Hardanger Fiddle Teachers Monika Antun Monika is from Osterøy, near Bergen, and has Vestland tradition as her hardingfele “mother-tongue”. After moving to Valle in Setesdal in 1999, she learned Setesdal playing as a member of Knut Heddis Minne spelemannslag, a group which has frequently won the hardingfele group-playing competition at Landskappleik. Monika taught in the folk music program at the Valle secondary school until that program was recently discontinued; she is currently a lecturer at the Setesdal Museum in Rysstad, Setesdal. She is a Class A fiddler.
Karin Løberg Code Karin Løberg Code, a life-long string player, began intense study of the hardingfele in 1990. Today, Karin is a respected dance fiddler who has lived two years in Norway, playing for weekly dance groups in Oslo and meeting regularly with master fiddlers. As an American fiddler, she has been on staff, along with Norwegian-born artists, at numerous festivals and workshops in the US. She focuses her style of fiddling on the tunes of the Hallingdal and Valdres valleys. Karin teaches violin and viola at several schools and a private studio at her home in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Sarah Nagell Sarah Nagell studied hardingfele and voice at St. Olaf College, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Høgskolen i Telemark in Rauland, Norway. While in Norway, she fiddled with Falkeriset Spelemannslag and performed with the lag and in solo performances at folk festivals and other events. Her group, Gjetord, was recently invited by the Japanese Grieg Committee to give concerts of traditional Norwegian folk music in Tokyo and Osaka as a jump-start to the 2007 Grieg anniversary year.
Karen Solgård performs throughout North America, gives workshops in schools, and teaches Hardanger fiddle tunes to orchestra students, fiddlers, and classical violinists. Her CDs, Norse Fiddle at Home and Norse Fiddle at the Wedding, and the accompanying music books, help to make this music feel more local for American audiences. Her main dialect is Telemark, with some work in Valdres and Vestland styles; as a Scandinavian-American she is also steeped in gammeldans. Karen is Hardingfele Instruction Coordinator this year. Toby Weinberg Toby Weinberg, who has been studying Hardanger fiddle for more than 20 years, is well known in the U.S. as both an accomplished performer and a skilled and patient teacher. He is the founder and leader of the Boston Spelemannslag and has been involved in numerous festivals and courses around the country. This will be the fourth time Toby has taught hardingfele at an HFAA annual workshop. He will also teach seljefløyte.
________________________________________________________________________ Dance Teachers
Torleiv Løyland
Mary Hegge Mary Hegge was introduced to Norwegian bygdedans by Bruce Emery in 1986. She began dancing Valdres springar in 1989 and has been dancing it every chance she can get ever since. Mary has lived part time in Valdres since 1993. She has taught springar at numerous workshops in the US, Sweden and Norway, both with her late husband, Olav Jørgen Hegge, and with others. Mary became a Class A dancer in 1999, and was a dance judge at Jørn Hilme-stemnet in 2001. She dances and plays langeleik with the Øystre Slidre Spel- og Dansarlag in Valdres.
Kveding (Traditional Singing) Teachers
Hege Ravdal, originally from Morgedal in Telemark, has been deeply involved with Norwegian traditional singing for some time. Her article, “Stev og slått: On the relationship between vocal and instrumental folk music,” appeared in the HFAA’s Sound Post, vol. 23, no. 3 (Summer 2006). Hege has taught kveding at the HFAA Workshop for the past two years.
Carol Sersland Carol Sersland started learning Telespringar at the age of 9 from her father, Harold K. Sersland, a talented dancer who came from Hjartdal in Telemark. She began singing while attending the Folk High School in Rauland in the 70s, and later returned to Norway to study with Anne Gravir Klykken. Carol sang for many years with the groups Skandilous and Stev Sisters; she currently performs solo and with others in Minnesota. In addition to teaching kveding at the 2007 Workshop, Carol is Dance Instruction Coordinator. |