Information on Guest Performers/Teachers

Mark Gilston Austin, TX (mountain dulcimer, concertina, guitar, banjo, Bulgarian bagpipes, pennywhistle, ocarina, tambura...)

Mark Gilston has been performing traditional folk music for over thirty years. His vast repertoire encompasses songs and instrumentals from North America and most of Europe, particularly the British Isles, Scandinavia, and the Balkans. His performances are laced with humor and a wide base of eclectic knowledge. Mark, an award-winning mountain dulcimer player (first place, 2004 Oklahoma State Mountain Dulcimer Championship), also plays concertina, guitar, banjo, Bulgarian bagpipes, pennywhistle, ocarina, tambura, and others.

He has given concerts at numerous colleges, clubs and coffee houses throughout the United States as well as England and Canada and has been a featured performer and workshop leader for various folk music societies. He is currently performing music and living in Austin, Texas.

Donna Missigman Pennsylvania (hammered and mountain dulcimer, harp and bowed psaltery)

Donna Missigman is a hammered and mountain dulcimer, harp and bowed psaltery performer, teacher and recording artist from Pennsylvania. She has taught and performed at many dulcimer festivals throughout the U.S. including Kentucky Music Week, N. Georgia Foothill Society, and the Cranberry Dulcimer Gathering. She has written several dulcimer books, including "Resurrection Road, Lenten and Easter Music for Mountain Dulcimer" and "The Dulcimer Capo Book." Her latest release is Beginning Bowed Psaltery, a method for psaltery players. Several of her teaching articles have been published in Dulcimer Player's News, a quarterly publication for dulcimer enthusiasts. She has five CDs which range from Holiday music to Scottish to Folk music from the Old and New World.

Marc Mathieu (Mountain Dulcimer) Hearst, Ontario, Canada

In the early 70's, at the age of 12, Marc learned to play the guitar and a few years later,the banjo. In 1994, his interest in the mountain dulcimer was sparked when he saw one being demonstrated on TV. After ordering one from a builder in Kansas, he self-taught himself to play some French-Canadian songs that he grew up with, and later composed his own instrumental tunes.

His original composition, "(Playin') Hockey on the Pond", was featured in the February 2006 issue of Dulcimer Players News. In April 2006, TVOntario's French language network (TFO), televised an interview with Marc demonstrating his dulcimers. In June 2006, Mel Bay published Marc's article entitled "French-Canadian Music and Song for the Mountain Dulcimer" in their www.DulcimerSessions.com webzine.

In the past, he has taught and performed Canadian music at Mountain Dulcimer Week in Cullowhee, NC and during August Dulcimer Daze in West Dover, VT.

Gilbert Mathieu (Guitar, Mountain Dulcimer) Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

Gilbert Mathieu resides in Thunder Bay, in Ontario Canada. He has been playing guitar for several years and mountain dulcimer since 2002. As a guitarist, he enjoys the beautiful simplicity of guitar strumming while accompanying other stringed instruments such as the mountain dulcimer, especially with his brother Marc. As a dulcimer player, he has attended various mountain dulcimer festivals and enjoys playing his original mountain dulcimer compositions at open stage events.

Eric Sorensen Marengo, WI

Will teach beginner kids' classes including World Rhythms on drums, make a dijeridu and a play a mountain dulcimer. He will also teach a beginner mandolin class.

Eric has been playing music for as long as he can remember, which is getting to be a pretty long time. From playing keyboard in rock groups in high school and college in the 60's and 70's, and a brief stint as lead guitarist in a band in the 80's, he formed the acoustic duo Sutherland Strings before starting his career as a solo musician. Over the past twenty years Eric has brought the harp, mandolin, banjo, zheng, bouzouki, dijeridu, and many other instruments into his musical family; performing at clubs, festivals, schools & libraries, weddings, and on live radio. His cd, ECLECTICUTION, was described as "awesome" by his fellow musicians at the Midwest Folk Alliance gathering. Eric lives in the foothills of the Penokee range near Marengo, Wisconsin.

Georganne Hunter Duluth, MN

Georganne has been playing and teaching harp for about thirty years. She has played at festivals and venues from New Foundland to Colorado, including the Chicago Irish Fest and the Milwaukee Irish Fest. She is a member of the Duluth-based group Willowgreen. She is primarily interested in traditional Celtic music and has studied in both Scotland and Ireland. She has two solo CDs (Stoney Point and Greenstone) and five albums with Willowgreen.

Duluth International Folkdancers Duluth, MN

Duluth's own International Folkdance group.