Bethany College, Mankato, MN, June 19 - 21
The HFAA presented
two days (Friday & Saturday) of intensive instruction in traditional
Norwegian fiddling and dancing. The HFAA held its Annual
Workshop and Meeting at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato this
year. Bethany College is a lovely, small campus with all buildings
very closely situated to each other. Mankato/North Mankato is located
about seventy-five miles southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The community
has a population of about 42,000 people. The college campus is
tobacco and alcohol free.
SCHEDULE
- Hardingfele and Dance Workshops
- Possible Concert (Friday only)
- HFAA Annual Meeting (Saturday only)
- Banquet (Saturday only), followed with dancing
WORKSHOPS
- Workshops were available for all levels of Hardanger Fiddle
and Flat Fiddle players.
- The Saturday-only dance workshop concentrated on Telespringar.
- Participants were asked to bring and wear bunader on
Saturday night.
INSTRUCTORS
MASTER FIDDLER: HAUK BUEN
Hauk Buen is a Norwegian national treasure. He is revered by lovers
of folk music throughout Norway for his brilliant technique on
the hardingfele, the rich expression and depth of his interpretations,
and for his solid maintenance of tradition. Probably no other hardingfele
player is as much in demand as a concert performer as Hauk. He
comes from an intensely musical family. His father and grandfather
were both fiddlers, and his mother was an accomplished folk singer
with a vast repertoire of traditional songs. Hauk's brother, Knut,
is also famed for his fiddling, and his sister, Agnes, is one of
Norway's greatest singers.
Hauk was a frequent participant at fiddling competitions as a
young man, but refrained from competing after his trophy cabinet
became completely filled with large silver cups. He won the Norwegian
national hardingfele championship twice. Now he is primarily a
concert performer, at festivals and on radio and television. He
also performs often at various European folk festivals. He has
toured the US three times. In the summer of 1994 he taught at the
Norrlandia Scandinavian Music and Dance Camp in Maine. Recently
Hauk has worked more and more with hardingfele making, using the
knowledge he obtained from his father, a noted maker, combined
with his own highly trained ear. His instruments are more and more
in demand. Several Americans have been fortunate enough to obtain
Hauk fiddles. The HFAA was indeed fortunate to have him as an instructor
at its 1997 Annual Workshop and Meeting.
LORETTA KELLEY
The most prominent Hardanger fiddle player in the US, Loretta
Kelley of Washington, DC is an outstanding performer and teacher.
She began serious study of the instrument in 1979, when she made
the first of many trips to Norway. Loretta has taught and performed
extensively throughout the United States and has written several
magazine articles about the hardingfele, and a book of tune transcriptions.
From 1991-1994, she served as president of the HFAA, and in 1994
her playing was featured in an hour-long program on Norwegian radio.
Her first recording, Dansekveld, was released in 1990,
and she has just recently released a new CD, Amerikaspel.
KAREN SOLGÅRD
Karen Torkelson Solgård, formerly a professional cellist,
began to play the Hardanger fiddle in 1986 when taking a study
trip to
Norway. She was editor of the HFAA's Sound Post for three
years and was once a scholarship winner at the HFAA annual workshops.
Karen has been an organizer of the Twin Cities Spelemannslag and
a musician with Norske Folkedanslaget in Minneapolis. When not
playing
hardingfele, she has also operated Solgård Public Relations.
SUSAN HAUSER
The teacher of flat fiddle for this summer's workshop will be
Susan Hauser who, in addition to playing the hardingfele, plays
guitar, autoharp, recorder, dulcimer and various percussion instruments.
Presently, she is teaching a folk instrument class at Viterbo College
in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Susan joined the HFAA in the second year
of its existence and says she was thrilled to learn more about
the hardingfele. She is on the Board of Directors presenting and
organizing this year's annual workshops.
CAROL SERSLAND
Carol Ann Sersland who will be one of the two dance instructors
this year, learned the Telespringar from her father, an expert
Telespringar and Telegangar dancer who emigrated from Hjartdal,
Telemark. They performed at the Smithsonian Institution's Folk
Life Festival in 1974 and 1976. She began singing folk tunes (stev)
while living in Norway. She served on the board of the HFAA from
1983-1992. Currently she instructs and performs with the Norske
Folkedanslaget in Minneapolis. Carol grew up in an environment
where Hardanger fiddle and Telespringar were a normal part of her
family's social activity. She started dancing and performing Norwegian
dances when she was five years old with the Sons of Norway Oslo
2 Junior Dancers. Her first performance of Telespringar was with
her father at the first Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa. They danced
to the highly regarded Hardanger fiddler, Anund Roheim. She has
attended dance workshops taught by Olav Sem, Roo Lester, Karin
Brennesvik, and even strayed into Valdres territory with Olav and
Mary Hegge.
BRUCE BOSTROM
Dance instructor Bruce Bostrom, was introduced to Scandinavian music
and dance by his wife, Char, who plays folk music with the American
Swedish Institute Spelmanslag. For his 40th birthday she gave him
a private dance lesson, taught by Mary Hegge. He has attended workshops
on Swedish, Danish and Norwegian dance traditions and most enjoys
the regional dances from Sweden (polskor) and Norway (springars).
He currently dances with the Dannebrog Danish Folkdancers and Norske
Folkedanslaget. When not dancing, he practices pediatric oncology
at the Children's Hospital in Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota.