Emilia Amper (Sweden)

Emilia Amper (*1981) is a nyckelharpa player, singer and composer from Sweden, and winner of the World Championships of Nyckelharpa 2010. She has performed all over the world solo and with Swedish and Nordic folk music groups (like Absolut Trio and Blink), Persian classical musicians, jazz and pop/rock musicians (such as Jon Lord from Deep Purple) and the Norwegian chamber orchestra The Trondheim Soloists (with whom she won the Norwegian Grammy Spellemannsprisen 2011). She is a popular music and dance teacher as well as dance musician in Sweden and abroad, a former student and now member of the board at the Eric Sahlström Institute in Tobo, and she has a Bachelor in Musicology with a special in composition from the University in Trondheim, a Bachelor in Swedish Folk Music/Nyckelharpa from the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm and a Nordic Master in Folk Music (with studies in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway). Her musical passions are polskas, bowing technique, expression and dance groove, and her playing style has been described as dynamic, elegant and groovy. www.emiliaamper.se

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Article in the CADENCE project

About Tuning

by Emilia Amper

Abstract:
Why I have chosen to tune my nyckelharpa in fifths and to use the equal temperament.

Download "About Tuning"

 

Sheet Music

Polska efter Sven Donat – Video

Trad. Sweden, arrangement Emilia Amper

Sven Donat (1755 to 1815) was a corporal and fiddler, who lived in Småland, Emilia Amper’s home province in the south of Sweden. Polska efter Sven Donat is a slängpolska from his repertoire. Emilia made an arrangement for it inspired by evocative slängpolska dance floors and angel voices. She really loves both playing and dancing the sensitive, beautiful and playful slängpolskas, and the slängpolska masters Bengt Löfberg, Pelle Björnlert and Johan Hedin have been a great inspiration to her.

Download sheet music "Polska efter Sven Donat"

 

Kapad – Video

by Emilia Amper

Emilia Amper loves heavy metal and rock music, so she wanted to play some on her nyckelharpa. After being extremely moved and inspired by a concert with the Norwegian hard rock/metal drummer Kenneth Kapstad, she started composing Kapad. Emilia dedicates the tune to Kenneth and Vigdis Sjelmo, another great Norwegian rock drummer that she played with some years ago when she lived in Norway. Kapad means "hijacked” or "cut” and refers to Kenneth’s last name but also the way his intense music just blew Emilia away. Emilia first made the arrangement for the world famous chamber orchestra The Trondheim Soloists when she was going to perform with them. Later, a dream came true when she could try this whole piece with a full nyckelharpa orchestra in the CADENCE project! Nyckelharpa power!

Download sheet music "Kapad"

 

Polska fra Hoffsmyran

by Emilia Amper

I composed this tune when I was living in Norway and it is named after the area where I lived, Hoffsmyran on Ørlandet by the coast west of Trondheim. Ørlandet is a totally flat peninsula located just where fjord meets sea, so to one side you can see the endless North sea and to the other side the Trondheimsfjord that winds into the country with snowy mountain tops in the distance.

Download sheet music "Polska fra Hoffsmyran"

 

CADENCE

by Emilia Amper and Didier François

Download sheet music: "CADENCE"