Hardanger Fiddle Teachers
Hauk Buen
Hauk
Buen, from an eminent family of folk musicians, won the King’s
Gold Medal of Honor in 2003 in recognition of his lifelong achievement
as a hardingfele player and fiddle maker in Norway. He has been a
frequent and favorite HFAA workshop teacher and performer over the
years. (Who can forget the magical candlelight midnight concerts
from summers past?) In March 2005, he gave a concert tour in Wisconsin,
Minnesota, and Iowa to enthusiastic audiences. Besides his popularity
with American audiences, Hauk has given concerts around the world
and was a featured performer at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.
When Hauk opens his fiddle case at a dance, people are already
on their feet before he has finished tightening his bow. Hauk is
a master fiddlemaker whose instruments are prized by fiddlers in
America and Norway for their rich, even tone. He will bring new instruments
that students may wish to consider for purchase.
Julie Barton
Julie
teaches Hardanger fiddle, violin and viola in Denver, Colorado, incorporating
bluegrass, Celtic, and Scandinavian fiddle
music with classical music. She also performs with the Cheyenne,
Fort Collins, and San Juan Symphonies. She grew up in a family immersed
in Scandinavian folk music and began Hardanger fiddle at the age
of 13. After high school, she spent a year in Voss, Norway, studying
Hardanger fiddle with Leif Rygg. Other teachers have included Håkon
Asheim, Johannes Sundsvalen, and Sigmund Eikås. Julie taught
at the 2002 HFAA annual workshop.
Andrea Een
Andrea Een acquired her expertise on the Hardanger fiddle from master
fiddlers in Voss, Telemark, and Setesdal. She is a music professor
at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, teaching Hardanger
fiddle, violin, and viola. In May 2002, Een received the Saint Olav
Medal from King Harald of Norway and the Norwegian government in
recognition of her services in the promotion of wider knowledge of
Norwegian culture. Her solo CD, From the Valley, which combines her
original fiddle solos with traditional dances and tone poems from
West Norway, was released in 2004.
Dan Trueman
Dan
Trueman, composer and violinist, began Hardanger fiddle ten years
ago, first learning tunes from an old recording of Anund
Roheim. He has studied with Loretta Kelley, Hauk Buen, and Vidar
Lande, among
others. Dan’s most recent accomplishment for the HFAA was
curating the AmerikaSlåtter (new music) concert at AmeriKappleik
in 2003. Inspired by traditional Hardanger fiddle, Dan performs
with
guitarist Monica Mugan in Trollstilt.
The duo released its first CD of original tunes in 2000 and has
performed contemporary music
festivals and folk music festivals, most notably at Den Norsk Folkemusikkveka
in Ål, Hallingdal. Dan teaches composition at Princeton University.
He has just been awarded a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
for music composition.
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Dance Teachers
Karin Brennesvik
Karin
Brennesvik, who lives in Hovin in Telemark, has been dancing since
she was five. She has performed and taught
folk dancing in
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, France, the Netherlands,
Spain, Great Britain, and the United States. She has twice won
the Norwegian National Competition in dance as well as innumerable
smaller competitions. Karin is the founder and director of the
traditional dance group Småjondølane, which has
won prizes in international competitions. She has choreographed
programs
for the 150th birthday celebration of Edward Grieg, the Barbican
Center in London, the Royal Foreign Department of Norway, and
the Norwegian Embassy in the US, and has performed for the King
and
Queen of Norway. Karin has been a featured dancer in Revels performances
throughout the United States.
Sigbjørn Rua
Sigbjørn
Rua, from Jondalen in Telemark, has won the Norwegian national
championship in the halling (one of the most athletic dances
in the world, requiring exceptional strength, skill, and grace)
at least twice. He has also won local traditional dance competitions
performing Numedal gangar and springar. He has taught numerous
dance
workshops with Karin Brennesvik in Norway and the U.S., and has
performed extensively in Norway — for the King and Queen
as well as in a series for young people entitled “Hallingbreak”,
among others — and has traveled to perform traditional Norwegian
dance all the way from Finland to Zimbabwe. Not content just dancing
springars and kicking at the hat, Sigbjørn also plays munnharpe
(mouth harp).
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