This year we are introducing Zoom to the World Nyckelharpa Day. The idea is to have a space that nyckelharpa players around the world can come and meet each other for a chat and a tune. We have different planned events throughout the day. We kick off with a session from Tokyo, the Global Tune and then have workshops by Vicki Swan, Alyssa Rodriguez, Kirsty Money and Regina Kunkel. Then we have the American Nyckelharpa Association Zoom Jam and a concert given by Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer. We also go to Källunge in Sweden and hear from the amazing Esbjörn Hogmark!
There will be different Zoom rooms open, so you can choose to chat, play some tunes or take part in the planned events.
Entry to the Zoom: The link will be sent by donation. This donation can be as little as £1 and gets you the link. The donation should help prevent Zoom bombers and goes towards the upkeep of the website and for the Zoom cost.
The Zoom Cafe Opens at 10:30am UK time
The Tokyo Scandi Session – 10:30am UK time
STOP PRESS! We are opening the Zoom meeting up early and you will be able to join the Tokyo Scandi Session in Zoom from 10:30am. This session will stay open and in a room so you can jump in and out if you like. Other preparations will be happening in the main room. A chatting room will also be opened up.
The Global Brudmarsch efter Jonas Johansson – 12pm UK time
Join in with the Global Brudmarsch efter Jonas Johansson. Either join us in Zoom and take part live or watch the Livestream into YouTube. Film yourself playing this tune and then send it in for us to edit together into a global mosaic. You have from now until the 3rd May to send in your video. After this Vicki will lead some tunes from the Top 40 pdf from the Halsway Manor tunes pad.
This time slot will be streamed into YouTube and available after the event.
Workshop: Alyssa Rodriguez – 1pm UK time
Alyssa Rodriguez a.k.a “The Fiddle Witch” plays traditional and original Nordic folk music on the Swedish nyckelharpa. In 2020, she was awarded a prestigious U.S. Fulbright Fellowship to study and research Nordic Folk Music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. She has studied the Swedish nyckelharpa with many riksspelman (world renowned nyckelharpa players) and is studying nyckeharpa at the year-long folk music course at the Eric Sahlström Institute 2023-2024. She has headlined multiple Scandinavian festivals and released two EPs of original and traditional music.
Donations to Alyssa: PayPal.me/fiddlewitch OR Venmo: @Alyssa-Rodriguez-007
Field Trip to Källunge Church! – 2pm UK time
Anders Persson, Sofia Lilja and Olov Gibson in conjunction with Roxy Folk leading a field trip to see the nyckelharpa carving at Källunge Church on the Island of Gotland! It’s the oldest representation of a nyckelharpa and is in the doorway to the church. We will also see and hear how Olov Gibson was inspired to create a nyckelharpa of this instrument. This is a really exciting chance to meet the little carving! Don’t miss it! (Although this is written in for 14:00, this will actually be starting at 14:15). If you’re on Gotland you can go and be part of their celebration which starts much earlier in the day!
Workshop: Kirsty Money – 3pm UK time
Kirsty Money, originally from British Columbia in Canada, studied violin with Sydney Humphreys at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and has further degrees from McGill and Western Universities, as well as my LRSM (UK). Currently a member of the first violin section of Symphony Nova Scotia.
Kirsty’s interest in Early Music and living with the Folk Traditions in Nova Scotia, also inspired her to take up playing the Swedish Nyckelharpa, an instrument dating from Medieval Northern Europe. Since 2015 I has studied the instrument and its traditional repertoire from Sweden intensely. Through grants from the Canada Council and Arts Nova Scotia Kirsty has been to nyckelharpa workshops and festivals in Sweden, the UK and Germany. Principal mentors include Olov Johansson, Josefina Paulson, Magnus Holmström, David Eriksson, and Vicki Swan.
Workshop: Regina Kunkel – 4pm UK time
Donations to Regina: Paypal.me/Akleja
Talk: Esbjörn Hogmark and UNESCO – 5pm UK time
Esbjörn Hogmark has kindly agreed to come and talk about the UNESCO project: UNESCO – Intangible Cultural Heritage “The Nyckelharpa Network” an innovative dissemination of a music and instrument-building tradition Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
Esbjörn Hogmark is a professional nyckelharpa manufacturer and nyckelharpa player from Uppland. He was a scholar and friend of Eric Sahlström. 1998, he was one of the founders of the Eric Sahlström Institute and is now member of the board. Together with family members he plays in the ensemble “Hogmarkarna” (the Hogmarks). Esbjörn is the mastermind and driving force behind the successful application to have the Nyckelharpa Network recognised as intangible cultural heritage, 2023. https://hogmark.com/
The American Nyckelharpa Association Zoom Jam – 6-8pm UK time
Music for the Zoom Jam is available here
Also check out the ANA website.
The ANA Zoom Jam Session has a lovely line up of leaders! Bruce Sagan, Ben Teitelbaum, Leslie Foley, Sheila Morris, Bernd & Beate Segnitz
Leslie Foley: Leslie got her start, as did many, with the generous and talented Bart Brashers. She has played the nyckelharpa around the Seattle area for about 10 years. Besides learning the basics (and then some) from Bart, she has taken limited instruction from Ben Teitelbaum and Josefina Paulson.
Sheila Morris: Like many other Americans, Sheila got her first nyckelharpa after an encounter with Bart Brashers. She has been playing since 1994, primarily for the Scandinavian dance group in Boulder, CO. Her primary focus is the traditional nyckelharpa repertoire from Uppland.His wife Beate later followed this path by purchasing a Nyckelharpa, built by Eric Sahlström. They both love this music, which they have learned and deepened in countless courses in Sweden and Germany with the best teachers.
Concert: Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer – 8pm UK time
Vicki and Jonny are two of the most versatile musicians of the folk circuit today, a on stage – and now online, the duo are recognised for the high quality of their polished concerts; not only by their charismatic singing and playing but also by their involving, winning presence and easy rapport, their polished delivery that genuinely respects their listeners, and their lively, informed backstories. At one end of the entertainment spectrum Vicki & Jonny can also be spotted at castles and properties around the country as medieval minstrels and at the other on the silver screen with recordings and appearances at the cinema for Holywood movies, Netflix, Channel 5, ITVx and the BBC! In this hour long concert Vicki will attempt to tune and play as many different nyckelharpas as possible!
