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Harpas at Halsway: Nyckelharpa Festival

Vicki is standing in a field of very long feathery grasses and holding her nyckelharpa under her arm. She is wearing a red lace dress with elbow-length sleeves. Her hair is blond and cut in a shoulder-length bob. She is looking off to the left of the camera and smiling.
Torbjorn is standing in the snow outside a dark red scandinavian style house. There are fir trees in the background and he looks quite cold. He is holding in the middle of the frame, looking at the camera and he is wearing thick, round glasses, a dark green checked shirt and black cargo trousers. He is holding his nyckelharpa in front of him and looking right at the camera.
This is a headshot of Ruth in black and white. She is on the left of the photo, looking at the camera, and has long hair which frames her face.
(credit: Kim Ayres)
Courses
Music
Arrival
Fri 5 Sep 2025 / 4pm
Departure
Sun 7 Sep 2025 / 4pm
Tags
Vicki Swan

Pricing

Full board

Including accommodation, tuition and meals

Single in ensuite room

£330

Shared in ensuite room

£285

Single in non-ensuite room

£285

Shared in non-ensuite room

£225

Camping

Including tuition and meals

Per person

£215

Course only

Includes tuition and lunch and dinner

Non-resident

£200

The Halsway Nyckelharpa Festival is a weekend of harpa workshops, ensemble playing, sessions, a concert and more! Hosted by Vicki Swan, with further tutors to be confirmed soon, this is a weekend you won’t want to miss!

Come and explore a diverse range of repertoire, and meet, play and socialise with other players and enthusiasts of this fascinating Scandinavian instrument.

Sunday night B&B is available for anyone wishing to stay on for an extra night – this includes supper on Sunday evening and breakfast on Monday morning for £60 per person.

Who is it for?

The weekend is for players of all abilities except complete beginners to explore a range of repertoire, and to meet, play and socialise with other players!

Even if there was no tuition, I would still come; for me it’s now about meeting all the other players.

— Participant

The Team

Vicki Swan studied at the Royal College of Music on the double bass. She also plays the various types of bagpipes, flute, recorder, piano and nyckelharpa. On leaving music college Vicki started down the long path of folk music and was only seen on rare glimpses back in classical orchestras. You’ll find Vicki now inhabiting the troll-ridden forests on the hunt for new and exciting tunes from the näcken. Vicki plays not only the standard 3-row modern chromatic, but also the 1408 sienaharpa, the 1526 moraharpa, the 1700s kontrabasharpa and the 1800s silverbasharpa. Over the pandemic Vicki worked tirelessly on a Virtual Music Room to try to help isolated nyckelharpa players remain motivated and focused on playing and learning. She is the host of the yearly Halsway Nyckelharpa Festival.

Torbjörn Näsbom was born and grew up in Uppland. After training as a violinist at Sveriges Radio's music school at Edsberg Castle and at the Royal Music Conservatory in Brussels, he was employed in the Umeå Symphony Orchestra at the Norrland Opera. On the side, he started playing the nyckelharpa, which eventually took over from the violin as his main instrument. He plays folk music (of course!), but is also known for weaving the nyckelharpa into classical music, mainly from the Baroque period. In 2014, he received Zorn's gold medal, the highest award you can receive as a folk musician, for his 'virtuosic, masterful and tradition-conscious playing on the violin and nyckelharpa'.

Ruth Morris is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, specialising in nyckelharpa, fiddle, whistle and piano. Based in Scotland, she currently plays with Firelight Trio, Gavin Marwick's Journeyman Project, The Galloway Agreement, The Village and The Road, Bellevue Rendezvous, and her ceilidh band Whirligig. Recent work includes being an on-set musician on HBO series ‘Outlander’, and playing nyckelharpa on the soundtrack of the Netflix film ‘Outlaw King’.