Friday 5th 4pm — Sunday 7th September 4pm, 2025
We are so excited to be able to have Torbjörn Näsbom and Ruth Morris on the team again! It’s going to be amazing! Booking is now live! We can stay on Sunday night and there will be a bunch of us staying.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE LOAN HARPAS: There is no total beginner course planned – but continuing learners from the March course are welcome. Please note that from this course the loaned harpas now are rented rather than lent out for free. For more information about the instruments and to reserve yours you’ll find the information on this page.
(Advance notice: 11th – 13th September 2026)
Torbjörn Näsbom
We had Torbjörn as a tutor back in 2017. Torbjörn was born and grew up in Uppland and was taught by his father and was privileged to be able to meet and play with the great masters such as Viksta Lasse and Eric Sahlström. Torbjörn went on to train as a violinist at Sveriges Radio’s music school at Edsberg Castle and at the Royal Music Conservatory in Brussels. Then he went on to be employed in the Umeå Symphony Orchestra in the Norrland Opera. In addition to the violin playing Torbjörn started to play the nyckelharpa, which as is the way of the nyckelharpa took over.
Torbjörn plays folk music, but also mixes the nyckelharpa into classical music, mainly from the Baroque period. He has performed as a soloist with Sweden’s Radio Symphony Orchestra, Drottningholm’s Baroque Ensemble, Stockholm’s Baroque Orchestra and symphony orchestras in Umeå, Örebro and Gävle, as well as touring in Europe, Asia and the USA together with the mezzo-soprano Ann-Sofie von Otter.
In 2014 Torbjörn received Zorn’s gold medal with the justification “Virtuoso, masterful and tradition-conscious playing on the violin and nyckelharpa”. The highest award you can receive as a folkmusician.
Ruth Morris
Ruth was with us in September 2021 alongside Olof Johansson.
RUTH MORRIS is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, specialising in nyckelharpa, fiddle, whistle and piano. Based in Scotland, she currently plays with Firelight Trio, Gavin Marwick’s Journeyman Project, The Galloway Agreement, The Village and The Road, Bellevue Rendezvous, and her ceilidh band Whirligig.
Recent work includes being an on-set musician on HBO series ‘Outlander’, and playing nyckelharpa on the soundtrack of the Netflix film ‘Outlaw King’. Freelance work also includes performances with Wendy Stewart, Mr McFall’s Chamber, the Scottish Ensemble, Rory McLeod, Red Dog Green Dog and Cantrip. Composing/ arranging for film and theatre includes Sky TV’s ‘Nation’s Best Am Dram’.
Her music has taken her all over Europe, and even as far afield as Japan (with The Village and The Road), and in her travels she has added to her Scottish/ Irish repertoire a great collection of tunes and dances, particularly from Central France, Brittany, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. She works hard in her local community, organising and promoting events, leading workshops, and running music groups, independently and also through organisations such as Feis Rois and the YMI. She is an enthusiastic inspiration to a new generation of musicians.
The Firelight Trio Website
Vicki Swan
Vicki studied at the Royal College of Music on the double bass. She also plays the various types of bagpipes, flute, recorder, piano and nyckelharpa. On leaving music college Vicki started down the long path of folk music and was only seen on rare glimpses back in classical orchestras. You’ll find Vicki now inhabiting the troll ridden forests on the hunt for new and exciting tunes from the näcken. Vicki plays not only the standard 3-row modern chromatic, but also the 1408 sienaharpa, the 1526 moraharpa, the 1700s kontrabasharpa and the 1800s silverbasharpa. Over the pandemic Vicki has worked tirelessly on a Virtual Music Room to try to help isolated nyckelharpa players remain motivated and focussed on playing and learning. Chances are after all this time alone at home she won’t stop talking at the Halsway weekend! Seeing as this is Vicki’s website we don’t really need a link, but here is one to Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer:
http://www.swan-dyer.co.uk
Once you’ve booked get in touch to let me know! I get in touch with everyone as soon as I am notified, but I am not automatically notified when people sign up. We have a WhatsApp group and I always make a resources page. If you’ve changed your email address – make sure you get in touch so I can update my records and not send emails to the wrong place!