Pete Campbell

PETE CAMPBELL has been a dance musician for many decades on piano, accordion and bass, having played for international folk dance, Scottish and English country dancing, and American squares and contra dances with bands Footloose, The MacRowdie Ceilidh Band, the BiCoastal Band and the Sinai Mountain Ramblers, providing music for evening dances, weekend workshops and balls, and weeklong dance camps across the country, as well as having been a Scottish country dance teacher and contradance caller, loving a life of music, dance and song.

Julie Gorka

JULIE GORKA is a musician with a wide range of musical interests. She plays contra dance, Scottish, historic, English, Irish, and Klezmer music on piano and harp. She plays with many musicians in the Triangle area, including Copious Notes (with Mara Shea), Syllabub (English and Colonial dance), Southwind (Irish), Calluna (Irish) and Harpers Bridge (harp duo). Julie has a degree in piano performance, and is a retired piano and harp teacher. Julie has made three recordings, A Sheep at the Wheel (Scottish and English music) and a waltz CD, in 3/4 Time, with fiddler Mara Shea, and is working on an Irish music CD with Sharon Goldwasser.

Dean Herington

DEAN HERINGTON (clarinet, piano) has played clarinet and piano for English country dancing for many years. He also enjoys playing for contra, Scottish, international, and couples dancing. He performs regularly at the annual Victorian Ball presented by Triangle Vintage Dance in Carrboro. Dean also helps run the Triangle Country Dancers’ community / family dance series. He is a retired software engineer and a long-term resident of Hillsborough, NC.

Joey O’Donnell

JOEY O’DONNELL (baroque and modern viola/violin) lives in central North Carolina where he has been performing and teaching for nearly two decades. He regularly performs in North and South Carolina with many groups, including the North Carolina Baroque Music Festivals with various ensembles. He’s been a recurring performer on Duke Chapel’s Bach Cantata series and various other Chapel concerts. He also plays for English country dance, contra dance, and Regency balls as often as possible. Joey teaches viola, violin, and music theory from his home. Outside of music, Joey is an avid puzzler, origamist, and curler. He attended ECU for a BM and MM in viola performance and pedagogy around the turn of the century. He’s been playing for Sun Assembly for something approaching a decade and a half.

Walt Robinson

WALT ROBINSON (recorders, tin whistle) grew up in Wheaton, MD, where 50 years ago he learned to play recorder from a high school friend. Subsequently he lived in Philadelphia, Antarctica, New York, Seattle, Central Illinois, and Northern Virginia. He has played for English country dances in Urbana, IL, Glen Echo, MD, Upperville, VA, and Durham, NC. Now he resides happily in Raleigh, NC with his wife, pianist Julie Gorka. He is a climate scientist and professor in the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University.

Mara Shea

MARA SHEA (fiddle) lives in Burlington, NC where she is a fiddle player, fiddle teacher, writer, and freelance proofreader/editor. She plays Celtic music. Generally speaking, that means Scottish, Irish, and other music from the British Isles. Dance music is what she loves best—Scottish country dances, English country dances, and ceilidh dances, as well as contra dances, parties, and concerts that she plays for with several musical ensembles. In 2019, Mara gave herself a sabbatical and went to study at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, where she earned an MLitt degree in ethnology and folklore from the Elphinstone Institute. Visit marashea.com to learn more about Mara and to hear her music.