"not to be missed" (USA TODAY). And Folk Tales Magazine writes, "…without a doubt, Ken Kolodner is one of the hammered dulcimer's top exponents, playing with a dexterity which would stun many a would-be hammerer." His extensive repertoire ranges from traditional music of Ireland, Quebec and Appalachia to music from over 20 countries from around the world. With Helicon (with Chris Norman and Robin Bullock) and Greenfire (with Laura Risk) and in solo performance, with Baltimore as his home base, Ken has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe and has taught at countless festivals and music camps. Adding to his recognition as a hammered player, in more recent years, Ken has become very widely regarded as an accomplished Old-time fiddler.

He has been featured in nationally broadcast concerts on NPR, All Things Considered, German National Radio, on the CBC, and on the Voice of America. His credits include 10 recordings with total sales over 100,000 copies, 5 instructional recordings for hammered dulcimer, one instructional recording for old time fiddle, three books, an Emmy-nominated CBS-TV Christmas special as featured soloist, a 1997 recording with sales of over 50,000 (Walking Stones) which also hit the top of the World Music charts and was a top seller for BMG in their Classical/World Music category, a 2000 recording with Helicon that won an “Indie” for Best Seasonal Recording and a 2005 recording on Maggie's Music called Journey to the Heartland.

As a member of the trio Helicon (with Chris Norman and Robin Bullock) and Greenfire (with fiddler Laura Risk) and in solo appearances, Ken has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe and has been featured in nationally broadcast concerts on NPR, German National Radio, The Thistle and the Shamrock, the CBC, Performance Today, All Things Considered, and on the Voice of America, as well as countless television and radio broadcasts around the U.S. Ken has been featured at numerous major festivals and performing arts centers in the U.S., was the first American to be featured at the International Hackbrett Festival in Germany and has performed with major symphony orchestras. His appearance as the featured soloist with a combined chorus (The Baltimore Choral Arts) and a chamber orchestra of members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was broadcast in an Emmy-nominated CBS-TV Christmas special.

In addition to his work as a performer, Ken is highly sought after as a teacher of the dulcimer having taught at countless festivals and music camps throughout the U.S. including The Swannanoa Gathering, Common Ground, the John Campbell Folk School, the Augusta Heritage Festival, the Summer Solstice Festival, Meadowlark and numerous others. Adding to Ken's previous recordings, Ken's first solo release of Celtic music in 1997, Walking Stones, was a huge critical success. The CD hit the top of the World Music charts and was a top seller for BMG in their Classical/World Music category. In addition to solo performance, Ken maintains a busy recording schedule. With Helicon alum Robin Bullock and Cordelia's Dad fiddler Laura Risk, the trio recorded the CD Greenfire in 1998. Helicon's A Winter Solstice (1999) became the first release for Dorian Recordings to win a coveted "Indie" (akin to a Grammy for thousands of Independent labels) for Best Seasonal Recording. Ken's eighth CD, A Roof for the Rain with Laura Risk, cittern-wizard Joseph Sobol and Keith Murphy (of Nightingale) followed again on the Dorian label in 2001. Ken contributed an original work which has now been widely recorded ("Caspian Lake") to Mel Bay's Anthology of Masters of the Hammered Dulcimer and has written three other tune books and recorded four instructional CDs. Ken's latest release in 2005, Journey to the Heartland on the Maggie's Music label, has been widely praised.

Without any formal music background, Ken began learning to play the fiddle at age 23 by listening to recordings of bluegrass and American Old-time or Appalachian music. A few years after picking up the fiddle, Ken discovered the hammered dulcimer while in graduate school. Ken's interest in the two instruments developed into an ever-expanding musical appetite beginning with Celtic music and eventually into music spanning many cultures ranging from South American music to Chinese music. While he has mastered the fiddle and hammered dulcimer without formal musical training, he has had plenty of schooling. Along with his hammers, Ken holds a PhD in public health from Johns Hopkins. While most of Ken's professional career is devoted to music, Ken still actively works as a part-time epidemiologist (with over 70 publications), while his family and an avid interest in soccer maintain center stage!

http://www.kenkolodner.com