Redwood Music Camp 2026 Faculty

**William Coulter - guitar**
William Coulter is an internationally acclaimed, Grammy award winning master of the steel-string guitar. His most recent recording, *The Rolling Waves*, was released in December 2021 on the Gourd Music label. Coulter has been Music Director for Tomaseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas since 1998, and has performed with the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, Apollo’s Fire and many other ensembles. Collaborations have been a mainstay of his career including tours and recordings with Gourd Music artists Neal Hellman and Barry and Shelley Phillips; classical guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery, and Irish flute wizard Brian Finnegan. Tours have taken him around the states and to Ireland, Europe, Taiwan, New Zealand, Chile, and most recently Australia. Coulter teaches classical guitar at UC Santa Cruz and at many summer camps and festivals. He earned degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the university of hard knocks.

John Weed - irish fiddle and CelloJohn Weed is a classically-trained violinist who switched to playing Irish fiddle about 20 years ago. John lived in Ireland in 2000 and taught fiddle workshops at the Flowing Tide International Music School in Doonb… — **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.

**Marla Fibish – mandolin**
One of the prominent voices of the mandolin in Irish music, Marla brings a deep and distinctive sensibility to the tradition on one of its lesser-heard instruments. Marla also plays mandola and tenor guitar, and dabbles at the button accordion. She sings and composes music as well — musical settings of works from a variety of poets, as well as original tunes written in traditional forms. This work is featured in the duo *Noctambule*, her longtime collaboration with guitarist and husband Bruce Victor. Together they have released 4 albums, most recently *Every Migrant is My Fellow* in 2021.
An experienced and sought-after teacher, Marla teaches private students and classes, online at Peghead Nation, and has been on the faculty of many music camps including The Swannanoa Gathering, The Mandolin Symposium, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, Portal Irish Music Week, Lark Camp and others. Her instructional DVD has been a popular self-learning tool, focused on acquiring the foundational technique for playing Irish music on the mandolin. More at www.MarlaFibish.com.

**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.

**Portia Diwa**

Portia Diwa began playing the harp at age 9, and her love of Celtic music began in her first harp lessons with Diana Stork. Portia has been performing on the harp for 34 years. Portia is the Healing Harp Clinical Faculty in California Pacific Medical Center’s Spiritual Care Department, where she provides therapeutic harp music for patients at the bedside and teaches the Healing Harp Certification program. Portia currently teaches an adult harp class and the Harmony Harp Class for children. Portia has directed several youth harp ensembles and adult harp ensembles, and has presented History of the Harp lecture demonstrations and a variety of harp workshops. She has released six CD’s. www.portiadiwa.com
https://www.sutterhealth.org/cpmc/for-patients/healing-harp-services

Rachel Goodman

Rachel Anne Goodman was bit by the folk music bug growing up in Canyon, California surrounded by the burgeoning music scene of the SF Bay Area. Her songs draw from a life steeped in traditional country, old-time, folk and bluegrass music fed by her time living in Appalachia and the folk music world in general. She writes songs about home, nature and love, with a down-home, front-porch sensibility inspired by writers like Kate Wolf, Nanci Griffith, and Hazel Dickens. She is the producer of the public radio series, “Southern Songbirds: The Women of Old-Time and Country Music” and co-founder of the local community radio station, KSQD where she hosts a folk program. You can find her performing with The Coast Ridge Ramblers and Stone Circle.