The second Dulcimers in the City festival – a programme of hammered and Appalachian dulcimer workshops and Cornish music events - takes place this weekend, from Friday March 31 to Sunday April 2. 

Friday evening kicks off with a session and open-stage event at the Old Ale House. 

This free event is open to all singers and musicians at the invitation of the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club, a UK organisation for dulcimer enthusiasts which held residential events at Glebe House during the 1980s and ‘90s and now offers advice and bursaries for prospective players.  

All Saturday and Sunday events will be held at The Old Bakery Studios. Workshops are open to all levels of ability, with a selection of instruments provided for people to come and try. 

These will be run by local tutors Kerensa Wright, Grace Biddulph and Carole Tallboys, as well as guest tutors Dizzy Dulcimer and Geoff Black, both members of the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club.

Saturday evening’s concert, A Night at the Bakery, sees dulcimers meet Cornish music. The line-up includes guest dulcimer tutors alongside two new Cornish line-ups. Morvran, from south-east Cornwall, features Steve Hunt on bouzouki and Hannah Sharp on violin, producing Celtic sounds. 

Instrumental trio Cove, meanwhile, comprises Kerensa Wright on hammered dulcimer, Neil McMahon on fiddle and Keith Mountfield on bouzouki, whistle and bodhran, and draws upon the twin traditions of Cornish and Irish music. 

The festival concludes on Sunday with Nos Lowen, a Cornish music and dance event featuring Bagas Crowd, Tros an Treys and Cove.

Event organiser Kerensa Wright, who hails from Truro, said last year’s inaugural festival attracted a lot of attention from new players. “The festival combines two of my favourite things: the hammered dulcimer and Cornish music,” she said. 

“We welcome players of all ages and abilities – our youngest was just six, and I recently gave lessons to an 84-year-old lady from Cornwall who had inherited a family dulcimer.”

Kerensa first discovered the dulcimer in her teens, thanks to her parents’ love of folk clubs and festivals. She was particularly inspired by American player Jim Couza: “He played like I’d never heard before – one minute you’d be laughing, the next in tears, such was the power.” 

Monthly workshops take place on the first Sunday of the month at The Old Bakery Studios, with a variety of instruments available for loan. 

• For more details, visit www.kerensahammereddulcimer.co.uk/dulcimers-in-the-city