Teachers old and new

Linda Waterfall has played music professionally since 1973, when she began her musical career as a member of the band Entropy Service. Since 1977, she has recorded 9 albums of original music and toured the U.S. many times, receiving critical raves from many publications, including the Twin Cities Reader, Dirty Linen, London's Folk Roots, the Boston Globe, Philadelphia Weekly, and the Seattle Times. She also composes vocal and choral music, and has received several commissions and grants; most recently, a Seattle Arts Commission grant for which she composed "That Art Thou: Songs from the Vedas" for choir, timpani, percussion, and electric piano, which was premiered by the University of Washington Chamber Singers in June 2002. She also does occasional recording session work as an accompanist and arranger, and has produced recordings for several Northwest artists.

Linda's educational experience includes 15 years in artist residency programs, working in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, and Alaska. She has taught songwriting workshops at several colleges, including Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, Macalester College, and the Berklee School of Music. In addition to school residencies, she has also worked with convicted felons in Washington State correctional facilities, teaching song composition, instrumental skills, gospel choir, and guitar classes conducted in Spanish. She enjoys teaching students of all ages and widely varying social and educational backgrounds. Since Fall of 2005, Linda is teaching songwriting at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

Anne Weiss is a singer-songwriter whose vocal, guitar and piano styles incorporate new folk, blues, and gospel. Her first CD, Tomorrow's Gate, was praised as "one of the finest new albums" (Jeff Emery, Folk Music Director, KZSC Radio). Her 2nd release Crossing the Border, has been called "brilliant." (Mike Myer, KRVM Radio). Both albums feature guest artists Dar Williams and Keith Greeninger. Anne has shared stages with Dar Williams, Ani DiFranco, Dan Fogelberg, Richie Havens, Catie Curtis, Greg Brown, Cheryl Wheeler, Patti Larkin, Aztec Two-Step, and Guardabarranco. She appears on recordings with Shawn Colvin, Patti Larkin, Geoff Bartley, Jim Infantino, and others.

Anne also arranges music for and directs a capella choirs nationally, using multicultural music. On tour, she has developed the art of "spontaneous choir", sometimes offering a two hour pre-concert workshop which often culminates in a "spontaneous performance".

His singing career began on stage with his father, the well-known blues singer/guitarist, Josh White, at the age of four, and Josh has been performing his brand of music on stages around the globe since then. He is singer, songwriter, recording artist, actor, adult and children's concert performer, teacher, and social activist. His warmth and humor add to his eclectic approach to touch the hearts of his audiences. His nine solo albums include a collection of contemporary songs specially written for "single-digit people," as Josh refers to his audience of children and a tribute album to his father -- "House of the Rising Son."

"A master of vocal inflection and involvement, Josh White Jr. is considered one of music's premiere vocalists and performers. In the shadow of his father, Josh White Jr. invokes the presence of the senior, making music for the masses and masses for the music." [Big City Blues, Feb/Mar 2000]

Phil Wiggins, Blues harmonica player, singer, songmaker and teacher, was born on May 8th, 1954 in Washington D.C. He learned from some of the most notable acoustic blues musicians in the area: Flora Molton, Ester Mae "Mother" Scott, Chief Ellis, John Jackson, Archie Edwards, John Cephas, and others. He performed with Flora Molton at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from 1972-1976, where he met John Cephas. He performed with John as the Blues duo Cephas and Wiggins for over 30 years. As ambassadors of the Piedmont Blues, Cephas and Wiggins took their music all over American and the world. This included such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, and the White House. Phil served for 5 years as Artistic Director for the Centrum Blues Week in Port Townsend, Washington, and has taught at numerous music camps dedicated to perpetuating traditional Blues for over 25 years.

Phil & Vivian Williams helped found the Seattle Folklore Society, Northwest Folklife, and the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association.

Phil performs on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass, and plays just about anything with strings on it. He has developed a reputation as an outstanding backup player and as a player of fiddle tunes on the mandolin. Phil has published a collection of fiddle tunes for the mandolin under the title "The Mandolin Player's Pastime."

Phil also repairs and makes stringed instruments, and is a recording engineer with many album credits in folk and traditional music, and co-authored a major recording arts book released in late 1998 by Hal Leonard, publisher, entitled Professional Microphone Techniques. He has done extensive recording work to document fiddling in the Pacific Northwest and has been a consultant to the Smithsonian on traditional music in the region.

Phil & Vivian both have numerous record credits. They own and operate Voyager Recordings & Publications, which has released recordings of over 85 fiddlers and has developed the most extensive recorded archive of Northwest fiddle and old time music in the country.

When Sean Williams isn't teaching Sundanese gamelan, old-style Gaelic singing, world fingerpicking guitar, or tai ji for breathing and stage fright at PSGW, she is otherwise pleasantly occupied in her day gig as a professor of ethnomusicology at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Sean was raised in Berkeley and has traveled to (and lived in) places with names that are difficult to pronounce unless you're actually from there. She received a small collection of undergraduate and graduate degrees by the end of the 1980s; at which point she ran out of degrees and had to get a real job. Sean has been teaching at PSGW since 1994, and believes in the wisdom of experiential learning. Students tend to come away from her classes with an increased ability to function musically in a group, to laugh at their own mistakes, and to expand their sense of what constitutes tonality, rhythm, timbre, harmony, and coolness.

Vivian and Phil Williams have been documenting and performing Northwest folk music since their teens in the 1950's. They learned the pioneer dances as kids. As they discovered the Northwest manifestations of Appalachian, Scandinavian, and Celtic musics, along with the Northwest's unique style of old time fiddling, they expanded their concert repertoire and began recording regional artists on their Voyager Recordings label.

