Bill Collins is a well-known musician in the world of mountain dulcimer, and has been extending the art and repertoire of the instrument since the early 1990's. He has been described by his fellow dulcimists as a brilliant player, with great versatility. He is generally recognized as a gifted teacher, extremely clear and well-organized, and is very generous with his time and sharing music.

Bill has conducted more than 100 dulcimer workshops at festivals in Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Alabama, and has taught week-long sessions at Augusta Spring Dulcimer Week, Shenandoah University, and Kentucky Music Week.  He also offers private lessons.

He has written six books of dulcimer arrangements:  collections of O’Carolan tunes, Irish jigs, a book for advanced players, two volumes of Shaker tunes (the most recent co-written with Nina Zanetti), and a hot-off-the-press collection called “Icelandic Folk Tunes for Mountain Dulcimer,” which contains tabbed arrangements of 27 haunting melodies from the land of the langspil, a traditional fretted zither that is a close cousin of the Appalachian dulcimer.

In 2008, Bill and Nina Zanetti collaborated on a wonderful CD called "The Sum of the Parts," which was very well-received. It is distributed internationally through CD Baby here (including sound clips):

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/collinszanetti

Enjoy Bill's performance captured on the video at the bottom of the page. An example of Bill's arranging gift is reflected below in the pdf file ((c) William Collins) of "Streets of Laredo."

Contact Information

dulcibill AT aol DOT com