Join fiddlers Kristian Bugge and Ruthie Dornfeld for an evening of traditional Danish folk music! Held alongside our ongoing exhibition Nordic Echoes — Tradition in Contemporary Art, this program takes place during a week-long series of special folk events in honor of Midsummer.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Kristian Bugge is one of the busiest folk musicians rooted in Denmark. He was born 1979 in Næstved, Denmark. His family lived in Sweden for two years and then settled in Vejle in Eastern Jutland, Denmark. He attended a Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) School where, when asked in the fifth grade which instrument he would like, he chose the violin. Soon the two of them were inseparable. In 2004 Kristian Bugge became the first musician ever to receive the Radium Award. Kristian Bugge is active on the Danish, Scandinavian and North American folk music scene, both as a musician and teacher. Kristian has specialized in the strong Danish folk music traditions, playing with groups like Baltic Crossing, Jensen & Bugge, Gangspil and Jagdselskabet. For about 10 years he played duo with the legendary accordionist, late Karl Skaarup. Kristian has a strong love to the traditional music but also really enjoy experimenting and being part of crossover projects as the cooperation with classical percussionist Ronni Kot Wenzel in the very active duo Wenzell & Bugge and the exciting Danish folk big band Habadekuk.
Fiddler Ruthie Dornfeld’s big tone, fierce rhythm and fluid style, along with a wildly eclectic repertoire, have won her popularity among dancers and concert audiences alike. Fluent in a wide range of traditional styles (Irish, American old-time, Scandinavian and Eastern European, for starters), she has performed and taught for over forty years throughout the USA and from the Manaus Operahouse in the Brazilian Amazon to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. After starting with classical violin as a child in Oregon, Ruthie discovered fiddling at age 18, then hit the road in pursuit of music. In New England, she studied jazz at Berklee College of Music, became a renowned dance fiddler, played in the stringband The Poodles, and founded the transcontinental American Cafe Orchestra with Danish guitarist Morten Alfred Høirup. Now settled in Seattle, Ruthie keeps busy as a member of 3 Fiddlers, 3 Traditions (together with Danish fiddler Kristian Bugge and Métis fiddler Jamie Fox), the tango band Tangoheart, accompanying country singing duo Margo Murphy and John Roberts, and playing for local dances. Ruthie also plays a 5 string medieval fiddle (vielle), and her compositions for that instrument are featured in the recording “Lay of the Waves,” for which she received grants from Artist Trust and the Jack Straw Foundation.
Photos—Ruthie Dornfeld (left) and Kristian Bugge (right, photo by Sophie Bech)