The Grammy-nominated duo Andrea Hoag and Loretta Kelley present a varied program of Scandinavian folk tunes played on the violin and the rarely-heard Hardanger fiddle. Both draw on their knowledge and experiences from years of immersion in these traditions to give a lively performance embellished with songs, mouth music, and humorous tidbits of Scandinavian folklore. They’ve recorded six albums together, most recently Hambo in the Garden. Andrea's specialty is Swedish folk fiddling, a tradition passed down through the generations with an intricate, distinctively harmonized style. Loretta is an expert on the Hardanger fiddle or hardingfele, a Norwegian fiddle with sympathetic strings that produces brilliant and mesmerizing music that is so unusual that it has been called the "best-kept secret of European ethnic music." Loretta also accompanies Andrea on the violin, and both sing in Swedish and Norwegian. Together they present a showcase of the best of the Norwegian and Swedish folk music traditions.
Pricing and registration information to come.
About Andrea and Loretta
Andrea Hoag is a designated Master Folk Artist in Maryland and Arizona, recipient of two Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards, and winner of Washington Area Music Awards “Best Traditional Folk Instrumentalist,” Andrea Hoag is a renowned performer of Swedish folk fiddling and of a broad variety of fiddle styles. Her music has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Performance Today, at the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, and at venues in the U.S. and in Sweden. With her love of in-depth musical conversations, Andrea has collaborated across genres with many respected artists, from pianist Jacqueline Schwab to blues master Phil Wiggins. Immersing herself first in southern Appalachian music and culture in the early 1980s, she was overtaken by a love of Swedish fiddling’s unusual scales and rhythms. She studied at Sweden’s respected Malungs Folkhögskola, earning the certificate in Folk Violin Pedagogy in 1984. Andrea and Loretta have collaborated on six albums, including the Grammy-nominated CD “Hambo in the Snow.”
Loretta Kelley is the foremost American performer on and teacher of the Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle. The hardingfele (the traditional Hardanger fiddle) is an intricately decorated fiddle native to Norway with sympathetic strings, a nearly flat bridge, and a 300-year unbroken aural tradition. Loretta Kelley is regarded with tremendous respect in Norway as well as in the United States for her talent, skill, and devotion to Norway’s national instrument. She has been invited to perform in numerous venues here and in Norway, and her playing has been featured on Norway’s national radio station. She has consistently placed well in fiddle contests, and has accompanied many top Norwegian dancers in their own competitions. She has contributed articles to publications on the instrument and has done considerable research on the hardingfele traditions of two valleys. Her CD with Andrea Hoag and Charlie Pilzer, “Hambo in the Snow,” received a Grammy nomination.