October 9 - 12, 2025

10^th October, evening: Conference on "Recent Developments"
11^th October, 8:30 pm: public Nyckelharpa Concert

… more than just a weekend of playing!

Nyckelharpa Builder and Bow Maker
Exhibition, consultation, trying out of different instruments
Small on-site repairs and attaching new bow hair

Holger Funke, Germany (www.nyckel-harpa.de)
Annette Osann, France (www.annetteosann.jimdofree.com)
Johannes Mayr, Germany (www.nyckelharpa.info)
Aurélie Georges, Italy (www.aureliegeorgesbows.com)
Johan Teuwen, Belgium (www.facebook.com/johanteuwe)
Tino Mixan, Austria (www.facebook.com/martin.mixan)
Johan Hertogs, Belgium (www.jh-nyckelharpas.com/)
Jürgen Vater, Germany (www.nyckelharpa-bau.de)
Jean Jaques & Enzo Matello, France (www.mantello-guitars.com/nyckelharpa)

et al.

Jonas Böttcher, Verlag der Spielleute, Germany (www.spielleute.de)

Prior notice 2026:
23^rd International Days of the Nyckelharpa, October 8 – 11, 2026

The nyckelharpa (Schlüsselfidel, viola d’amore con chiavi, keyed fiddel) is a string instrument played with a short bow and keys that change the pitch. Its resonance strings contribute to its unique sound. From Late Middle Ages the nyckelharpa emerged in Europe. However since the Baroque Period it has only been played in Sweden mainly around Upland as a folk instrument.Thanks to innovative Swedish musicians and instrument makers, in particular August Bohlin and Eric Sahlström, and inspired musicians inside and outside Sweden, the nyckelharpa has been rediscovered all over the world for several decades and is increasingly being played in many musical styles. For this success story of preserving and spreading a cultural asset through international cooperation, the “Nyckelharpa Network”, which also includes the European Nyckelharpa Training and the International Nyckelharpa Days at Fürsteneck Castle as well as the two EU projects CADENCE and ENCORE, was included in the UNESCO register of “Good Safeguarding Practices” as “Intangible World Heritage” in 2023.

This invitation is intended for people from everywhere with all levels of nyckelharpa experience (as well as people motivated to learn) to play, share experiences, and take lessons together.
Instruction will be given mostly in English. Additional languages are possible depending on the teachers. Some help with different languages is usually available by participants in the single workshops.

Instruction will be given mostly in English. Additional languages are possible depending on the teachers. Some help with different languages is usually available by participants in the single workshops..

We are planning (subject to alterations):

• Workshop for beginners and slightly advanced players (The group will be divided according to topic and need)
  (Some instruments are available for rent at a fee of € 50. Please don't forget to tell us at time of registration if you need one.)


• Caterina Other and Petra Krebs
• Handling the nyckelharpa
• Fundamentals of using the bow
• Use of the left hand
• Easy repertoire



• Continuous Workshops with special topics for advanced players
(These courses are designed to enable themed work and require basic playing skills. For less experienced players participants should attend the more appropriate workshop given by Annette Osann.)


• Olena Yeremenko
• Music from the Ukrainean tradition.


• Jule Bauer
• Nyckelharpa and singing
  Techniques, tips and tricks to accompany yourself with the nyckelharpa while singing and to find beautiful song accompaniments.


• Josefina Paulson and Torbjörn Näsbom
• Swedish folk music and different playing techniques for nyckelharpa



The two following courses are aimed at somewhat more advanced nyckelharpa players and require preparation using previously sent sheet music, audio samples and/or exercises.

• Marco Ambrosini
• Scandinavian Romanticism (L. M. Lindeman, E. Grieg, M. Bruch & G. C. Bohlmann) – with preparation


• Didier François
• Johann Sebastian Bach on the nyckelharpa, solo, duo and ensemble music – with preparation
  

• Short workshops with the other teachers for even more sharing


• Conference on recent developments (Friday, 10^th October, evening)
• Public nyckelharpa concert (Saturday, 11^th October 8:30 pm, free entrance)



• Free playing together and sharing of experience
• Playing in different groups
• and in different styles


• Exposition about the nyckelharpa
• History of the nyckelharpa, from the mora to the e-harpa – Holger E. Funke
• Exchange with the nyckelharpa and bow makers
• Opportunity to try out
• Repairs
• Consultation service


• Forum for instrument makers
  
• Exchange of experience among the participating builder and presentation of their own developments
• Discussion of different instrument styles and their implications building and acoustics
• Exchange with the teachers and participants of the playing workshops to their requirements of the instruments
• Visits of participants in the exhibition
• Expansion of the own network in the nyckelharpa scene
  The number of places for instrument and bow makers is limited, early application is recommended.

Planning and overall direction: Marco Ambrosini and Karsten Evers

The nyckelharpa teachers:
Possibly the number of teachers and/or the main topics, in particular of the short workshops, might be expanded depending on special guests or course occupancy. The earlier you register, the better we can plan.

