The following list of 2021 Faculty Artists is necessarily subject to change and clarification in light of continuing uncertainties regarding COVID vaccination progress and other COVID protocols. We will update the website frequently as things come into focus. Contact us with any specific questions you may have about the Artists.
RMFC Artists August 1-8 and 8-15, 2021
Pictures and brief bios, including links to personal websites, are included below the following list.
Andy Stein - Swing Fiddle
David Greenberg - Cape Breton Fiddle (August 1-8 only)
Nerea the Fiddler - International Fiddle
Pete Wernick - "Scruggs Style" Banjo (August 1-8 only)
Sara Murphy - Bluegrass Fiddle (August 8-15 only)
Adam Agee - Irish Fiddle
Kelly FitzRandolph - Bagpipes (August 1-8 only)
Rachel Baiman - Old Time Fiddle
Keith Barnhart – Advanced & Easy Guitar
Daniel Delaney - Cello (August 8-15 only)
Steve Scott - Fun Stuff
Tina Gugeler - Hammered Dulcimer, Bodhran
Ben Cohen - Klezmer Fiddle, Piano
Arlene Patterson - Beginning Guitar, Fiddle
Christopher & Cosima Luther - Orchestra, Quartets
David Mason - cello
Sharon Guli, Pat Danscen - Dance Callers
Andy Stein - Swing Fiddle
Often compared to jazz greats Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti, Andy was a founding member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, won a Grammy with Asleep at the Wheel, and has worked with a wide range of other musicians: including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Bob Dylan, Brad Paisley, Beyoncé, John Pizzerelli and Sir Paul McCartney.
After 22 years as the regular “Powder Milk Biscuit fiddler” on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, Andy has cut back on his radio job to pursue his other musical interests in the Jazz and classical fields: with compositions performed by the NY Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and ballet companies in Boston, Brazil, Denmark, New Zealand, Slovenia, and other countries.
In the Jazz field he occasionally appears with Wynton Marsalis, (including a nationwide live broadcast New Years eve 2013) and continues with Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks (the 11-piece 1920’s & ’30’s jazz band) appearing at Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and other concert halls in the Northeast. Last year he won his 2nd Grammy with the band, for their work on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire; recording with Nora Jones, Liza Minnelli, Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright, etc. On TV he has appeared on the Conan O’Brien show, Saturday Night Live, and backed up Dolly Parton on Letterman. He currently tours with Patti LuPone as a member of her 5-piece Gypsy Drifters, in concert halls from Carnegie to San Francisco’s Davies Hall.
David Greenberg - Cape Breton Fiddle
For three decades, David Greenberg has enjoyed a double career as a baroque violinist and Cape Breton fiddler. His fluency in these two genres makes him uniquely qualified to interpret the wild music of 18th-century Scotland. David has recorded more than 80 CDs, co-authored an influential treatise on Cape Breton fiddling, and has recently moved to Corvallis, Oregon. davidgreenbergviolinist.c
Nerea the Fiddler - International
Nerea combines elegance and strength in her powerful interpretation of traditional and modern fiddle repertoire. Her fiddling fused with stepdancing has been performed for the Sheikh of Dubai, the representative of Queen in Canada and audiences as large as 17,000. Raised on Cape Breton Island Nerea's fiddling is a cocktail of international influences. Nerea prides herself in teaching Music in an unorthodox manner and has had the privilege to teach well over 4,500 students in her career. Performing, collaborating and sharing her music & dance in such vast diverse places with an incredibly warm response, has inspired Nerea to continue pushing boundaries, breaking down barriers & crossing borders. Following her heart and staying true to her motto: Music has No Borders. Visit Nerea on Instagram.
Pete Wernick - "Scruggs Style" Banjo, Bluegrass Band Lab
Pete Wernick (a.k.a. Dr Banjo) is renowned as both a banjo player (with bluegrass favorites Hot Rize since 1978) and banjo and bluegrass jamming educator and innovator -- the first to offer banjo camps, starting in the 1980s. After a 6-year break from over 100 banjo camps in 30 years, Pete will be back with a full week of all-levels-welcome bluegrass banjo instruction at RMFC. The emphasis is on the basics of bluegrass banjo: timing, melody, tone... through the fine points of Scruggs style and Pete's approach. Novice players will be shown essential jam skills and advanced players will tackle a choice of challenges. Everyone will get individual attention. Attendance is limited. Pete will be attending the first week only, August 1-8. Visit Pete's website DrBanjo.
