Hammered Dulcimer Workshop with PHILIP BOULDING of "Magical Strings"

Saturday , March 26, 2005
01:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location: Elderly Instruments
workshop ($35.00)

As Magical Strings, Philip and Pamela Boulding have performed on radio and television around the country, including "A Prairie Home Companion," NPR's Weekend Edition, CNN both at home and in Europe, and prime-time TV in Japan. The Seattle-based artists placed first in a group stringed-instrument competition in Ireland, have collaborated with Northwest ballet and theatre companies, and performed for Boris Yeltsin when he visited Seattle. In 1998 they composed music for an artist residency program in Ireland.

The Bouldings run the well-known Seattle-based School of Magical Strings, inspiring students of the Celtic harp and hammered dulcimer since 1978. They design and manufacture instruments for an international clientele. Referred to as "the von Trapp Family of the Northwest," they, with their five adult children, present annual Celtic Yuletide Concerts throughout the Northwest.

Philip has offered both hammered dulcimer and Celtic harp workshops at Elderly in the past, and we're glad to have him back. Titled "Delightfully Dancing Dynamics," his two-hour hammered dulcimer workshop is designed for beginning- to intermediate-level players. The hammered dulcimer is well-known for its role in traditional dance music. In this workshop, students will explore ways to make their playing more accurate, dynamic, expressive, and creative, with numerous ideas for embellishment, ornamentation, and arranging, drawing on a primarily Celtic repertoire, with strong traditional American influences, covering jigs, reels, hornpipes, and perhaps O'Carolan's "Planxty Hewlett." Bring your instrument and bottled water to drink.

"...a lovely background tapestry created by Phil's fine work... There is throughout a rhythmic sturdiness and pulse so rarely encountered in most harp and hammer dulcimer playing, and this really separates the 'men from the boys'." - Shanachie Review

"Philip and Pam Boulding have elevated the music of the dulcimer and Celtic harp to the status of a more cultured art.... theirs is a musical genre whose time has come." - Seattle Times

"While most performers of Celtic music are content to repeat the glories of the past, Magical Strings strive to bring the tradition into the present and carry it into the future..." - Heartbeats

Check out recordings we carry featuring Magical Strings