The Redeemer Recital Series presents ‘Music from Around the World’

As part of the Redeemer Recital Series, the sounds of many hammered dulcimers will fill the Church of the Redeemer in Sayre, Pa. on Sunday, April 29 at 3 p.m. as the Striking Strings Hammered Dulcimer Ensemble of the Eastman Community Music School in Rochester, N.Y. brings a program entitled “Music from Around the World.” 

Under the direction of Mitzie Collins and Linda Sniedze Taggart, the group of about a dozen performers will include tunes from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Russia and France. Enhancing the happy sound of many hammered dulcimers will be the accordion, recorders, Scottish small-pipes and the medieval hurdy-gurdy. The concert is free and open to the public.

Striking Strings is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a performing group. They have played at numerous festivals in the eastern United States including the Old Songs Festival in Altamont, N.Y., the “Music for a Summer Night” series in Chatham, Mass., and the Heart of the Alleghenies Festival [HOTA] in Bradford, Pa. as well as at the Old Time Dulcimer Players annual Fun Fest in Evart, Michigan, the largest hammered dulcimer festival in the country.  

The group has also been featured at Kilbourn Hall of the Eastman School of Music and plays annually at the Fiddler’s Fair at the Genesee Country Village and Museum in Mumford, N.Y. 

Founder and co-director Mitzie Collins is well known as a recording artist and historian of the hammered dulcimer and an honorary board member of the Cimbalom World Association, an international organization promoting instruments in the larger worldwide hammered dulcimer family.  

Co-director Linda Taggart is building a national reputation as a performer and teacher at both local and national festivals. Internationally, members of Striking Strings have performed at dulcimer congresses in Hungary, England, Mexico and Slovakia.

“We are delighted to be invited to be part of this outstanding music series,” stated Mitzie Collins. Linda Taggart added, “Our unusual sound as well as our diverse repertory will be enhanced in this lovely setting.”  

The Church of the Redeemer is located at 201 S. Wilbur Ave. in Sayre, Pa.