Dulcimer winners announced
WINFIELD, KS – Each year at the annual Coshocton Dulcimer Days Festival, the Mid-East Regional Championships for competitors on the mountain dulcimer and the hammered dulcimer are held. In 2011, Sarah Morgan won the mountain dulcimer competition; in 2012, Matthew Dickerson won the hammered dulcimer competition.
The Coshocton Dulcimer Days Festival committee is pleased to announce that these two recent winners of the Mid-East Regional Championships have gone on to win this year’s Walnut Valley International Championships in Winfield, KS the weekend of Sept. 14 – 16.
Matthew Dickerson of Dayton, winner of the 2012 Mid-East Regional Hammered Dulcimer Championship, won the National Championship on the hammered dulcimer. The Hammered Dulcimer Mid-East Regional Championship at the Coshocton Dulcimer Days Festival in June 2012 was sponsored by Frontier Power. Sarah Morgan, who lives in Tennessee, winner of the 2011 Mid-East Regional Mountain Dulcimer Championship in Coshocton, won the National Championship on the mountain dulcimer.
Matthew started playing the hammered dulcimer six years ago at age 15 when he had completed making one from an old piano. He also plays the guitar, penny whistle, flute, and piano. He is looking forward to building a career in music and is putting together his first album.
Sarah started her music journey at age seven and has come to focus on traditional and folk music over the years, incorporating the rich musical heritage of the area where she lives. She released her first album in 2010, has performed at numerous festivals, and is an enthusiastic teacher, sharing the joy of the dulcimer.
Sarah and Matthew will both be featured at the next Coshocton Dulcimer Days festival, June 14 -16, 2013, as performers and instructors.
The Coshocton Dulcimer Days Festival has been in Coshocton for the past 38 years. The festival, which is in Roscoe Village with the support of the Roscoe Village Foundation, Roscoe Village Business Association and COTC, features performances, workshops, competitions, and jamming sessions. The Coshocton festival is the recognized site each year for the Mid-East Regional Championships on hammered dulcimer and mountain dulcimer. The winner of the regional competition is then eligible to compete in the national competition.
The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, is the home of international championships on autoharp, finger style guitar, mountain dulcimer, flat pick guitar, banjo, and hammered dulcimer as well as national championships on the mandolin and old time fiddle. The festival has been each year on the third weekend in September for the past 41 years.
Category: Arts & Entertainment, People & Places