Sara Murphy – Bluegrass Fiddle, Bluegrass Band Lab
Sara Murphy has been attending Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp since 2006. She started playing violin when she was 6. She is an original member of The Bogglemuffins, the RMFC Bluegrass Band.
Adam Agee – Irish Fiddle
Adam Agee’s fiddle music is alive, dynamically fluid, and colorful. Raised in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California and Boulder, Colorado, Adam came first to Ireland in 2004, basing himself in Ennis, County Clare, where he discovered a new home. Through opportunities in America and Ireland, he has had the chance to study with many of today’s living tradition-bearers. His exposure to diverse influences makes Adam’s music deeply American, while his pursuit of sound has led him to focused expression through the Irish tradition. Within the rapidly developing culture of traditional music, suffused and enriched by a global exchange of ideas, Adam’s fiddle playing is grounded in a personal, aesthetic quest. He has been teaching and performing for 15 years. Visit Adam’s Website.
Kelly FitzRandolph - Bagpipes
Kelly has been piping and teaching for 43 years, both solo and band music. She has been Pipe Major and/or Pipe Sargent of grade 3, grade 4, and grade 5 pipe bands. Having been the first woman Pipe Major of a grade 3 band in Colorado, she has lead bands and soloists in competitions all over the western United States. She taught piping for 10 years at Arapahoe Community College in Colorado and studied under scholarship at the College of Celtic Performing Arts in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Kelly also plays as part of the Celtic Colorado ensemble which has performed with the Denver Brass every year for 20+ seasons. Besides requiring a consistently high quality of music, she sees to it that the folks have fun and don’t take themselves too seriously. “We will be the only wind instrument playing at the camp at high altitude, so the challenge will be great, both to the stamina of the players, and the behavior of the reeds (there are 4 of them), but we promise to be up for it”.
Rachel Baiman – Old Time Fiddle
Well-versed in a variety of fiddle traditions including Old-Time, Bluegrass, Scottish and Canadian styles, Rachel Baiman is a versatile and dynamic fiddle player. Originally from Chicago, Rachel is a winner of the Midwestern Fiddle Championships, as well as a two-time winner of the Illinois State fiddle Championship and a second place winner of the 2012 Nashville Grand Masters Fiddle Championship in the “Traditional Styles” category. A recent review by LA’s The Bluegrass Situation hailed her a “goose-bump-instigating talent.”
Rachel’s love for folk and acoustic music inspired a move to Nashville in 2008, where she earned degrees in Music and Anthropology at Vanderbilt University. Rachel also enjoys teaching and runs her own week-long fiddle camp in the Chicago area. In 2017, Rachel released her second solo album “Shame,” which was featured on NPR music’s “Songs we Love,” and favorably reviewed by No Depression, Noisey, and called a “rootsy wake-up call” by Folk Alley. Visit Rachel’s website and her Duo 10 String Symphony. See here to learn about her latestCD: http://www.rachelbaiman.com/cycles
Keith Barnhart – Advanced & Easy Guitar
Keith Barnhart received a Bachelor of Music in 2006 from the Lamont School of Music, his Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2015 with an emphasis in Historical Performance, and has just finished his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder. An old friend of RMFC, Keith is eager to share his excellent teaching skills. Visit Keith's website.
Daniel Delaney - Cello, Beginning to Advanced
Daniel Delaney is a multi-style cellist, improvisor, educator, and composer. He has performed throughout the world as a concerto soloist, band leader, recording artist, chamber musician, and clinician. He has served as cello and chamber music faculty for Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Montana Fiddle Camp, Arco Session Summer Workshop, Csehy Summer School of Music, and Cairn University School of Music.
Celebrated as a versatile arranger and recording artist, Daniel is credited with performances on contemporary popular projects by BeachSlang (Polyvinyl), Elvira Nikolaisen (SONY), mewithoutYou (Tooth and Nail), Twin Sister (Domino), Sun Airway (Dead Oceans), and many others. The Philadelphia Inquirer called him a “master musician” and Broadway World a “world class cellist.” Daniel will be attending the second week only, August 8-15. Visit Daniel's website.
