Folk Musicians To Perform Wednesday
Two of the foremost folk musicians of a generation will be performing in Jamestown.
Erik Rydvall from Vasterbotten, Sweden, will perform on the nyckelharpa and Olav Mjelva from Roros, Norway, will play the Hardanger fiddle. The concert will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 825 Forest Ave. The event is sponsored by the Scandinavian Studies program and is free and open to the public.
Erik Rydvall has studied at the Eric Sahlstroms Institute in Toby, Sweden, and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. He has been highlighted as one of the premier young nyckelharpa players and known for his energy and virtuosity.
Olav Mjelva is a very active fiddle player involved in many groups. He widely plays as a studio musician and been involved in well over 30 releases. He is also widely used as an instructor and dance musician both in Norway and abroad. He has received several awards for his talent as a fiddle player.
They have to date released two albums. Their debut album as a duo, “Isbrytaren” (Heilo), was released in 2013 to glowing reviews, and that same year Olav Mjelva was named folk musician of the year at the Folkelarm festival. “Isbrytaren” also won an award at Folkelarm, and was nominated for a Spellemannspris (Norwegian Grammy) in the category “Folk Music and Traditional Music.”
Rydvall and Mjelva are inquisitive musicians, with strong roots in the traditions of their places of origin. A duo collaboration featuring Hardanger fiddle and keyed fiddle has rarely been presented before. The repertoire and playing styles of the two instruments are basically very different, but the two musicians manage to make the combination sound natural and intriguing.
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