Redwood Music Camp 2025 Faculty
Ian Ly - guitar
Ian is a flatpick guitarist who makes his home in San Francisco. Drawing upon the influence of guitar greats like Clarence White, Tony Rice, Doc Watson, and Norman Blake, Ian’s picking demonstrates a reverence for the rich history of American acoustic guitar.
Ian grew up in Aptos, California and started playing guitar at the age of 15. He became the 2023 National Flatpick Guitar Champion and has played at the Grand Ole Opry and Bluegrass Hall of Fame as well as touring internationally in Japan and Korea.
Watch a clip of Ian playing here.
John Weed - irish fiddle
John Weed, fiddler for Molly’s Revenge and New World String Project, has spent the last 30 years immersed in various fiddle styles. With an affinity for folk traditions, John’s exploration has emphasized Irish, Scottish, Swedish, and Old-Time fiddle. While he holds a bachelor’s degree of music from CSU Chico, the musical education that charted his path began through a long series of Irish sessions. There, he learned the nuance of aural passing of melodies and the tradition of conversing in a deeply musical manner. John’s passion for the vital expressiveness of the session lead to performing across the United States and internationally. In addition to being a full time performer and instructor, John is currently on faculty at Palenke Arts, a multicultural arts organization in Seaside, California.
Lars Johannesson – flute and whistle
Lars Johannesson, flutist, has lived in West Africa, Sweden, Holland, and the United States. His interest is in playing modern, baroque, romantic, and Irish styles of music on period instruments. Lars studied orchestral flute with Tim Day at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he also discovered the Baroque ‘traverso’ and the charms of 18th century French music. This led to studies the Royal Conservatory of Music in Holland, with Wilbert Hazelzet. An interest in Irish folk music lends another style to his expressive toolkit, and one can occasionally find Lars at the local ‘session’, enjoying a pint along with the Jigs and Reels. On recordings, you can hear his playing on a number of albums with Linda Burman-Hall and the ensemble Lux Musica, as well as numerous appearances on the Gourd Music label.
Rebecca Lomnicky - Scottish Fiddle
Originally from Corvallis, Oregon, Rebecca Lomnicky began playing classical violin at age five, discovering Scottish fiddle music shortly thereafter. Rebecca has been the recipient of many performance awards throughout her career, the most prestigious being in 2009 when she won the invitation-only Glenfiddich International Scottish Fiddle Championship held at Blair Castle in Scotland. Rebecca has performed in Scotland, Ireland, Italy, China, and across the USA, and is a founding member of California-based Scottish band, The Fire. She has recorded nine albums, been featured on BBC Radio on multiple occasions, and was interviewed by Fiddler Magazine which described her as “an accomplished and gifted interpreter, composer, and champion of Scottish fiddling.” In addition to her performance accolades, Rebecca holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology and two masters degrees specializing in Scottish traditional music from the University of California, Berkeley.
See her website here.
Jesse Autumn
Jesse is a musician and artist based in New Orleans. She sings and plays concert harp, piano, accordion and harpsichord, and is one of the foremost American performers of the Double Harp, an unusual type of harp with two parallel sets of strings. She's a singer/songwriter in the realm of surrealist chamber folk, composes instrumental minimalist music, and arranges world music for double harp and large harp ensembles. She has taught harp privately for two decades, has served as harp, piano and accordion faculty for Community Music School's camp programs since 2001, and has been artistic director for the Santa Cruz Harp Festival since 2003. She lives and works in New Orleans year-round, travels to Santa Cruz often to teach and perform, and teaches harp online to students around the USA.
Peter Daldry
Peter Daldry is a traditional singer/songwriter from Clydebank, Scotland and resident in California since 1994. With a background in teaching and education in sports and music, Daldry brought his teaching skills to Camp Kennolyn in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the summer of 1990.
