Stalking the Wild Nyckelharpa

So where does one start when trying to buy a Swedish nyckelharpa from the US? Probably a quick Google search will take you to the American Nyckelharpa Association's page http://www.nyckelharpa.org/buy/buying-a-new-nyckelharpa/. And what a wealth of information there is there! Not only do you have to consider the location of the nyckelharpa builder and price, but the length of time it takes for the maker to build one. Yes, there's a wait list. It's very different from buying a fiddle where you walk into a shop and try one and pick one out to take home. For nyckelharpas, you commission a builder and hope you like what's built! 

As someone who plays music for a living, I wasn't keen on purchasing a nyckelharpa without trying it. And I didn't want the cheapest possible one - I wanted one I would enjoy playing for many years. Neither did I want to wait 7 years, as is the case with some of the most recognized nyckelharpa builders in Sweden. Yes, I had my heart set on a traditional Swedish nyckelharpa from Sweden, not from the US. 

So how did I get the one I am playing now? Funny story. I was at Nordic Fiddles and Feet in 2019, and on day 3 of learning nyckelharpa on the one I had borrowed for the week, a very kind woman said, "oh, I have a nyckelharpa that hangs on our wall and we never play. Want to borrow it until you can find a good nyckelharpa?" Me: OF COURSE I WOULD!!! And so I still have this loaner made by Enar Magnusson (pictured below), which has been my saving grace. (July 2021) The photo below was taken after my first ever nyckelharpa concert at the Kanack School of Musical Artistry, after three months of playing and teaching myself how to play the nyckelharpa. And I was thrilled!! 

Luckily, fellow nyckelharpists on the American Nyckelharpa Association Facebook page were able to give me a couple Swedish nyckelharpa builder recommendations, and after e-mailing a few builders, I found out the earliest my desired harpa could be ready was September 2020, which would coincide perfectly with my Fulbright grant overseas (more on that later). Little did I know a pandemic was on the way, preventing me from traveling to Sweden to pick up the harpa I wanted!

Me after my first solo nyckelharpa concert in Rochester, NY
Photo Credit: Austin Wahl 

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