The Playdate Trio
weaves together mandolin, fiddle, and bouzouki into something greater than the sum of its parts—locked-in, intimate and interwoven, emotionally rich and full of joyful mischief. Marla's mandolin and mandola, Rebecca's fiddle and concertina, and Lewis's artful bouzouki and guitar, create a sound built on deep listening and shared musical intuition. Deeply rooted in Irish traditional music, we also feature original tunes from Marla, and from our circle of tunesmith friends, along with a few songs and threads from other traditional styles we've dwelt in for decades.
All three are accomplished musicians in their own right, and there is more on each of us below.
The trio grew out of Marla and Rebecca's 2025 duo album, Playdate, which featured Lewis's bouzouki. What began as a guest appearance revealed a musical chemistry too good to leave in the studio—and The Playdate Trio was born.
Marla Fibish
Marla is one of the prominent voices of the mandolin in Irish music. Her voice on the instrument is distinctive and instantly recognizable for its infectuous rhythm, clarity and tone. In addition to the mandolin, Marla plays mandola, tenor guitar, and dabbles at the button accordion. She is a singer and composer, and is known for her musical settings of works from a variety of poets, as well as an increasing store of tunes written in traditional forms, many of which are featured in the Playdate Trio’s performance repertoire.
She has recorded 10 albums over her varied career, including two in the 1980s with the vocal trio Out of the Rain, four releases with Noctambule - her collaboration with her husband, guitarist Bruce Victor, and an instrumental album with beloved Cork singer Jimmy Crowley in 2010. Her acclaimed 2020 solo album includes guest appearances by Keith Murphy, Martin Hayes, Steve Baughman, and of course Rebecca!
Her performance highlights include a residency at The Irish Arts Center in New York with Martin Hayes, followed by the Masters of Tradition festival in Bantry, Co. Cork.
Over the years, and as the instrument has gained popularity in the tradition, she has become a respected and sought-after teacher, and loves nothing more than nurturing newer players and helping them find their own voice on the instrument. She teaches at camps and workshops around the US and in Ireland, including The Swannanoa Gathering, The Mandolin Symposium, O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, Portal Irish Music Week, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Southwest Mandolin Camp, and many others, as well as online with Peghead Nation. In 2026, she co-cofounded the inaugural Irish Mandolin Gathering, held in Cork, Ireland, and is working to establish an international community of players and enthusiasts of the mandolin in Irish Music.
With loads of gratitude to Lewis and Rebecca, The Playdate Trio has afforded her the opportunity to dig deeper into her voice as a tunesmith, and experience the joy of witnessing her compositions come to life in their hands.
"Some of the best mandolin playing in Irish music.”
—Dennis Cahill, Guitarist
"Marla is a wonder on the mandolin; rhythmic beyond imagination, clear as a bell tone, great invention, lovely ornaments at just the right times and places, and a sureness and ease that allows the listener to relax and be carried away."
—Kevin Carr, Folkworks
Rebecca Richman
From the time she was very young, Rebecca Richman was drawn into the rich traditional music scene of Northern California, where the sounds of Old-Time American, Contra Dance, Scottish, and Irish traditions all left their mark on her playing of fiddle and English concertina. After studying at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College, she stepped away from music for over a decade — and when she returned, it was with a deeper love for the art form and a clearer sense of her own voice within it. A longtime music teacher as well as a performer, Rebecca brings both warmth and expertise to everything she does, whether she's in the classroom, the studio, or on stage.
A sought-after session musician, Rebecca has brought her fiddle and concertina to recording studios across a wide range of projects — from children's albums to singer-songwriters and beyond.
Since her return, she has explored a wide range of collaborations with artists including Kyle Alden, Rory MacNamara, Riggy Rackin, Jerry Hannan, Roxanne Oliva, Michael Harmon, The Baybillies Stringband, and many more.
Her most recent and ongoing collaboration, with Marla Fibish and Lewis Santer, reflects what Rebecca has always brought to music: genuine connection, playful curiosity, and a deep reverence for tradition.
Lewis Santer
Lewis Santer has been playing fretted instruments since his youth at socialist summer camp in the Pennsylvania woods, where campfire singalongs inspired by his heroes Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, and Andy Irvine lit a musical fire that never went out. Philadelphia folk clubs introduced him to Irish tunes and songs, and by the early 1990s he was playing contra dances and performing with bands. In 1997 he co-founded Driving with Fergus, which played for dances, at clubs and bars, at festivals and college campuses; he and co-founder Vince Wolfe continue to perform together to this day. His traditional roots have taken him in other directions as well — as part of CeiliZemer, a Celtic/Klezmer ensemble, he recorded the soundtrack for Shalom Ireland, a documentary about the small Jewish community in present-day Dublin and for 20 years he performed with the Sacramento Labor Chorus.
Alongside his performing life, Lewis has been a professional luthier since 1986, building Irish bouzoukis and guitars. He apprenticed with TJ Thompson, managed Ervin Somogyi's building and apprenticeship program for eight years, and has been the authorized Martin Guitar Warranty repairman for the SF Bay Area since 1995. In 2019 he co-founded Wood Street Guitar Repair, a worker-owned luthier co-op in Oakland, CA specializing in precision fretwork with the Plek machine and all things vintage mandolin.