HARDINGFELE
ERLING HALLING (Advanced
hardingfele) has been
playing hardingfele for more than thirty years. At age 18 he won his class at the Landskappleik, Norway’s annual competition in
traditional music and dance. As a student of the famous Telemark fiddler Bjarne Pålerud, Erling learned many of the
tunes from Bjarne's unique tradition from Hovin, a tiny valley between Tinn and
Jondalen in Telemark. Erling today plays Hovin tunes from Bjarne that only a few others know. Erling has learned from many other fiddlers in his region,
including the acclaimed Leif Aasane of Kongsberg and Hauk Buen. Erling won rave
reviews for his teaching at Nordic Fiddles and Feet camp in 2012. He teaches hardingfele in
the cultural school in Kongsberg.
DAN
TRUEMAN
(Intermediate hardingfele) plays primarily Telemark
style and has learned tunes  from Hauk Buen, Per Anders Buen Garnås, Vidar
Lande, Loretta Kelley, and others. Dan is the co-founder of the Princeton
Laptop Orchestra, QQQ, Sideband, and Trollstilt, and recently released a record
with Old Time fiddler Brittany Haas. He is currently working on a new CD of
tunes with Irish fiddler Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, on which both play new
"5x5" 5-string Setesdal-style fiddles made by Salve Håkedal, and is
collaborating with singer Iarla Ó Lionaird and poet Paul Muldoon on a new piece
for voice, 5x5, and the Kronos string quartet. Dan is professor of music
composition at Princeton University and has taught hardingfele at earlier
HFAA annual workshops.
 LAURA ELLESTAD (Intermediate hardingfele) plays
traditional Hardanger fiddle music from Valdres. She holds a bachelor’s degree
in Traditional Music Performance from the Ole Bull Academy in Voss and has
studied with some of the foremost Hardanger fiddlers and tradition bearers in
Norway, including Tore Bolstad, Jan Beitohaugen Granli, Leif Rygg, and Håkon
Høgemo. Laura grew up in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada. She received the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America’s Ole
Bull Scholarship in 2005, and in 2009 she received Torleiv Bolstads
minnestipend, a memorial scholarship awarded to young fiddlers who play in
the Valdres tradition. She is a popular dance
fiddler and plays regularly for practices and workshops in valdresspringar. Laura has led
instruction and given concerts in Norway, Canada, and the US. She is currently
a master’s student at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, where she is
researching the music and activities of emigrant Hardanger fiddlers from the
Valdres district.
SARAH
NAGELL
(Beginning hardingfele), from Tempe,
Arizona, lives in Bondal in Telemark,  Norway where she teaches music at the Hjartdal kulturskule. Sarah started
playing hardingfele whilestudying with Dr. Andrea Een atSt. Olaf College and
has played hardingfele in the Lars Skjervheim Spelemannslag, the Boston
Spelemannslag, and Falkeriset Folkemusikklag. She received a Master's degree in
Contemporary Improvisation (voice and fiddle) at New England Conservatory of
Music in Boston and a Master’s degree in Traditional Arts (voice and Hardanger
fiddle) from Telemark University College in Rauland, Norway. In addition
to teaching hardingfele, Sarah will also teach kveding (Norwegian traditional
singing) at this workshop.
DANCE
TOM LØVLI and RANVEIG BAKKA won the Landskappleik in 2010 for their beautiful Telespringar. Ranveig is a class A dancer in
Telemark dance and Rorøs pols. She
has been dancing from age 8, with Karin Brennesvik as her first teacher. She is an acclaimed teacher in Norway. Among
her other achievements is two
years of performing as a Norwegian folk dancer at Epcot Center at Disney World. Tom Løvli also began dancing as a child, as a student of
Karin Brennesvik. He has taught a number of
workshops in the U.S. and has appeared several times in the Nordic Christmas
Revels “Northlands.” Tom has won the halling or laus dans
competition at Landskappleik several times. Tom and Ranveig won rave reviews
for their teaching at Nordic Fiddles & Feet camp in 2012.
KVEDING (Traditional Norwegian Singing)
SARAH NAGELL, who has studied, performed and competed in
kveding in Norway, will share her knowledge of traditional Norwegian singing.
Read about Sarah in the section on hardingfele teachers above.
OTHER STAFF AMANDA UNDERWOOD, our Beginner Mentor, began studying hardingfele with Dr. Andrea Een at St. Olaf College, where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Vocal Music Education. She was introduced to the hardingfele tradition through dance, when she began attending the dance classes at HFAA workshops at the age of 14. She currently resides in Minneapolis, MN, and teaches Early Childhood Music at the MacPhail Center for Music.
LORETTA KELLEY and KARIN CODE, our Dance Class Fiddlers, need no introduction to those who have attended Scandinavian music and dance camps and weekend events around the U.S. We are delighted that they will be bringing their experience of over 20 years each of hardingfele study and the driving energy of their playing to our dance classes and parties. |
