Ashe Arts Council presents dulcimer concert, workshops
Dulcimer player Neal Hellman will perform at the Ashe Arts Center Aug. 5.
The Ashe County Arts Council will present a concert at 4 p.m.
on Sunday, Aug. 5, featuring nationally acclaimed performer and teacher of the mountain dulcimer,
Neal Hellman.
The concert will be in the gallery of the Ashe Arts Center and tickets are $12
for adults and $5 for students.
Hellman has been performing, writing, teaching and
recording acoustic music for the past 30 years.
His latest recording, “Emma’s Waltz,” is a
colorful dance through traditional and contemporary acoustic music styles. It features 17
different musicians playing compositions from Ireland, Scotland, Finland, America and
France.
His previous albums include “Autumn in the Valley,” “Dream of the Manatee” and
“Oktober County,” and his music was described by the Santa Cruz Sentinel as “just plain beautiful
music, all lilting guitars and dulcimers and songs that are precise and perfectly
arranged."
He is the author of many books on the Appalachian dulcimer, including the
“Dulcimer Chord Book,” “The Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method” and “Celtic Song and Slow Airs for Mountain
Dulcimer.”
Hellman will also present two workshops on Sunday, Aug. 5, at the Ashe Arts
Center. A 12:30 p.m. workshop will be for beginners, during which Hellman will teach basic
melodies, as well as how to utilize the dulcimer to back up the voice.
A 2 p.m. workshop
will be for intermediate players and Hellman will teach several arrangements from France, Sweden,
Denmark, Ireland and other areas.
One workshop fee is $20 or $30 for both workshops, with
discounts for workshop participants attending the concert. For more information or
tickets, call (336) 846-2787.