Torbjörn Näsbom, (Sweden), grew up in the province of Uppland and learned to play the fiddle from his father. Even when he was young he had the privilege of meeting great figures like Eric Sahlström and Viksta-Lasse. Later he started to train as a classical violinist at the Swedish Radio College of music at Edsbergs Castle and the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. After studying he worked with the Umeå Symphony Orchestra at Norrlands Opera, and it was there he started to play the nyckelharpa. At first it was in a pleasant and controlled way, but as time went on it became more and more of a dependency. Of course he plays folk music, but he has also explored how the nyckelharpa works with classical and baroque music. He performed as soloist with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Drottningholms Baroque Ensemble, Umeå Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra and Stockholms Baroque Orchestra and others. And he also toured with Ann-Sofi von Otter in various parts of Europe and the USA. Together with the bass-player Sebastian Dubé he recorded the CD called "Vatten" ("Water").
More at: www.nasbom.se

Prof. Didier François, Antwerpen (Belgium), studied violin, composition and Jazz in Brussels and Amsterdam. He has performed on violin and nyckelharpa with Stefane Grappelli, Gabriel Yacoub, Michel Risler, Armand Amar. He has composed for ballet, film and theatre, is a sculptor, and he has been teaching for many years.
More at: www.didierfrancois.be

Petra Krebs, Ettingen (Switzerland), is an ambitious amateur musician and performs in various formations from folk to classical music. The keyed fiddle has captured her heart. She has been in the European nyckelharpa training programme since 2019 and is about to graduate. She travels throughout Europe for concerts, courses, lessons and playing together. She enjoys organising events for musicians to meet up for spontaneous music-making.
More at: www.des-dudels-kern.ch/

Caterina Other,Quohren near Dresden (Germany), enjoyed a solid basic musical education on the violin as a child. As a graduate of the European Nyckelharpa training at Fürsteneck Castle, she teaches nyckelharpa and is involved in various projects for early music and folk music, such as. the international NYCKELHARPA QUARTETT or the band TWORNA, which is dedicated to local songs in an unconventional way.
More at http://stroemkarlen.de/caterina-other/

Josefina Paulson, Västmanland (Sweden), is a modern musician strongly rooted in the tradition and you can hear the dialect of folk musician in everything she plays. She became Riksspelman (national folk musician) in Delsbo in 2008 for the “lively and skilful playing of music from Västmanland”. In 2009 she received a cultural award in Västmandland for embodying folk music from the region. In 2011 Josefina received the ”Bror Hjorth Scholarship” with the jury’s motivation ”technically brilliant, very committed performance on the nyckelharpa with both the preservation of cultural traditions and a gentle personal and creative rejuvenation”. 2016, she won the world championship with the modern nyckelharpa. Josefina studied on the one year course at Eric Sahlström Institutet and also has a bachelor in music, with the nyckelharpa as her main instrument, at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm.
More at: www.josefinapaulson.se

Olena Yeremenko, Warszawa (Poland), was born in Ukraine in an artistic family. She started playing violin at the age of four and graduated later the conservatory in Lviv. After studying she turned her interest into European traditional music and co-founded the Burdon Folk Band. She has also taken part in numerous projects in Ukraine and Poland She has recorded Telemann’s Polish Dances with The Orchestra of Age of Plague and cooperated with Gardzienice Theatre Group as a leader musician and an actress. Recently, she has taken part in a progressive rock project „Ichthyander Dad’s Only Dolphin” and joined Polish early music group “Dancerye”. Olena's experience in playing Central and East European tunes allowed her to draw a unique timbre out of the nyckelharpa voice when playing Bulgarian, Moldavian or Ukrainian music. She easily connects styles of different folk music styles with modern ways of musical expression.
More at: www.soundcloud.com/olena-yeremenko

Planning and overall management: Marco Ambrosini and Karsten Evers

The International Days of the Nyckelharpa at BURG FÜRSTENECK starts on Thursday, 9th October, 2025 with dinner at 6:30 pm and ends on Sunday, 12th October, 2025 at 1:00 pm. Fee: 430 – 530 € (self-assessment including acommodation in twin room and food), youth fee 215 €, subsidized rate & exhibitors 301 € The course fees include accommodation in a twin room at the castle in and meals – also vegetarian, vegan or allergy-friendly on request. Discounts = reduced fees for young people, low-income and exhibitors Youth fee is available for young persons up to 26 years of age. The subsidized rate can be granted to people who are on a low income and are in receipt of statutory social benefits or only have a comparable low income (proof required). Exhibitors who built professionally nyckelharpa can apply for the 30%.discount. Please indicate a dicount at the time of registration and provide proof. No discount can be granted retrospectively. Rental charges remain unaffected. Registration online (You can switch the form to English above the page title. Please indicate any required loan instrument in the "Comments" field.) Concert videos from past International Days of the Nyckelharpa can be found at www.youtube.com/user/FuerstNyckel/playlists (Many thanks to the artists and to Bernd Segnitz, who produced the videos. Please also note our two-year part-time Eurpoean Nyckelharpa Training www.nyckelharpa.eu European Nyckelharpa Training CADENCE – Cultural ADult Education and Nyckelharpa Coopreration in Europe ENCORE – European Nyckelharpa Cooperation – ORchestral Experience Nyckelharpa – books BURG FÜRSTENECK Am Schlossgarten 3 D-36132 Eiterfeld Germany Tel: +49 (0) 6672-92020 Fax: +49 (0) 6672-9202-30 www.burg-fuersteneck.de