ENLIGHTENMENT: Hall of Fame Banjo Player Bill Dendle

A virtuoso banjoist and longtime music educator, Bill has spent over 5 decades traveling the globe to spread the gospel of traditional jazz.
About this Event

Hi, it’s Vanessa, your ENLIGHTENMENT salon host.

Join me for a fun Q&A and live performance with newly minted Hall of Fame banjoist Bill Dendle, as we get to the bottom of the ultimate mystery: How does one man play four strings that fast without his fingers catching fire?

Dendle is a 2026 American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame Inductee (he will become official in October). He is a master plectrum banjoist, a legendary music educator, and a world-traveling storyteller. He’s spent over five decades proving that traditional jazz is the ultimate crowd-pleaser.

We’ll ask him about his career — from opening Disney World shows to how he survived running a teen jazz camp for 25 years —to how the banjo is integral to jazz and why it deserves way more respect than it gets in modern music.

Bill will also show off the fretwork that landed him in the Hall of Fame.

Please bring your questions — nothing is too dumb, too small or too big to ask.

Tickets are $10; $5 for students. There will be drinks and snacks, but please feel free to BYO.

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For more information about ENLIGHTENMENT and about California Groundbreakers, go to californiagroundbreakers.org