Gala Benefit Concert for the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America at Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, April 12, 2013

Anika Anderson, age 12 of Seattle Washington was the 2011 HFAA Young Student Hardanger Fiddle Loan Recipient. She spent one year with this half sized instrument learning hardingfele techniques and tunes from Peter Michaelsen and also attended the HFAA workshop in Wisconsin during that year. She has performed hardingfele for various Skandia Folkdance Society events with Peter Michaelsen and during performances with the Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag, a youth Scandinavian Strings Group of which she is a current member. She is a 6th grader at Hamilton International Middle School and is a member of the orchestra. Website: http://www.seattlelillalag.org

Sofia Bremer, age 10 of Eugene, Oregon is the 2013 HFAA Young Student Hardanger Fiddle Loan Program recipient. Sofia’s great grandparents emigrated from Norway and her parents are committed to maintaining their Norwegian heritage and family traditions. Sofia is a violin player who has been participating in a Suzuki method program since the age of three at the University of Oregon’s Community Music Institute. After receiving her half-size hardingfele, made by Lynn Berg, from the HFAA's program, she began lessons with David Elliker-Vågsberg in Eugene. Sofia has performed at their Sons of Norway lodge and has also performed for her performance class at the Community Music Institute for her fellow violin classmates and instructors.  

Bill Boyd began to play hardingfele in 1983, joining with Leikarringen of Leif Erikson Sons of Norway and learning from hardingfele player Ingulv Eldegaard, the group's musician since it was formed in 1961. 30 years later, Bill continues to play for Leikarringen rehearsals as well as performances. He also plays at other venues in the Seattle area and has learned in Norway as well as at various events in in the US, including the HFAA's annual workshops held in the midwest. Bill is also active as a folk music fiddler and keyboardist in the Seattle area. 

Loretta Kelley has been performing, teaching and writing about the Hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) for more than 25 years. She has appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion and American Radio Company, and National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and "Performance Today." She has taught at workshops and classes throughout the US. She has made over 20 study trips to Norway and has placed highly in many fiddle competitions there. Her playing has been featured in an hour-long radio program on Norwegian radio. Her recording with Andrea Hoag and Charlie Pilzer, "Hambo in the Snow," was nominated for a GRAMMY award in the Best Traditional World Music Album category. Loretta is currently the president of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America (www.hfaa.org). Website: http://www.fanitull.org 

Beth Kollé, a Seattle native, is a multi-instrumentalist who early in her career was captivated by Scandinavian traditional music. She received her degree in music from the University of Washington and went on to live, work and travel in Norway and Sweden. Through her work on folk harp, flute and voice, she has been able to promote Scandinavian culture to many countries. One of the harp world's pioneers in bringing Nordic music to the folk harp, Beth has led several concert tours to Scandinavia with groups of harpers from the US and Canada. She is the author of nine books of harp arrangements and has produced five CDs to critical acclaim. Website: http://www.bethkolle.com 

Peter Michaelsen has pursued Scandinavian music for over 30 years, making numerous trips to "the old countries" to study and perform. He plays both regular fiddle and Norwegian hardanger fiddle, and is a mainstay of the folk music scene in Seattle, where he teaches Scandinavian fiddle styles. 

Rachel Nesvig is a Seattle-based freelance violinist, fiddler and teacher. She studied Hardanger fiddle at St. Olaf College 2003-2007 and in Stavanger, Norway in 2006. In 2009, she taught beginning Hardanger fiddle at the HFAA Annual Workshop.

Judy Patterson and Jerry Walsh share a passion for Norwegian bygdedans (regional dance), and particularly dances from Valdres, Gudbrandsdal, Telemark, and the town of Røros.  They teach dance for Seattle’s Skandia Folkdance Society and recently taught Norwegian bygdedans in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.