Born
in California, Loretta began classical violin and piano lessons as a
child. In 1976, already active in ethnic folk music and dance, Loretta
began her love affair with the hardingfele when she met Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa, virtuoso hardingfele
player and Norway's “musical ambassador to the world.” Immediately
smitten with the instrument and its music, she threw herself into
learning the Norwegian language, and in 1979 she spent a year in
Western Telemark, studying and performing with local fiddlers. Since
then she has made nearly twenty trips to Norway to study with masters
of this unique local instrument.
In
a country that protects its traditions vigilantly, Loretta Kelley is
regarded with tremendous respect for her talent, skill, and devotion to
Norway’s national instrument. She has been invited to perform in
numerous venues, and her playing was featured in an hour-long program
on Norway’s national radio station. She has consistently placed well in
fiddle contests, and has accompanied many top Norwegian dancers in
their own competitions. She has contributed articles to Norwegian books
on the instrument and on one of its foremost players, and has done
considerable research on the hardingfele traditions of two valleys.
At home in America, Loretta continues to promote the hardingfele
and its music through performance, teaching, publishing, and
translating. An inspiring teacher and brilliant dance musician, she
continues to be a crucial staff member at Scandinavian music and dance
camps and workshops throughout the US. As president of the
Hardanger Fiddle Association of America (www.hfaa.org), she assists in the revival of an intrument which was
first brought to North America by the wave of Norwegian immigrants that
began in the 1850s.
Loretta’s
performances include appearances on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home
Companion and American Radio Company, National Public Radio’s All
Things Considered, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and The
Christmas Revels. She has released four recordings. The first two, Dansekveld and AmerikaSpel,
are largely solo recordings. Loretta also collaborated with two other
leading lights of Scandinavian music in America, Andrea Hoag and
Charlie Pilzer, on a pair of highly acclaimed CDs of traditional and
recently-composed Scandinavian tunes. Hambo in the Barn (1996) and Hambo in the Snow (2006) were released on the Azalea City Recordings label, a musicians’ cooperative. Hambo in the Snow was nominated for a 2007 GRAMMY Award as Best Traditional World Music Album. |
