Hardanger Fiddle Teachers

Jan Beitohaugen Granli

Jan Beitohaugen Granli, from Rogne in Valdres, is a dynamic young fiddler who attempts to articulate the mysterious chemistry between the music and dance of the hardingfele. He says, “All my springars are based upon the dance, not the music.” Jan began playing at the age of seven. His first teacher was Trygve Bolstad, with whom he studied for twelve years. During the past two years he has been studying with Olav Jørgen Hegge and has been attending Ole Bull Academy. In 2002, he placed first at Landskappleik in Class A. His new CD, lite nemmer, has been nominated in the folk music category for the Spelemannsprisen (Norway’s equivalent of our Grammy awards).

Sarah Kirton plays both Swedish and Norwegian traditions (on regular violin) and Norwegian hardingfele traditions (Valdres and Telemark). She has been playing Scandinavian music since the early 1980s and has studied both here and in Norway. She spent a year and a half studying with Olav Jørgen Hegge in Valdres in rural Norway in the late 90's. She is a member of Nattergal, a group that plays Scandinavian music, and is a founding member of the Northern California Spelmanslag. Sarah taught at AmeriKappleik.

Karen Solgård

Karen Solgård lets beginners in on the secrets of the Hardanger fiddling style. She leads a home-school fiddle ensemble, performs and gives workshops in schools, and teaches Hardanger fiddle tunes to orchestra students, fiddlers, and classical violinists. Karen has played Hardanger fiddle since 1979, took her first study trip to Norway in 1986, and began to pursue it seriously in 1996 when Olav Jørgen Hegge began teaching in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her main dialect is Telemark, with some work in Valdres and Vestland styles, and as a Scandinavian-American is steeped in gammaldans.


Toby Weinberg

Toby Weinberg is the founder and leader of the Boston Spelemannslag and is a performer and teacher at workshops throughout the United States. In 2001, he led the group to Norway to perform at the Kongsberg fiddle and dance competition, where he also placed. Toby taught at AmeriKappleik.

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Dance Teachers

Anne and Erik Røine

Anne Røine has deep roots in Valdres, learning Valdresspringar from her uncle Harald Røine and from Brit B. Totland. When she lived in Voss, she won Landskappleik three times for her springar and rudl from that area. Now dancing Valdresspringar again, she won Jorn Helmestemnet in Vadres last year. She is the featured dancer in the video on Jan Beitohaugen Granli’s CD lite nemmar. She writes, “The rhythm and music are very important to dancing, as is the interaction between partners.”

Erik Røine, the father of Anne, started folk dancing at the age of five. He first learned Valdresspringar when he was twelve and danced actively for many years. He was a student of Thorleif Bolstad and Gullik Kirkevoll, among others. Now considered a “tradition bearer,” he brings a strong sense of the rhythm, strength, and drive that are in the dance.

Mikkel Thompson, teacher of beginning dance and gammaldans, has been dancing all his life. He learned gammaldans (waltz, reinlender) through family tradition while growing up in northern Minnesota. He started dancing other types of folk dances in the early 1980’s, including springar and gangar in 1985. Mikkel was the artistic director of the Nordahl Grieg Leikarring and Barneleikarring in San Jose, California, from 1985 to 2002. Mikkel has traveled to Norway numerous times to study dance. He lives in Stockholm and in Minnesota.

Munnharpe (Jaw Harp)

Erik Røine will also teach late-afternoon workshops in munnharpe. He is well known for his munnharpe playing and teaching. He can be heard on the CD Munnharpa with Hallgrm Berg.

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