Brought up listening to the folk music Scotlands 'The Corries and Ireland's 'The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in his early playing years. Graduating to his major influences of Scottish artists Dick Gaughan, Andy M. Stewart (Silly Wizard) Dougie Maclean and David Francey.
Peter performs at various Scottish Games and Irish/Celtic events and festivals across the United States and Internationally.
Sarah Newman
Sarah Newman is a multi-instrumentalist with over 10 years music teaching experience with all ages. She started alto saxophone at age eight and currently plays and teaches on all saxophones, harp, piano, vocals, ukulele, and rainbow hand bell choir groups at Be Natural Music and teaches at Spring Hill School. She is a UCSC graduate with a Major in Community Studies and a minor in Jazz Music. While her experience with playing harp only started eight years ago, she is very passionate about sharing the joys of playing harp and finds it a very natural instrument to play – and the most inspiring for song writing with individuals and groups. Sarah has been teaching private lessons on folk harp for seven years and enjoys inspiring song writing and improvisation with all ages. She teaches several harp and singing groups at Be Natural Music in both Santa Cruz and Cupertino.
Fox Pettinotti
Fox Pettinotti is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who specializes in guitars, whistles, Irish tenor banjo, and mandolin. Fox attended Community Music School’s Kid Camp and Teen Camp throughout their youth, and has been teaching at Teen Camp for the past four years. He is a touring artist with the band Summoning Circle, a teacher of ancestral skills, and is working on a book of shape note songs.
Janet Herman and Conall Barber
Janet Herman is a long-time Community Music School-affiliated music teacher who holds a Ph.D. in Folklore with an emphasis in traditional music. She was a soloist in Mary McLaughlin's Irish language choir, has conducted the Irish language mass choir in Mountain View, and has taken sean nós singing workshops in Ireland.
Conall Barber is a multi-instrumentalist, tune composer, dance fiddler, CMS Teen Camp TA, and the current leader of the CMS Celtic Teen Band. He is a lifelong fluent Irish speaker and third-year linguistics major at UC Santa Cruz.
Neal Hellman
Neal Hellman, nationally acclaimed performer and teacher of the mountain dulcimer, has been active in performing, writing, teaching, and recording acoustic music for the past 40 years. Neal's recordings include: Emma’s Waltz, Autumn In the Valley, Dream of the Manatee (with Joe Weed) and Oktober County, all on the Gourd Music label. He is the author of many books on the Appalachian dulcimer, including: Mountain Dulcimer Arrangements from Both Sides of the Atlantic, Celtic Songs & Slow Airs for Mountain Dulcimer, The Dulcimer Chord Book, The Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method, and Music of the World for Mountain Dulcimer. As founder, director and one of the primary artists of the Gourd Music record label, Neal has produced over fifty recordings including Simple Gifts, The Fairie Round, Tender Shepherd, The World Turned Upside Down and Jefferson’s Fiddle, creating a uniquely distinctive sound, featuring a variety of acoustic instrumental ensembles, rich in texture and tonal color.
Shelley Phillips
Shelley Phillips has a Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She plays and tours with The Anjali Quartet and The Coulter/Phillips Ensemble, performs as a duo with her husband, Barry Phillips, sings Shape Note music, and has collaborated with Rumi translator and poet Coleman Barks making two albums of poetry and music. Shelley has appeared on more than 20 albums on the Gourd music label, including her solo albums The Fairie Round, Pavane, The Butterfly, and The Wood Between the Worlds, as well as a duet album with Barry called Wondrous Love. She also has recorded music of the Shakers and produced a benefit album, Verdant Groves, for the Shaker village museums. In addition she teaches at several other summer programs, including founding the Boxwood Flute Festival’s children’s, teens’ and seniors’ programs in Nova Scotia and teaching music related crafts at various primitive skills gatherings in the west.
Shelley is the founder and former executive director of Community Music School of Santa Cruz, where she runs Celtic Camps for children, teens and adults, concerts, workshops, and other programs. She lives on the foggy California coast with her husband and her very spoiled cat.