Vivian is well known in the U.S. and Canada for her fiddling ability. She performs regularly for old time dancing and is one of the leading old time and bluegrass fiddlers on the West Coast. She has won many fiddle contests in the U.S. and Canada, including: 1999 National Senior Champion (Weiser) and Washington State Senior Champion, three times Washington State fiddle champion, three times National Ladies Champion, four times winner of the West Coast International in Canada, and she won the Smithsonian Fiddle Contest in Washington, D.C., among many. She has judged many contests, including the National Oldtime Fiddle Contest, Weiser, ID.

Vivian plays primarily in the old time fiddle styles found among fiddlers in the Pacific Northwest, with a heavy influence of bluegrass. She is a noted composer of fiddle tunes, and her tunes have been recorded by many prominent folk and bluegrass musicians. They have been published in folk, fiddle, and bluegrass periodicals, posted on the Internet, and have been used in documentary movies on Northwest history.

Vivian and Phil have one of the few live square dance bands left in the Northwest, and play regularly with the Valse Cafe Orchestra Northwest ballroom dance ensemble, the Small Pleasures Contra Dance band, and the bluegrass band Williams & Bray.

Cathy Winter is a vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, teacher, and recording artist with over 25 years of experience. Her reputation for concerts that are both entertaining and thought-provoking is grounded in her ability to move lightly from sing-alongs to social commentary and back to blues with humor, passion, and grace. Cathy's guitar work draws strength and versatility from her roots in early folk, jazz, and blues, lending a vital rhythmic quality to her original pieces. Moving between country, blues, and contemporary sounds, her rock-solid guitar playing and clear, expressive voice keep the melodies in your ears long after the singing has ended.

She has taught guitar in upstate New York for the past 25 years, performing at many prestigious festivals including Vancouver, Falcon Ridge, Winnipeg, Kerrville, Clearwater, and many others. She has been the recipient of funds from Meet the Composer and the National Endowment for the Arts. Cathy has released one children's album on Gentle Wind and three albums for adults on the Flying Fish label, with her 1992 Flying Fish album entered for a Grammy nomination.

"an expressive fingerstylist and persuasive writer"
- Frets

"a gifted writer who creates characters and voices out of the fabric of American experience"
- Washington Post

Scott Wise is an Australian musician and instrument maker. He started playing country blues at college in Australia with an American friend in the late '60s and has never stopped. He has played harmonica, electric and acoustic guitars , mandolins and other instruments in a long performing career in Australia in a diverse range of genres from country blues, r&b, rock, celtic, country and pop music. He has also written music for film, television and theater. His current country blues band, the Ten Cent Shooters , formed in 1980 remains well-known and loved all over Australia. His blues harmonica classes at Australian festivals are a perennial favorite and he has recently been teaching his approach to blues on the mandolin.

Rene Worst, an internationally known and well respected bass player, has established himself as one of the most influential and leading jazz voices in North America for several decades. He attended the UBC School of Music and Douglas College jazz program and was voted Bassist of the Year by the BC CARAS Tribute to West Coast Music for the 4 years that the awards were given.

Rene was co-leader of the now-legendary fusion band Skywalk with six CD’s to their credit. He has toured Canada with jazz legends Chet Baker, Gene Bertoncini and Joe Pass and on the international scene, has toured the former Soviet Union with Paul Horn. He is also the bassist with Brazilian band Novo Tempo and multi-disciplinary ensemble Crossing Borders, both bands having toured extensively throughout the US & Canada; he is a virtuoso on both string and electric basses.

Rene Worst has recorded and performed with numerous jazz greats, including Jack Sheldon, Tommy Banks, Herb Ellis, Freddie Hubbard, Ernestine Anderson, John Faddis, Don Thompson to name a few and has recorded and produced 7 CDs for musical partner, Jennifer Scott, one of the top jazz artists in Canada, including the highly acclaimed “ Emotional Girl“. He has also been featured as a session player on recordings by Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Bowie, Aerosmith and Poison, to name a few. Rene has released a duo album with pianist Miles Black called “Two” – it has received much critical acclaim. Rene’s studio works include jingles, album projects, and movie scores.

As a noted producer, Rene has helmed recordings for Sandy Foster, Megan Fanning, Skywalk, & Crossing Borders. This current year, Rene has released the Jennifer Scott CD “Storybook” as bassist and producer and was featured on new releases by Keith Bennett and Hans Staymer. As well he released a second duo CD, “El Escorial”, with pianist Miles Black.

Dede Wyland's pure and compelling voice has enchanted audiences around the globe, and her driving rhythm guitar has powered the sound of numerous bluegrass and acoustic bands including the popular and ground-breaking Tony Trischka & Skyline. She got her start in her native Wisconsin, playing throughout the Midwest and Central states with a number of groups, including 'Grass, Food & Lodging, a young Milwaukee-based band with a large and devoted regional following. During her years as a touring musician Dede graced the stages of the top bluegrass and acoustic music festivals, concert halls, and clubs, both in the US and abroad.

Since moving to Maryland in 1990, Dede has become a sought-after vocal instructor in the Washington, DC area. In addition to a full schedule of private lessons, she has taken her expertise to workshops and music camps from Tucson, Arizona to Somerset, England. Her recordings and concert performances have earned her the Washington Area Music Association's 'Wammie' awards for 1999, 2004, 2005, and 2006 (Bluegrass Vocalist of the Year).

As a teacher, she uses her in-depth knowledge of the human voice and her supportive manner to help amateurs and professionals alike realize their vocal potential.