For a long time in the SCA, I wasn't involved in Bardic at all. I was involved in music & theatre in my everyday life both in my career and hobbies, so the SCA was a sort of haven to get away from that. I also didn't really see a place for myself in the Bardic community in the SCA: I wasn't a campfire bard, preferring to enjoy other's performances, and didn't play any instruments (other than recorder at the time) that were acceptable in the SCA so I simply felt like I didn't fit in. It wasn't until 2005 that I "came out of the woodwork" and entered Lions Gate's Bardic Defenders with four pieces including some original pieces. I found that I loved the research and documentation required for competition, even if competition itself is nerve-wracking and stressful. Later I entered and won the Principality of Tir Righ Bardic to become the "Skald of Tir Righ" in 2008. In 2010, I entered Kingdom Bardic and though I didn't win, I did meet some amazing people, including my current Laurel, Mistress Alisaundre.

In 2008, I also discovered Scandinavian music. Since I desired to find music closer to my Norse persona, I have pursued studies in Scandinavian Balladry, and that has become something of an obsession. Knowing full well it is impossible to prove any music comes from the "Viking" age, I have approached my ballad research by looking at the songs in ways that show how it is plausible that their style, history, content, structure, and oral tradition MAY have roots as far back as the late Viking age. This research is at times frustrating in the same ways that research into any genre rooted in oral tradition, like story-telling, can be given a lack of written and extant examples and a general lack of acceptance of oral traditions as "proof".

Researching Scandinavian Balladry also made me curious about other styles of traditional singing in Scandinavia which led me to Sheparding calls and songs, one of the oldest styles of singing in the world. It is still a tradition in many Scandinavian countries such as Sweden where it is known as "kulning". Mostly practiced by women in Scandinavia, kulning was both a means of communication with the animals they were tending and other shepardesses on neighbouring hills, but also as a means of entertainment while alone in the hills or together back at the "fåbod" or community "lockrop".

 

Also in 2008 I purchased the first of my OTHER obsessions, my Anglo-Saxon Lyres. I instantly fell in love and soon purchased 2 more Lyres, and a Anglo-Saxon Harp. I was also given a Swedish Bagpipe, a Hornpipe, and was gifted with a Rebec from Their Highnesses Raknar & Chiara of Tir Righ to join my other recorders, Bodhran, bowed-psaltery, and Celtic harp in the menagerie. One can never have too many instruments, right?

In recent years I have developed and taught classes such as "Anglo-Saxon Lyre for Beginners" and "Scandinavian Ballads 101" at various Kingdom and Principality events.

 

At events I prefer to set-up somewhere, perhaps around the erics during tournaments, and simply play and sing quietly for whoever wishes to listen, to provide ambient music and enhance the atmosphere of events I attend. That what I enjoy doing most.

 

I currently have two students: HL Wulfstan Hrafnsson and Lady Asny Hrafnsdottir.

 

 

Languages: Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Danish, Italian, Spanish, Latin, German, French, Irish Gaelic, Russian & English.

 

Instruments (all self-taught): Anglo-Saxon Lyre, Celtic Harp, Piano, Bass Guitar, String Bass/Double Bass, Flute, Recorder (Alto & Soprano), Hornpipe, Djembe, Bodhran and other percussion, Ocarina, Oboe, Penny Whistle... and I'm slowly (and painfully both for me and others around me) learning Guitar, Rebec, Bowed Psaltery, & Swedish Bagpipes.

Vocal Range: D2 - D5+

 

Vocal Training:

1986-1993 - Studied Music Theory and Music History through the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto.
1989-1991 - Les Neufeld (Choir Director & Vocal Coach) - Training focussed on light Opera, Oratorio and English songs of the Baroque period.
1991-1993 - Ingrid Suderman (Opera Singer & Vocal Coach) - Training focussed on German Lieder, English songs of the Elizabethan, Baroque and Romantic periods, Oratorio, light Opera.