Andrea Een (born January 22, 1947) is a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, violist,

Hardanger fiddle A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...

r, poet, and Professor Emerita of Music at St. Olaf College. __TOC__

Career

Een is a founding member of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America. In 2002, she was awarded St. Olav's Medal by H.M.

Harald V of Norway Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the Succession to t ...

for helping to reintroduce the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle tradition to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She received the

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

Award, from the eponymous academy in

Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...

, Norway, in 1987, and was accredited as a Master Folk Artist Teacher by the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

State Arts Board in 1998. She was a professor of music at St. Olaf College from 1977 to 2012 and conducted the St. Olaf Chamber Orchestra (now Philharmonia) from 1977 to 1994. She was also a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra from 1985 to 2013 and has performed with VocalEssence, directed by Philip Brunelle, since 1985. She appears on their

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated recording of

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

's '' The Tender Land'' and Gramophone-winning '' Paul Bunyan'' by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

. In 2004, she released an album of traditional and original compositions for Hardanger fiddle titled ''From the Valley''. One work from the CD, "President Thomforde's March," was written for and premiered at St. Olaf College Inauguration Weekend in April 2000. Een earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts in violin performance and literature at the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

where she studied with Paul Rolland. Her dissertation "Comparison of Melodic Variants in the Hardingfele Repertoire of Norway" was advised by ethnomusicologist

Bruno Nettl Bruno Nettl (March 14, 1930 – January 15, 2020) was an American ethnomusicologist and academic of Czech birth. A central figure of ethnomusicology, he was among the discipline's most influential scholars. Nettl's research interests varied wi ...

. On January 20, 2007, Een demonstrated the Hardanger fiddle at the Highview

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

.Andrea Een and the Hardanger Fiddle – Brightcove

Personal life

Een is the granddaughter of Norwegian and German immigrants and grew up in

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

. Her brother is the composer and cellist

Robert Een Robert Een (born 1952) is an American composer, cellist, and vocalist. Career Known for his use of extended vocal and cello techniques, Een has recorded eight albums of his compositions and scored several films. He received Bessie Awards for mus ...

. She has one son.

Awards

*1987 Ole Bull Award from Ole Bull Academy Voss, Norway *1998 Master Folk Artist Award from Minnesota State Arts Board *2002 St. Olav's Medal from King Harald V of Norway

Discography

Hardanger Fiddle

*''Norwegian-American Music from Minnesota'' (1987), Minnesota State Arts Board *''From the Valley'' (2004), solo recording

Violin and Viola

*''Lake Wobegon'' (1994) with Garrison Keillor *''The Tender Land'' with Plymouth Music Series (1990) *''Paul Bunyan'' with Plymouth Music Series (1987)

Publications

*''Some Days We Name It Love'' (Heywood Press, 1994) *''The Quick and the Dead'' (Minnesota Valley Review, 1992) *''Penchant: Anthology of Northfield Women Poets'' (Heywood Press, 2005)

References

External links

* - Official site
Hardanger Fiddle Association of America
- Official site 1947 births Living people University of Illinois alumni St. Olaf College faculty American people of Norwegian descent American fiddlers Women fiddlers American violinists American women violinists American violists American women violists Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal 21st-century violinists 21st-century violists {{string-musician-stub