Tina Gugeler - Hammered Dulcimer, Bohran
Tina has performed solo and in small combos with fiddle, guitar or piano, and in several Colorado contra dance bands. Over the years, Tina has won many local and regional competitions, and in the years 2000 and 2015 she won the U.S. National Hammered Dulcimer Championship. Visit Tina’s website.
Ben Cohen – Klezmer Fiddle, Piano
Ben Cohen is a versatile multi-instrumentalist. In addition to leading his own klezmer band, the Klez Dispensers (on accordion or simultaneous tenor banjo and bass), he plays electric bass and tuba for klezmer funk band Hal Aqua and the Lost Tribe; banjo and mandolin for Rocky Mountain Jewgrass; and archlute, theorbo and harpsichord for baroque ensemble Semplice. He nonetheless keeps his day job as an appellate lawyer in Denver. Here’s a video of Ben with Andy Stein from RMFC 2016.
Arlene Patterson – Fiddle & Guitar
From Glasgow, Scotland, Arlene is particularly interested in shetland fiddle music and story telling. She studied with Tom Anderson and spent time in the Shetland Islands. Arlene teaches violin/fiddle in her Longmont home studio and recently founded the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Club whose mission is to encourage the playing of authentic Scottish fiddle music in Colorado. Visit Arlene’s Website.
Patricia Danscen - Dance Caller
Patricia's clear and concise teaching and welcoming smile will engage both new and experienced dancers and keep them dancing all night long! Patricia’s repertoire includes contras, squares, circles, and traditional reels. She has called dances throughout Colorado and in several other state.
Sharon Guli - Vintage Dance Instructor
Sharon Guli, from Bellvue, Colorado, is a teacher, producer, historian, designer, writer, and founder of Guli Productions, specializing in historically themed, entertaining presentations such as Victorian balls, educational trunk shows, fashion shows, and lectures. Her programs and designs have been featured in three books and a PBS documentary, and have opened doors of opportunity to perform and study across the United States, Italy, France, England, and Russia.
Among all of her programs, teaching vintage dance is one of Sharon’s favorite ways to spend her time. For over thirty years, she has been researching and teaching historic dances, with a special focus on those from American history. With light banter, an eagerness to encourage the novice, and a clear, easy way of explaining the steps, Sharon is skilled at teaching people of all ages and abilities, leading a combination of historically correct as well as historically inspired dances. www.guliproductions.com
Cosima & Christopher Luther – Quartets, Orchestra
Co-founders of RMFC, C & C have been studying various fiddle styles, including Jazz, Swing, Celtic, & Bluegrass, for over 20 years. They have been performing as professionals since age 8. Classically trained, they graduated with their respective Masters degrees in violin performance at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California in Spring of 2008. Christopher earned his Doctoral degree (DMA) in viola at UT Austin in 2012. He recently opened Luther Strings music shop. Visit Luther Strings.
Cosima is conducting several youth orchestras in Southern California as she continues a career as a conductor and freelance musician in Los Angeles. Overseas appearances include Europe and Asia. In 2007, Christopher produced and released his first CD, “Personality,” which includes Cosima on several tracks. Here is a great video of Mark Luther talking about Raising Musical Children.
David Mason - Cello. David is a Denver based freelance cellist. Versed in many styles of music, David especially enjoys playing new works and collaborating with composers. David is in highest demandas a chamber and orchestral musician and is a member of several professional level string quartets. He can be seen on the television series Hells Kitchen, The Amazing Race, and Millionaire
Matchmaker. Professionally, David has worked with composers such as David Newman, Jeff Russo, Gerard Schurmann, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Eric Genuis, Michael Skloff, Jae Deal, John Biggs, and many others in the film, experimental, and pop music industries. As a soloist, David has been featured in the soundtrack for the documentary film "With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story" which was recorded at Capitol Records in Los Angeles. He is a regular soloist of the "Lamb of God" concert series in Ventura County hosted by Witness Music. Composed by Rob Gardner, this is a contemporary, neo-romantic depiction of Jesus' life. It is important to David that music reaches a person’s soul and that the person feels transported in some way by the music.