New Jersey Folk Festival Program Book 2013 Apr. 2013 | Page 18

Emcees and Facilitators

Dan O’Dea is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Highland Park, New Jersey. He
plays the fiddle, mandolin, flatpicking guitar, banjo, and stand-up bass as well as sings
lead and harmony vocals. Dan not only performs and records music, but he is also an
instructor of traditional fiddle styles, classical violin, mandolin, banjo and guitar. He has
been a guest lecturer on folk music styles at Rutgers University on multiple occasions and
led the fiddle workshop at the 2006 AFBA Bluegrass Festival at Wind Gap, Pennsylvania.
In September, 2007 Dan won the Fireback Bluegrass Fiddle contest and took third place
in the ‘Oldtime’ category. Since 2007, he has coordinated the jamming segment of the
New Jersey Folk Festival and served as emcee. Dan is also a former coordinator of and
performer at the New Jersey Folk Festival. He owns and operates a music school, Dan’s
Music Studio, in West Orange, New Jersey.
Kathy DeAngelo, festival music director, is a seasoned multi-instrumentalist and
performer with more than 40 years of experience. She was the first music director of
the festival in 1975 and rejoined the staff in 2006. Kathy is now a full- time musician
and well-respected harp and fiddle teacher living in Camden County. Her company, You
Gotta Have Harp Productions, runs the internationally-recognized Somerset Folk Harp
Festival as well as the Harpers’ Escape Weekend and she produces other folk music
concerts as well. She is a state scholar for the New Jersey Council on the Humanities
for its traveling Smithsonian exhibit New Harmonies. She regularly performs with her
husband Dennis Gormley as McDermott’s Handy and has published a music book along
with its companion CD of traditional Irish and Scottish music.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Burlakoff (pen-name Olefer) was born as a post-war refugee in
a DP camp in Lienz Austria. His biological parents were, both, born in Yugoslavia from
Russian immigrants. A student of Russian literature, history, politics, and folklore he has
published a book, a number of articles, and has given talks at various venues including
the American Folklore Society, and most recently at a UN Buddhist conference in Hanoi,
Vietnam. A practicing Buddhist, for many years, he first came to Howell in 2009. This
journey was in quest of finding traditional Buddhist practices by the Kalmyk people who
originally came from Russia. The inquiry was part of his research for a paper regarding
Buddhism in the Russian Federation. During some of the visits to the temple Nick raised
the question if the Kalmuck community would like to participate in the NJFF.
Roger Dietz is a notable and extremely talented folk musician. He is known for performing
his music on guitar and banjo for large crowds at Philadelphia Folk Festival, Long Island
Folk Festival, and the World Hunger Year Hungerthon concerts. Roger has shared the
stage with well known folk musicians such as Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, Odetta, Pete
Seeger, Willie Nelson, Shawn Colvin, Gamble Rogers and the list continues. Roger Deitz
is much more than just a folk musician. He is also writer, humorist, and raconteur. He
has written