PRINCETON — Alison Coyer and friends will perform at the Princeton Public Library at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 28.

At age 12, Alison discovered the hammered dulcimer, which she studied under Sherri Farley of Sandwich. In 2007, she received a Master Apprentice grant through the Illinois Arts Council to study under Bill Robinson, a third-generation, nationally-recognized master of the instrument. She received a second Master Apprentice grant in 2008 and continues to study regularly with Robinson.

The hammered dulcimer is a stringed instrument that dates back to medieval Europe and the Middle East. Unlike the harp, the guitar or the mountain dulcimer, which are plucked or strummed, or the violin, which is bowed, the hammered dulcimer, as its name implies, is played by striking the strings with small mallets. The dulcimer in fact is the progenitor of the modern piano.