autoharp, mountain dulcimer
I was lucky enough to get involved with PSGW at an early stage of it's life and my adult life. It was great fun to be able to collaborate with so many amazing people as we explored how to create events that touched people (including us) with the limited resources we had. I learned a lot.
Along with PSGW we created other camps that PSGW sponsored: Sound Acoustic Music, Jam Camp, Workshop Wokshop, and the Northewest Teachers Conference as well as the PSGW Retreats.
For me, the thread that connected these events was the belief that music is a fundamental human language that is both too big to master in a lifetime and accessible to anyone no matter their technical ability.
Two comments I loved hearing at multiple camps: I haven't felt this alive in years AND I didn't know music could do this!
I have a hard time knowing what to say about myself and all the things that happened along the way. I asked some friends for advice and was fortunate enough for Mark McPherson to offer to write something for me:
Dig down into any organization, and eventually you’ll hit bedrock -- the solid foundation, steeped in thoughtful wisdom and creativity, which supports everything above it. That’s where you’ll find Richard Scholtz, one of the PSGW cofounders, long a leader and valued resource in the PSGW community and a fine, singular musician and teacher as well. Adept with autoharp and lap dulcimer, he’s musically fearless, happy with traditional music and song, comfortable with adapting contemporary pop to his unconventional instruments, and a longtime collector of songs and tunes from everywhere on the globe, which he happily shares with anyone fortunate enough to cross his path. He’s shared his musical skill at many PSGW camps as a teacher, song leader, instigator, and organizer of many wonderful things. With fingerstyle guitarist Eric Schoenberg he recorded a collection of eclectic material titled “Late Night Conversations”, and he has recorded and produced many other musical releases. Richard’s teaching is patient, thoughtful, inclusive, encouraging, and filled with insight into the things that make music successful for listeners and players alike.
