Meet our very talented and dedicated MusicGirl Instructors
Laurie Alsobrook
Laurie Alsobrook - Dulcimer Instructor for Junior MusicGirls and MusciGirls
After retiring from a 42-year teaching career, Laurie jumped into the dulcimer world with both feet! She is a dulcimer instructor and jam leader during the Dulcimer U Summer Week at WCU and at the Stephen Foster Dulcimer Retreat. Laurie also was an instructor at the Dulcimer U Winter Weekend, in Lake Junaluska, NC in this past winter. At the Florida Folk Festival, the Barberville Festival and the Will McLean Folk Festival, Laurie leads workshops and dulcimer jams.
Later in 2019, her workshops will also include the Alabama Folk School and PAMfest, in Vermont.
Laurie’s festival favorite is “The Dulcimer Petting Zoo,” when she enthusiastically draws folks into the dulcimer world with her many student dulcimers, offering an “I’ve never-touched-the dulcimer-before” workshop.
Needless-to-say, she is very happy to be the on staff for Sandy’s MusicGirl Camp and is looking forward to this super experience for girls!
Cindy Bear
Cindy Bear - Guitar, Songwriting Instructor for MusicGirls
My Mother made sure there was always music in the house while I was growing up. I never knew she had or played a guitar until I was between 4-5 years old, because I had snuck in her closet and found it. It was hidden towards the back, dusty and forgotten. She let me play it a and was proud of how dedicated I was at practicing.There were times I would get discouraged and think of giving it all up, like when people would make fun of me or couldn't get a part right in a song, but Mama would put her foot down and tell me outright, "Never give up, and never give in." She said that I could be anything I wanted to be, and not to listen to anyone who said otherwise, including myself. She had no idea how much she and her encouragement with me, and my music changed my life.
My favorite instrument is Guitar. All kinds of guitars: 6-string, 12-string, resonator, electric, and all strings in between. Banjo and harmonica are my other go-to instruments. My favorite new instrument is the native american flute.
I like to play Folk, Americana, Blues, Rock, Country, Celtic, and all variations in between. I love and/or appreciate all genres of music.
Music is everywhere! It plays an important role in our lives, our culture, and influences our development from child to adult. It provides a a creative outlet that a girl needs to build self confidence, allows her the freedom of artistic expression in a world that tends to suppress individuality at a young age, and empowers her to be her own person. It is especially important for them to know that they are worth giving music a try while they are growing up. Whether it is singing, dancing, or playing an instrument, a girl will never know how music can change her life until she tries it. It sure changed mine. Website: Cindy Bear
Dawn Dewitt
Dawn Dewitt - Guitar and Songwriting Instructor for MusicGirl My mother and older sister took guitar lessons and I did the lessons on my own and taught myself how to play guitar. When I heard a song I liked, I listened to it over and over again and tried working out the chords if it wasn’t in my song book. I have been performing since an early age playing acoustic folk music. At a music festival I heard someone playing the acoustic bass and got a chance to check it out and knew that I had to get one but, I knew it would not fit in my car. I had to wait to get a stand-up bass until I had a car big enough to haul the instrument around. Now I own three stand-up basses! I have written a handful of songs and play in two different bands that play mostly at festivals in Florida. This is my third year as an instructor at Sandy’s Girls music camp. I had such a great time, that I have great excitement for the camp this year. Dawn is also the coordinator of Earth Music Festival (2nd weekend in November) in memory of Boomslang Swampsinger. |
Bari Litschauer
Bari Litschauer - Banjo, Mandolin Instructor for MusicGirls
I Grew up listening to what I’ll call “folk” music, blues and 60’s rock, on recordings, live at our house and at festivals but never really played an instrument or sang. Although I didn’t play or sing, I would sit for hours listening, especially to songs with lyrics that spoke to me. I also spent a lot of time writing prose and poetry.
Fast forward to age 39 or 40 when I left a corporate job of 12 years with Florida Power & Light to start my own business, The Amp Shop & Music Parlor. It was during this same time period that I started playing mandolin and then a few years later, the banjo, which has become my primary instrument although I still love playing mandolin. I do now give private lessons on both.
I find that music touches me deep in my soul and gives me “respite from the storm” when things aren’t going so well. It is also an outlet for expression as I do like to write and being able to connect my own lyrics to a melody to create a song is a very gratifying experience. Finally, music connects us to others which, at the end of the day, are the moments that we remember, the moments that have real meaning in our journey.
Website: Roadside Revue
Kricket Moros
Kricket Moros - Fiddle (Violin) Instructor for MusicGirls
Kricket is the “Pied Piper “ for all things fiddle. Her teaching style is energetic and encouraging. Her love for folk music and art is contagious! Kricket plays professionally for public and private events and is lead fiddler in the band “Robbin the Bank”. She resides with her family in Port St John ,Fl
Website: Robbin the Bank
Maribeth Mundell
Maribeth Mundell - Ukulele, Performance Instructor for Junior Music Girls and MusicGirls
Maribeth Mundell is an elementary music teacher at Churchwell Elementary in Lakeland. She teaches voice, ukulele, tin whistle, and performs locally as a vocalist. She is the alternate cantor at Holy Spirit Church in Lake Wales, and comes from Long Island, NY, where she has multiple performance credits with St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir, the New York Symphony Choir, and as a soloist for the New York Women's Choir.
She has sung at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and has also been a member of several cover and original rock bands both on and off the island. A long time vocal coach, her students vary in age from 6 to 92, range from special needs to professionals, and one of her students performed recently as "Brigitta" in the NBC Live version of The Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood. She has studied Music at Sarah Lawrence College and New York University, and has a dual Masters Degree in Elementary Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.