2019 Workshop Staff
HARDINGFELE
HENNING (Advanced hardingfele) is an experienced Valdres hardingfele player who enjoys playing for dance. Trygve Bolstad has been his primary influence on hardingfele, but Harald Røine, Geir Harald Fodnes, Olav Jørgen Hegge and Håkon Asheim have also been important teachers for him. Henning credits his enjoyment of playing langeleik and singing to his mentor, Marit Karlberg Mattisgard. He also plays willow flute and church organ. (Photo credit: Runhild Heggem)
VILDE AASLID (Intermediate hardingfele) is an active dance fiddler who specializes in various western Norwegian traditions. In 2015 she participated in the Master Class Hardanger International in Granvin, Norway, studying with Knut Hamre and Frank Rolland. She makes regular fiddle-study trips to Norway; she is also an avid dancer. Vilde has taught previously at the HFAA workshop, and is often found playing for the dance classes there. When not fiddling, she researches and teaches music history at the University of Rhode Island.
PAUL MORRISSETT (Intermediate hardingfele), a folk multi-instrumentalist for more than 35 years, discovered his passion for the hardingfele in 1986. He has made numerous trips to Norway to study with master fiddlers. While he specializes in the music of Telemark, his repertoire includes tunes from all the hardingfele tradition areas. Paul has taught and played hardingfele and fiddle at Scandinavian and international dance and music workshops across the country, and is known as a driving, spirited dance fiddler. “By day," Paul is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning klezmer band "The Klezmatics," performing world wide and appearing on dozens of recordings.
FRANCES OLSON (Beginning hardingfele) has been playing folk music for over a decade. Growing up heavily involved in the Scandinavian community in the Twin Cities, she has played and danced with numerous ensembles over the years, including the American Swedish Institute Spelmanslag, the St. Olaf Hardingfele Lag, Svikt, and Ethnic Dance Theatre; she performed in Sweden and Norway in 2008, 2012, and 2013. Frances is a recent graduate of St. Olaf College, where she majored in piano performance and studied hardingfele with Becky Weis.
DANCE
KNUT and BRIT have danced together for many years. Knut Arne lives on a farm in Øystre Slidre, Valdres. He has been dancing since the early 1970s and participating in competitions for over 20 years. He learned Valdresspringar from tradition-bearers Knut and Berit Steinsrud, Harald Røine and Ingar Ranheim, among others. Brit teaches at Valdreslaget in Oslo. They are a dynamite team and are frequently sought-after teachers for dance workshops across the US. (Photo credit: Runhild Heggem)
KVEDING (Traditional singing)
KNUT will share with us his joy of singing and storytelling. When living in Bø in Telemark, he studied with Agnes Buen Garnås. His singing teachers in the Valdres tradition have been the Fuglesteg/Lie family, Ingvar Hegge, and Marit Karlberg Mattisgard. He has a particular interest in lullabies, and also has some songs for dancing.
HARDINGFELE BEGINNER MENTOR
JENNIFER ELTON TURBES (Beginner mentor) started playing hardingfele after a trip to Folkemusikkveka in Ål, Norway. The music and dance were captivating, and as a classically trained violist of Norwegian heritage, the decision to take up the hardingfele was a natural one! Over the years, Jennifer has continued to pick up tunes at stateside workshops, including the HFAA's annual workshop in Wisconsin and Ski Dance Weekend in Vermont. In summer 2017, she traveled back to Norway for an artist residency at Leveld Kunstnartun, where she spent her time practicing hardingfele. Jennifer has previously taught the beginner fiddlers at the HFAA workshop, and served as its beginner mentor. In her day-to-day life, Jennifer is full time viola and violin faculty member at the Upper Valley Music Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She also enjoys exploring the intersection of hardingfele and classical music, and has performed as hardingfele soloist on works by Johan Kvandal and Geirr Tveitt, with the Cordancia Chamber Orchestra and the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from St. Olaf College and Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Viola Performance from the Eastman School of Music.