![\"person\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bill-Dendle-1-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Bill Dendle, a banjoist and music educator, is a 2026 inductee into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\nThe Abridged version:<\/p>\n
Sacramentan Bill Dendle will soon join the American Banjo Hall of Fame nearly 65 years after falling in love with the instrument.<\/p>\n
The core of his achievements focus on music education and innovation, and celebrate his work with the Teagarden Jazz Camp, a program of the Sacramento Jazz Education Foundation.<\/p>\n
He adheres to the \u201ccollaborative apprenticeship model\u201d of teaching, in which students work as a team toward a common goal to build mutual understanding.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the word \u201cbanjo\u201d brings up mental reels of Kermit the Frog or San Francisco\u2019s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, you don\u2019t know the full range of the instrument.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s okay. Bill Dendle will educate you. It\u2019s what he does.<\/p>\n
Dendle, who lives in Sacramento\u2019s Woodlake neighborhood, will soon be inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. He considers it evidence of a well-lived life. He is equally passionate about music and education. \u201cThe primary reason for (the honor),\u201d he said, \u201cis because of my work with the Jazz Education Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill Dendle, a banjoist and music educator, is a 2026 inductee into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
The American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City honors six categories in its Hall of Fame. Dendle\u2019s award in education and innovation celebrates his work with the Teagarden Jazz Camp<\/a>, a program of the Sacramento Jazz Education Foundation<\/a>. He served as director of the camp from 1999 to 2024, and he taught there for 10 years before that.<\/p>\n \t\tSign Up for the Morning Newsletter<\/p>\n The Abridged morning newsletter lands in your inbox every weekday morning with the latest news from the Sacramento region.<\/p>\n Teagarden Jazz Camp enriches students and teachers<\/p>\n Jazz musicians aged 12 to 20 attend the Teagarden Camp for two one-week sessions every summer. Immersive meetings focus on nine instruments, culminating in a performance for family and friends. The camp is held at the Sly Park Environmental Education Center, just east of Placerville.<\/p>\n Dendle said instructors get as much from the camp as their students.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to tell people, you know, in a week, you can\u2019t teach a person much. But boy, you can inspire them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018A magical place\u2019<\/p>\n Devan Kortan was inspired. The Sacramento native plays banjo with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, a highly acclaimed jazz band based in New York City. The group specializes in jazz from the 1920s and 1930s.<\/p>\n Kortan\u2019s introduction to banjo came at camp with Bill Dendle.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Teagarden Jazz Camp is a magical place. It imparts so many lessons that are applicable in and out of music. It challenges your left and right brain equally. You are asked to be creative and learn many songs but also to hone your technical abilities, be a valuable team member, and show up on time ready to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Greg Sabin, another former student, learned from Dendle that music is a form of community.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you weren\u2019t thinking about the audience and showing emotional intelligence in your performance, it could very well fall flat.\u201d<\/p>\n Dendle uses \u2018collaborative apprenticeship model\u2019<\/p>\n The secret to such inspiration is Bill Dendle\u2019s approach to education. It\u2019s the \u201ccollaborative apprenticeship model,\u201d inspired by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, in which students work as a team toward a common goal to build mutual understanding. Experts are available to help only as needed.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the work of the learning is done by the learner,\u201d Dendle said.<\/p>\n Before leading the camp, Dendle\u2019s career in education centered on the same collaborative model. He taught and oversaw programs in English as a Second Language (ESL), pregnant and parenting teens, regional occupation programs, adult basic education and General Educational Development (GED). He also led education programs at the Honor Farm at the San Joaquin County Jail.<\/p>\n \u2018You can\u2019t coerce learning\u2019<\/p>\n Dendle\u2019s body of work formed his vision as administrator of the Teagarden Jazz Camp.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about the importance of culture and climate,\u201d he said, \u201cand that the leadership creates it. In any business or any organization, the leader creates a culture. And together with the people that are there, you create a climate. And if it\u2019s welcoming, if it\u2019s safe, if it\u2019s nurturing, wow, everything goes better for everybody. And that\u2019s what I want.If I could, I would make every school be like that.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t coerce learning,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The focus on collaboration at Teagarden Camp, Dendle says, is what jazz is all about.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an analog for life. You\u2019re dealing with other people. You have to fit what you\u2019re doing to what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning about more than music<\/p>\n The kids get it. They intuitively absorb the intent of the educational model. They comment on it. An example is the 12-year-old who stood near Dendle in the dinner line at the camp.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd she said, \u2018This isn\u2019t really about music, is it?\u2019 And I said, (whispering) \u2018Don\u2019t tell anybody.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sabin is a believer. That\u2019s why he now serves on the board of the Jazz Education Foundation. He converted his collaborative talent into performing and teaching improvisational comedy. He is also a financial planner.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know who I would be without it. And without Bill\u2018s stewardship of that institution over so many years, I don\u2019t know what the camp would be without him.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Dendle\u2019s beloved banjo, the instrument is not limited to Dixieland and Bluegrass. Banjo also has a history with soloists in classical music. YouTube offers a variety of banjo renditions of Bach, Telemann, Mozart and Pachelbel. One of Dendle\u2019s favorites is \u201cLiebestraum.\u201d<\/p>\n Banjo grabbed him at 15 years old<\/p>\n Dendle, 79, was born in Camden, NJ, and moved to San Diego, where he grew up, at age 8. He studied Education at the University of California, San Diego, earning a master\u2019s in Teaching and Learning in 1991. He moved to Sacramento in 1997 to start a life with his wife, singer Shelley Burns.<\/p>\n![\"person](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bill-Dendle-12-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Bill Dendle tunes the banjo. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n![\"name](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bill-Dendle-5-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
A nameplate sits on a shelf in Bill Dendle\u2019s home office. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
![\"person](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bill-Dendle-10-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Bill Dendle plays the banjo. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n