2017 HD Rendezvous

The 2017 Hammer Dulcimer Rendezvous wrapped up on April 30th. It was a hoot!
After the Instructors Concert, Dinner and Raffle on Saturday night, I had to take some folks off to PDX. When I returned to Hull Park, the Lodge was eerily silent. Nary a soul in there.
I walked through to the back door, and as I opened it heard a raucous slide from Barbara Calm’s trombone, and some funky percussion. Walking down to the Rec Room, a Saturday Night Dance was in full swing with a 12 piece band! Steve Schneider was “banging on a drywall bucket like a chimpanzee.” With Carl Thor at the piano, a vigorous dulcimer section, mandolins, guitar, fiddle, whistle and who know’s what were all together laying down the grooves for caller Stacy Rose as she wrangled the dancers on the floor. Wahoo!

Our featured Guest Instructors for 2017 were Karen Ashbrook, Paul Oorts and Steve Schneider.

Supplementing our Local Heroes Carolyn Cruso, Rick Fogel and Carl Thor in the HD instruction, Marina Albero was with us for the 3rd year in a row.
Hossein Salehi, maestro of the Persian santoor, was also on board with his incredible music and gentle humor. (Check him out here with his son Bobak Salehi, along with composer Anoushirvan Rohani, in a concert with Pink Martini and the Oregon Symphony.)
Karen Ashbrook, Paul Oorts and Steve Schneider led an elegant series of workshops. Steve and Hossein gave a great lecture/demo/concert addressing hammering techniques, modes, and tunings in a comparison of Persian and American santoor/hammer dulcimer. Karen and Rick led a panel discussion on “Music for Healing and Transition.” Carolyn and I led another titled “Playing for Others — How to, well, get out!”
Contract negotiations, as is our tradition, are underway (under heightened security at one of our luxury resorts) for the services of venerated Imported and Local Heroes for the 2018 HD Rendezvous.

The 2018 HD Rendezvous will take place at Hull Park in Sandy, Oregon, with on-site check-in starting at noon on Thursday, May 3.
The Rendezvous will wrap up at noon on Sunday, May 6.
The event features workshops for hammer dulcimer players at all skill levels from beginning to advanced, as well as instructor concerts, panel discussions, jam sessions, an open mic concert, a chance to buy recorded music, instructional books and musical items from our instructors’ tables of wares, and a raffle of items donated by participants.
Hull Park features dorm rooms (2 twin beds per room), several discreet sound spaces for workshops and jams, a professional kitchen (and staff!) as well as a newly constructed shower facility. On-site RV parking (no hook-ups) and camping (lots of good lawns, and on a clear day, a view of Mount Hood), as well as nearby hotels are further lodging options for registrants.

Pete Ballerstedt is our noble founder, and maintainer of our Facebook page where you can see photos and hear some folks playing at previous Rendezvous.

Mick Doherty
mick@nwdulcimer.com