Ole Bull (1810–80), Norway’s first world-famous violinist, was intensely interested in Norwegian folk music. He felt the need to strengthen Norway’s music culture, and attempted to start a Norwegian academy of music, but without success.
More than a century later, violinist and fiddler Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa (1910–90) saw the importance of including folk music in higher music education in Norway. In 1976, he founded the Ole Bull Academy (OBA), known as Ole Bull Akademiet in Norwegian, and in the following year, OBA began offering courses in slåttespel (traditional fiddle music) for students from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and the Bergen Conservatory of Music. Activities have steadily increased, and by the end of 2010, more than
14 000 students from Norwegian colleges and universities had attended courses in folk music
and dance at OBA.
In collaboration with the Grieg Academy in Bergen, OBA established a two-year study program for folk musicians in 1996. In 2004 this was extended to a four-year Bachelor program (Tradisjonsmusikk I & II), and from 2014, it is possible to take elective courses in Hardanger fiddle making in the frame of this program.
From 2009, OBA offers a Master’s degree program in Nordic folk music in collaboration with the Royal College of Music (Stockholm), the Sibelius Academy (Helsinki) and the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts Southern Denmark (Odense/Esbjerg).
The objectives of the Ole Bull Academy are to:
- Impart knowledge about and teach Norwegian folk music and folk dance to college
- and university students;
- give folk musicians an opportunity to attain a university-level education;
- be a meeting place for Norwegian folk music and other kinds of music;
- convey knowledge about Norwegian folk music to people from other countries.
- Through research, publishing, and student exchange, the Academy aims to increase
- knowledge about Norwegian folk music and folk dance.
- Be an active participant in Nordic and other international collaborations in order to increase knowledge about Norwegian folk music.
The Ole Bull Academy is a foundation with an officially appointed board. OBA owns and runs Kringsjå AS, which provides accommodation for approximately 40 course participants. Additions to the building in 1994 and 2004 provided space for offices, classrooms, a concert hall, and a fiddle maker’s workshop. The home of Sigbjørn B. Osa is also used for concerts.
The faculty at the Ole Bull Academy are some of the most prominent folk musicians in Norway. OBA collaborates with both Norwegian and Nordic music institutions and with various folk music associations and other organizations. Many of Norway’s foremost freelance folk musicians and dancers are associated with OBA, and provide about half of the instruction.
The Ole Bull Academy is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Research, Hordaland County, and the Municipality of Voss. Every year in October, OBA organizes Osafestivalen, a meeting place for folk, classical, and other music genres. OBA manages the Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa Fund and has in its stewardship the collection of violins and fiddles after Sigbjørn B. Osa.
More information at:
Strengjarhaugen 6, 5704 Vossevangen, Norway
Phone: +47 56 51 65 00
www.olebull.no
Author: Arne Anderdal
