The hammered dulcimer is alive and well in Shepherdstown; not only does the area boast two of the instrument’s most respected builders and designers but also is home to the Upper Potomac Music Weekends, where hammered dulcimer players, fiddlers and other musicians share tunes and techniques and explore a range of musical styles over three days of workshops, concerts and jam sessions on Shepherd University’s campus and the surrounding historic buildings several times each year.

Each year one weekend features hammered dulcimer, and for over 20 years, the showcase concert has featured the best to be found on this instrument, and this year’s Celebration of Strings on March 19 at Shepherd’s Reynolds Hall is no exception. Brenda Hunter and Mick Doherty, two of the West Coast’s finest players, and Steve Schneider from Michigan, will be accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Paul Oorts in a show whose eclectic repertoire will take you from classical music to the Beatles, from Ireland to China and American music from traditional fiddle tunes to modern compositions.

The concert will start at 8 p.m. Admission is $15 adults, $12 seniors, $10 Shepherdstown Music and Dance members, $8 students and free to Shepherd students with Rambler ID. For more information, call Joanie Blanton at 304-263-2531, email updf@earthlink.net, or see the web at www.smad.us.

The concert is the sixth event in Shepherdstown Music and Dance’s International Concert Series, “Roots and Branches of Appalachian Music” which explores music of the Appalachian region.