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Hardanger Fiddle Association of America to celebrate, make music in July

By Amy Gage
June 8, 2003

St. Olaf College will host the largest festival of Norwegian traditional music and dance ever to be held in the United States when AmeriKappleik, the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America (HFAA), comes to campus July 23 to 27.

The public is invited to attend all or part of the five-day event, which will feature concerts, workshops for musicians and dancers, and children's program of dance, song, folklore and craft. Concerts and dances will be held each evening on campus or in Northfield, and an on-campus marketplace will feature imported CDs, crafts and folk items.

Public Events
On Thursday, July 24, AmeriKappleik will take place in downtown Northfield, with an outdoor concert in Bridge Square at 5 p.m., a Norwegian dance lesson at the Grand Theater at 6:30 p.m. and an evening of storytelling, music and dancing at the Grand called "Scotland Meets Norway."

Norwegian open-mike sessions will also be held at the Thursday evening Klubb Krawl, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Hogan Brothers Acoustic Cafe and 9 p.m. at the Contented Cow.

Composers from around the world have been invited to write new music for the Hardanger fiddle for the event. The best submissions will be featured in a concert of AmerikaSlåttar, "Tunes from America."

In addition, the Midwestern premiere of music composed for "The Hardanger Quartet," a set of two Hardanger fiddles, one Hardanger viola and one Hardanger cello created by award-winning American luthier Lynn Berg, will be presented in concert.

Virtuoso violinist and fiddler Andrea Een, an associate professor of music at St. Olaf and winner of the prestigious St. Olav's Medal in 2002, will perform an opening-night concert on Wednesday, July 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Urness Recital Hall on campus.

For a complete schedule and registration information, visit the AmeriKappleik web site.

Master classes
Performing and teaching will be some of the most honored masters of folk music and dance today, who have been awarded the status of "national champion" at kappleiks (competitions) in Norway.

Lectures and demonstrations will cover topics such as Norwegian genealogy, how to buy a Hardanger fiddle and Norwegian emigrant fiddlers in the United States.

Performers and teachers who will participate from Norway include master fiddlers Hauk Buen, Vidar Lande, Leif Rygg, and Bernt Balchen Jr., as well as dancers Karin Brennesvik, Tom Løvli (national champion halling dancer), Olav Jørgen Hegge, Mary Hegge, Knut Blikberg and Anna Torhild Blikberg.

Top American artists dedicated to keeping traditional Norwegian music and dance alive in the "New World" will also perform, including Princeton composer Dan Trueman, who recently wrote a piece for Hardanger fiddle and orchestra that was debuted by the St. Olaf Orchestra under the direction of Steven Amundson.

Prior to AmeriKappleik, many of the performers will be part of a concert commemorating the first competition of Hardanger fiddlers in the United States. "The Great Fiddle Competition of 1912: A Concert of Norwegian Folk Music and Dance" will be held July 22 at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, Wis.

More on the HFAA
The Hardanger Fiddle Association of America (HFAA) was founded in 1983, the vision of Carl T. Narvestad and Thorwald O. Quale, both Norwegian-Americans who had experienced Hardanger fiddle playing and dancing as children in the Upper Midwest.

An exciting revival has happened in North America since the early 1980s, as non-Norwegians have also discovered this extraordinary instrument.

Recently, a Hardanger fiddle was used on the soundtrack of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, causing the largest surge in hits on the HFAA website ever.

The Hardanger fiddle is often called the national instrument of Norway. Related to early violins from the baroque era, its most distinguishing feature is a set of four or five sympathetic strings that run underneath the fingerboard, adding a haunting harmonic drone to the sound. It has a carved "Lion's Head" instead of a peg-box scroll and surface decorations (called rosing) that make the instrument a work of exquisite folk art.

About St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with nearly two-thirds of its students participating in international studies.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.