Wedding Music in North Carolina:
Musicians' bios

Jane Peppler

(violin, viola, English concertina, piano, dulcimer, vocals) plays with the world music band Mappamundi, directs the Triangle Jewish Chorale, and owns "Skylark Productions," a recording company.

She variously taught beginning and ensemble singing and led a Celtic "Slow Jam" for the Duke University Short Course program for over twenty years.

She instituted the "Solstice Extravaganza," a Christmas Revels type event, in Durham in the late 1980s and produced it annually for seven years; as part of that gigantic project, she created the 16-voice a cappella group called the "Solstice Assembly," which made three recordings, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition, and played at Piccolo Spoleto. She was an arranger, transcriber, and singer for the a cappella women's Balkan group, "Laduvane," in Cambridge MA in the 1970s. In college, she sang, arranged, and transcribed for the Yale Slavic Chorus and played in the Yale Symphony Orchestra and the Yale School of Music Orchestra.

Bob Vasile

(guitar, bouzouki / cittern, vocals) played with Freyda Epstein and Ralph Gordon (both formerly of Trapezoid) 1989-1995 in the group Acoustic Atta-tude. Their Red House recording Midnight at Cabell Hall was recognized as one of the three best folk recordings of the year by NAIRD (INDIE Award); they opened for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and shared the stage with Tony Rice, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall and Mark O'Conner at Mountain Stage.

One of Bob's guitar composition was featured in the Jan 2004 issue of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine; another has been featured on All Things Considered and Minnesota Public Radio's The Morning Show. He won a signed Wayne Henderson guitar at the 1996 Wayne Henderson Music Festival and guitar competition and was featured in the Tenth Annual Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition In June 2004, with the nine previous winners for another Wayne Henderson Guitar.

Bob taught guitar at the Augusta Heritage Schools "Irish Week," the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Black Mountain Music Festival; he has shared the stage and recordinged with Seamus Eagan, Mick Maloney, Zan Mcleod, and Riverdance's Tommy Hayes. He learned traditional Irish style while traveling in Ireland, where he met and performed with Irish folk artists and played at the Willy Clancy Festival in Milton Malbay.

Ken Bloom

(guitar, bandura, bowed dulcimer, clarinet, concert zither, banjo, mandolin, domro, balalaika, fiddle, recorder, Irish flute, Northumbrian Pipes, vocals) has given solo concerts all over North America since 1974, including appearances at Folk Festivals and clubs including the Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Owen Sound, Philadelphia, and Mariposa Festivals as well as appearing in major venues across the country and appearances on A Prairie Home Companion.

Inventor of the bowed dulcimer and producer of the annual International Bowed Dulcimer festival, he has been a luthier for more than twenty years.

He presents Living History and musical programs on Highlanders in North Carolina and Scottish Highland regiments.

Jim Baird

(guitar, acoustic bass, trombone, vocals) performs with dance bands, symphonic orchestras, and jazz groups. He co-founded the group Oxymora, a "contemporary-traditional" group based in Northern Virginia and recorded on Philo Records. He has also recorded folk music and traditional Appalachian music for June Appal Records with such artists as Si Kahn and John McCutcheon.

He directs the string program and the guitar program at the Durham Magnet Center for the Performing and Visual Arts.

He has recorded recently with Michael DeLalla on the Falling Mountain Music label, and performs with the Headliners.

Beth Holmgren

(vocals, percussion, piano), often called upon to impersonate Peggy Lee when Mappamundi does shows of swing music. She is also a specialist in smoky torch songs and romantic Russian songs.

Holmgren performed swing (dance band music) and international folk music in Boston with bands The Earrings, Bussing Around, and Home Cookin'. Later she performed and recorded with the San Diego women's quartet "Malaika" (Sacred Harp and spirituals, British Isles traditional songs, Balkan women's music, Ladino songs, swing tunes) for the San Diego Folk Heritage Society and throughout southern California.

Until recently she was Chairman of the Slavic languages and literatures department at the UNC-Chapel Hill; she is now at Duke University. She gets the final word when we are arguing over the words and meanings of traditional songs from Poland, Russia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and other parts of Eastern Europe.

Aviva Enoch

(piano, vocals) plays Jewish music, dance music, American popular music and swing, and folk music. She is making a recording of Yiddish music with Jane. Her website is AvivaEnoch.com.

David DiGiuseppe

(accordion, mandolin, guitar, banjo, cittern, vocals) specializes in music from Celtic, French, Italian, Jewish and American traditions.

A nationally recognized accordionist, DiGiuseppe is known for his fiery and emotive playing, and is equally at home performing Irish tunes in a pub, French musettes in a cabaret, contra or Cajun music for a dance, or in the intimate setting of a concert hall. He is leader of the contra dance band Contrazz.

Robert Griffin

(piano) plays with all the jazz folks around town and has his own "Griffanzo’s Dixieland Band." He plays swing, dance, and Jewish gigs with us.

Robert Hudson

Drummer, percussionist, singer, songwriter for many bands including Brenda Linton, Heartwood, Luthermoon, and Warm.