taught all levels of dulcimer at most major music festivals and folk schools across the country as well as internationally. He has won several awards for his playing including a coveted Winfield National flatpicking award. Rob was one of the organizers of the Housatonic Dulcimer Celebration and continues to organize the occasional Dulcimer Cruise. He has been playing dulcimer for over 30 years and has been an internationally recognized performer and instructor since his first CD was released in 1992. David Schnaufer called Rob's playing "...strong and innovative."
Rob's music is featured on his recording, Someone to Watch Over Me available for download on iTunes, CD Baby, and most other music download sites.
In addition, Rob teaches K-6 music and has many private students. He also composes, arranges, and he directs several choirs near his home in CT. If you're interested in Rob teaching privately or at a venue, feel free to contact him.
Much to his friends' dismay, he also yodels. Please don't hold this against him.
Laurie Alsobrook – Melrose, Florida – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives & Evening Concerts
After a full career in elementary education, Laurie Alsobrook has found a perfect
blending of her two passions - teaching learners and playing the dulcimer. Laurie
has participated in a variety of festivals, online and in-person. Festival credits
include QDF, Black Mountain, Nonsuch, Dulcimer U, NGFDA, Dutchland, Dulcimer Daze,
CFDF, and DulciMoon. She also served as co-host/organizer and instructor at Stephen
Foster Dulcimer Retreats, both digital and in-person events.
Laurie is a regular contributor to the “Send in the Music Virtual Jam,” offering free tab to the participants and serving as a song leader. Her weekly “No Frills” segment on “Send in the Music” offers fun tips to add to the jam experience and is now a YouTube channel.
Jim Miller – Hampton, Tennessee – Morning Skills Afternoon Electives & Jam Meister
Jim has been playing and performing traditional music for the past 46 years. An accomplished
instrument builder and teacher, he has taught workshops at numerous festivals as well
as won many awards for his musicianship, including first place dulcimer at both Galax,
VA and Fiddler's Grove, NC. He has played with Celtic, Bluegrass, Swing, Blues and
Old Time bands, and has done session work on many recordings. He plays guitar, mandolin,
banjo, mandocello, bass, steel drum, percussion, hammered and mountain dulcimers as
well as his own off-the-wall musical inventions, which are always entertaining. Jim
holds a Masters degree in Elementary Education with an endorsement in instrumental
music. He is a retired adjunct professor teaching mandolin, ukulele, dulcimer and
autoharp in the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music program at East Tennessee State
University and played mandocello in the ETSU Mandolin Orchestra.
Carol Crocker – Winston Salem, North Carolina – Morning Skills, Afternoon Electives & Evening Concerts
Carol’s first introduction to mountain dulcimer was at a school Heritage Day program.
For over 20 years Carol has enjoyed sharing her love of the dulcimer with children,
adults, schools, churches and senior homes as an instructor and performer.
She has been an instructor at various dulcimer festivals and events including Dulcimer U, Winston-Salem Dulcimer festival, the Stephen Foster Dulcimer Retreat, North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Festival, QuaranTUNE, Mt. Dora, New Mexico, and various other events. She is also a regular song leader on the Saturday Send In the Music Virtual Jam, and has a Send In the Music songbook “Tunes From Zoom”. Other books include “Songs of the Spirit”, African American spirituals arranged for the mountain dulcimer with a CD and digital download of “Songs of the Spirit”; “Beginner’s Guide to Mountain Dulcimer”, and “Dulcimer in The Schools”. Her website is www.Carolcrockermusic.com
Carol holds a BS degree in Music Education from Western Carolina University, a MM degree in Music Education from UNC-Greensboro, and Level III certification in Orff-Schulwerk. She is a retired music teacher from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband Joe.
Nancy Minard – Cullowhee, North Carolina – Administrative Assistant
Nancy was introduced to the Mountain Dulcimer as part of the mountain culture of Western
North Carolina in the early 90’s. She started playing in 2005 as the result of a
family reunion. She taught herself the basics, asked a lot of questions and started
attending workshops.
Though Nancy never set out to teach, she ended up doing just that on a volunteer basis for over 15 years at Cullowhee Valley School, introducing children from the 2nd grade through 8th grade to their heritage and the beginnings of the mountain dulcimer. Several of her students at the school went on to major in music in college.
Nancy took the mountain dulcimer teaching classes at Dulcimer U the first year the class was offered, completed the course work and graduated the following year. During the same time, she also offered “Introduction to Mountain the Dulcimer” classes at the Jackson County Senior Center.
Nancy recently hosted two workshops at the Celtic Heritage Fam-Jam in Brooksville, Florida. She has also offered an “Introduction to the Mountain Dulcimer” class online.
Since 2013 Nancy has performed for the Dillsboro Christmas Luminaries with her group, the Mountain Fretters.
Cheri Miller – Hampton, Tennessee – Dulcimer Emporium Director
Cheri has been playing and performing traditional music as a backup guitar player
for many years. She has performed in swing bands, old time bands, and dance bands.
Cheri enjoys jamming, gardening, traveling, reading, and puttering.
Cheri spent 30 plus years in the educational field teaching elementary students, English to both high school and university students, as a Library Media Specialist, as well as directing and producing musical productions, and teaching guitar to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in an after school string band program.
Cheri holds a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in English, a Master’s Degree in Media Services, and an Educational Specialist degree in School Administration. Cheri is currently retired and enjoying life traveling and playing music. She currently plays guitar in a duo with husband, Jim Miller.
Shawn McCurdy - Dillard, Georgia - Instructor
Shawn first picked up a dulcimer about 12 years ago when she lived in Florida. After
searching for a less mainstream instrument to replace the piano she studied as a music
major in college but no longer had, Shawn found a dulcimer group in central Florida
and was captivated by the dulcimer’s sweet sound and portability. She became an enthusiastic
member and ultimately music director for the club. After relocating to northeast GA
about 9 years ago, she joined up with two local groups and enjoys their outings at
local events and venues. She has taught several workshops for dulcimer groups across
the country, and teaches private lessons to local students. Shawn has published two
books of mountain dulcimer tab.
Shawn enjoys creating arrangements for the mountain dulcimer from a variety of musical styles, including Celtic, classical, jazz, rock, pop, and anything else that strikes her musical fancy. She appreciates the slower side of the dulcimer repertoire, and loves anything in a minor key.
Mike Clemmer - Townsend, Tennessee - Dulcimer Doctor & Afternoon Electives
“If you had a blank check, what would you want to do?” Connie Clemmer asked her husband, Mike. After talking and praying about it, Mike realized what he wanted … his own shop for building and selling his handcrafted mountain dulcimers.
Mike’s long sought dream-come-true has evolved from his life-long love of many types of music, playing, singing and his reputation for repairing, trading and buying instruments. Over thirty years ago, an acquaintance asked Mike to help him catch up on his dulcimer orders in Townsend. Armed with years of experience repairing guitars and basses, Mike accepted the challenge and learned the art of dulcimer building. It has been a labor of love ever since.
Mike will be available throughout the week to make repairs, add frets, strap buttons, etc., to your dulcimer. Be sure to check him out at his vendor booth.
