We love this music! We're very excited that we have both been accepted to study in Sweden next year, right in the heart of it all.
Yes, we've achieved our starter goal, but our real costs are about $20k total. So please keep those pledges rolling in! We promise everlasting gratitude to all you wonderful people who are helping our dream come true!
unique opportunity
We are very excited that we have both been accepted to study in Sweden for the coming school year. We are looking forward to plunging into an immersive program in Swedish folk music for fiddle and nyckelharpa at the Eric Sahlström Institute, the epicenter of the nyckelharpa universe. The Institute is located in the province of Uppland, in a tiny village called Tobo, a couple hours north of Stockholm. This course offers a unique opportunity for immersion in rich living traditions, studying with many of the very best players and teachers who bear those traditions today. This is a particularly auspicious year to be attending: in August our course will begin at the grand celebration to mark Eric Sahlström's 100th birthday.
offset a portion of our costs
The entire trip will cost each of us about $10,000. That's $20,000 total.
Your support of this project will offset a portion of our costs for a year of studying and living in Sweden. The biggest single component is the Institute's fees for room and partial board (breakfast/lunch on school days), which adds up to around $5,000 for each of us.
Our original Kickstarter goal of $5,000 nets each of us a little over $2,000 toward school expenses. (The remainder covers Kickstarter commission fees, our modest $500 investment in sound engineering for our EP recording "Trip to Tobo," and production/mailing costs for the super-cool photo magnets in our rewards list.)
our contribution
When we return home, we look forward to sharing with all of you in our roles as dance musicians, composers, collaborators, teachers, and recording artists. Our newly deepened understanding of the Swedish musical traditions will enrich our playing for you as a Scandinavian fiddle duo, of course, but also our musical development will extend to our other genres. lydia is especially inspired by the prospect of bringing everything she learns back to her playing for English Country Dance music, which calls on the same set of skills she'll be developing in Sweden, including her love of improvising harmonic lines. Andrea will be focusing particularly on the teaching techniques of the many high-caliber teachers we'll meet, so that she can bring their ideas back to her own teaching studio. Both of us plan to expand our repertoire as composers of dance tunes, so you can expect to hear the strains of lovely new waltzes and schottises for many years to come!
As we learn lots of new tunes, we will produce an e-book of tune transcriptions, with digital recordings, to help share our favorites with you. While you wait, we've prepared a selection of tunes to share with you now, on our new digital EP recording "Trip to Tobo." Take a look at these and the other rewards we're offering, in the list on the right, in return for your generous sponsorship. When you find something you might enjoy, pledge any amount in that category!
thank you
Thank you so much for supporting our project! We appreciate every donation.
Tack så mycket!
Credits: We are grateful to the wonderful folks who have helped us get this far, including: Moti Mark Zemelman for video filming and Mark Leibold for the generous loan of his video camera. Bob Mills for sound engineering of our "Trip to Tobo" recording, Doug Cox for the violins and viola we played on it, and the MacDowell Colony for the recording space. SWEA Boston for the $1000 scholarship awarded to lydia. Thanks to these people for permission to use their photos in our video: Moti Mark Zemelman, Bob Mills, Karsten Evers, Marty Stock, Roger Katz, Andrew Finlayson, Astrid. Images of the Eric Sahlström Institute come from the ESI site and their Facebook page; the faculty portraits are by Mia Marin, and the classic photo of Eric is by Ingvar Johans.
FAQ
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We leave in August! Which is coming up Really Soon!! lydia is flying over (with Mills) on August 7th. Andrea will follow a little later (with John), before the Sahlström birthday party on the 24th. Then our sweeties will fly home and we'll stay on for the entire school year, which ends in late May. At which point, Andrea expects she'll come home pretty promptly, and lydia expects she'll stick around for some summer festivals first.
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Funding period
May 28, 2012 -
Jun 27, 2012
- First created · 0 backed
- lydia ievins 1363 friends
- Website: lydia-andrea.com
Pledge $5 or more
14 backers
Thank You! We'll list your name on our website as one of the project's sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Jul 2012Pledge $10 or more
28 backers
Tune Download! One track from our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo." ... + a thank you note + credit in our list of project sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Jul 2012Pledge $25 or more
86 backers
Album Download + Photo Magnet! Our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo," featuring traditional tunes, trad-inspired originals by each of us, and a stunning setting of the most famous Eric Sahlström tune of all time. Since there's no hard-copy CD to admire, we're throwing in a photo magnet of our album cover — our smiling faces on your fridge, to brighten your days in our absence. ... + a thank you note + credit in our list of project sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012Pledge $40 or more
17 backers
Birthday Fiddle-o-Gram! We'll phone or skype you (or your surprised gift recipient) from Sweden to wish you a happy birthday (in Swedish, of course) and play you a cheerful tune in honor of the occasion. ... + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note + credit in our list of project sponsors. (We'll work out the timing with you.)
Estimated delivery: May 2013Pledge $50 or more
57 backers
Tune Book! An e-book of tune transcriptions for our favorite tunes we learn in Sweden, with digital recordings. ... + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note and photo from Sweden + credit in our list of project sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013Pledge $77 or more
5 backers
$77, you wonder?! When we return, we'll teach you the most famous Swedish tongue twister, "Sjuttiosju sjösjuka sjömän sköttes av sju sköna sjuksköterskor på skeppet Shanghai"! (see http://bit.ly/77sailors to get a head start — you'll need it!) ... + tune book + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note and photo from Sweden + credit in our list of project sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013Pledge $100 or more
17 backers
Personalized Mini Recording! We'll arrange and record a tune or Swedish song just for you (or your intended gift recipient). Maybe we can even convince one of our new friends or famous teachers to join us?? ... + tune book + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note and photo from Sweden + credit in our list of project sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013Pledge $125 or more
1 backer Limited (2 of 3 left)
December Express! Same as Personalized Mini Recording, but finished and ready for you — or your cherished gift recipient — before the December holidays. (...Umm, except for the tune book, which will still come later. So we have to put that later date on this item, to follow the Kickstarter rules.)
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013Pledge $250 or more
7 backers
Your Own Tune! A totally new tune written just for you, inspired by Swedish folk traditions, for listening or for your favorite dance form (waltz? ECD?). We'll ask you a number of questions and then create a custom composition to suit you (or your beloved gift recipient). You'll get a recording and a transcription of your tune. ... + tune book + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note and photo from Sweden + credit in our list of project sponsors.
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013Pledge $400 or more
1 backer
School Concert! We'll travel to your school (or other non-profit organization) and play a concert, complete with nyckelharpa petting zoo and entertaining educational material about Swedish folk music, tailored to your group's age range and interests. ... + tune book + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note and photo from Sweden + credit in our list of project sponsors. (Concert scheduled upon our return. Travel fees may apply if you live farther than a 2-hour drive from Keene NH, our duo's midpoint. Please check with us first if you're thinking of a very large group.)
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013Pledge $500 or more
3 backers
House Concert! We'll travel to your house and put on a concert for you and your friends. You could also use this for a dance, a Midsommar party, a Santa Lucia party,... + tune book + our new digital EP "Trip to Tobo" + photo magnet + a thank you note and photo from Sweden + credit in our list of project sponsors. (Concert scheduled upon our return. Travel fees may apply if you live farther than a 2-hour drive from Keene NH, our duo's midpoint.)
Estimated delivery: Sep 2013
