Maja Kjær Jacobsen (DK): Violin, vocals

The fiddle playing and singing of Maja Kjær Jacobsen are beautiful and intense. She has traveled and performed in many different countries, performing her ”darling”, the exotic sounding traditional music and gorgeous songs of Central Jutland in Denmark, and it has caught the attention of her audiences as well as many critics. Her own compositions radiate a special power, and she can bring out cinematic soundscapes from both her more delicate tunes as well as the raw and breathtaking reels. The inspiration for her tunes comes from an upbringing where many different musical genres rang regularly through the house. Maja has a Masters degree in Traditional Music from the Academy of Music, Southern Denmark in Odense (DK).

Anna Lindblad (S): Violin, vocals

Anna Lindblad is a versatile fiddler from Sweden. Her powerful fiddle playing is steeped in groove, joy, and presence. Anna is just as oldfashioned as she is innovative and with a nod to the tradition she brings her music forward, blending all her diverse musical interests into a very special voice that’s all her own. With a heart beating for Swedish tradition she is not afraid to mix it up with other musical ways of expression. Besides her Swedish fiddling, she also plays Québecois, Irish and Old-time, always with a smile and a contagiously positive attitude and spirit. Anna has a Master’s degree in Swedish traditional music from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (S).

Elise Wessel Hilrum (N): Flute, violin, vocals

Elise Wessel Hildrum is one of quite few Norwegian folk fluteplayers. She grew up playing mostly classical music, but “discovered” the world of folk music at the age of20 and decided that this was what she wanted to play. As a recorder player, it was natural for her to learn the Norwegian “sjøfløyte” (sea-flute) tradition from Numedal. This has been the core of her repertoire through several years of folk music studies. She studied for two years inRauland, four years at the Norwegian Academy of Music (as the only one to date to have done a folk music performance degree on the flute), she has been on exchange programmes to both Malmö (Sweden) and Newcastle (UK) and twice she has won the flute category in the national folk music competition. Elise also plays the fiddle, mostly for fun and in social settings. She can often be found in the middle of a jam session at festivals both at home and abroad.

Kristian Bugge (DK): Violin, vocals

Kristian Bugge is a well known Danish Rigsspillemand (The Society of Traditional Folk Musicians in Denmark), specializing in the very unique folk music traditions of his country. Kristian has learned from some of the old masters, people like Danish-American fiddler and accordion player Dwight ‘Red’ Lamb, and the Danish accordion player Karl Skaarup. He has released quite some albums with different bands, which has earned him a number of Danish Music Awards, including Folk Artist of the Year 2012, and Folk Instrumentalist of the Year 2016. Kristian Bugge’s strong playing has taken him all over the world featuring Danish Folk Music, from Scandinavia, all over Europe over Canada, USA and to Japan and Brazil.

Morten Alfred Høirup: Guitar, vocals

Morten Alfred is well known and respected on the Danish and international roots and folk music scene, as an innovative, dynamic and deeply original guitar player, singer, and composer. Morten Alfred grew up in a musical family, and all-ready as a young teenager, he began playing in his father’s popular wedding band. Since then Morten Alfred has developed his very own way of interpreting old songs and dance tunes, and he has received quite a number of Danish Music awards, including ‘Danish Folk Composer of the Year 2004’, and an ‘Honourable Award of the Year 2012’. Morten Alfred has toured all over the world with his music, enjoying the interaction with the audience at venues and festivals in Scandinavia, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Europe, Great Britain, The US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.