OM ROD | rodfolk

ABOUT ROD

WHAT'S GOING ON AT ROD?

At ROD, various activities such as gruppespil, storspil and workshops are held during the week.

All levels are welcome in all activities, only the desire or curiosity to play with other folk-interested people is necessary.

A large part of ROD is everything that goes on between the activities in the planned program. When music is not being played, dancing at a workshop or cozying up on a sofa, delicious food is served from this year's ROD chef, who always prepares vegetarian or vegan food.

GRUPPESPIL

As a participant, you will be placed in a group with 10-15 other participants (also called "roots"). Together as a band, you must arrange and play a few numbers based on ideas, melodies and songs that you have brought from home.

STORSPIL

For storspil, all the convention's participants gather in one large orchestra under the direction of this year's four directors.

The 4 instructors have each separately brought melodies that they will teach the participants during the week. Finally, the 4 instructors' arrangements are played for the closing concert at the end of the week.

WORKSHOPS

During ROD, various workshops will be held where you can learn a lot of different things about folk music, folk dance and everything else. Some workshops will be held by this year's instructors, some by outsiders and some by the convention's own participants. If you have a good idea, you are very welcome to hold a workshop during the week.

If you need a break, the workshop time can also be a good time to retire if the need for sleep or a bath is stronger than the desire to learn a new Bingsjö Polska.

INSTRUCTORS

Each year the working group chooses four instructors to teach at ROD.

Below you can see the instructors from ROD2024.

Stay tuned in December for the instructor team of ROD2025!

Rasmus Grams-Nielsen

Rasmus Grams-Nielsen! He is a trad geek of the highest order and is known from both Trias and "While We Wait for the Wave". He is a trained violinist from Folkekons and has a wonderful swing on both violin and piano. Although he is only 35 years old, he has been teaching folk music courses for over 15 years.
Rasmus is a really talented fiddler and teacher and we are so proud to present him as an instructor at 2024!
Fun Fact: Rasmus was on his first ROD in 2002!

Natalie Haas

Natalie is one of the most sought-after cellists within folk music, whether it's Scottish/Irish, Nordic or classical - Natalie can do it all.

With her education from Juilliard, Natalie is reaping awards, nominations and people's hearts around the world.
When she is not playing concerts, recording records, or being an instructor at Rod, Natalie teaches at the Berklee College of Music, among other things.
What is being said about Natalie?
¨Natalie basically wrote the book on the cello's place in Celtic music.¨ - Peter Winter
¨In the hands of Natalie Haas, the cello becomes a truly magical instrument." - Green Man

Sofia Högstadius

Sofia Högstadius is known from the Scandinavian folk and world music scene and plays in e.g. Trio Catastrophe. Sofia teaches violin and ensemble at the conservatory in Gothenburg.
If her Swedish violin playing sounds a bit crooked and in strange time signatures, it is because she has been a lot in the Balkan countries and played with the folk musicians there.

Eddie Barbash

Eddie Barbash is a fabulous saxophonist who lives in New York and plays with people like Sierra Hull, Jon Batiste, Cory Wong, etc! Eddie plays at an insanely high level and has dabbled in jazz, Irish/American folk and more.
We are looking forward like little children to getting a vitamin injection of fan goodness this year<3

THE WORK GROUP

Every year a new working group is chosen at ROD. The working group plans and devises next year's convention. This year's working group is…

The 2025 working group is:

Sigrid Smith Hogue
Signe Kierkgaard Schmidt
Mathilde Emilie Sørensen
Henry Burtonwood
Lauge Johannes Hansen (Chairman)
Marie Frost Christensen
Marcus Ingerslev
Konrad Møller
Thea Lærke K. Anthony

ROOT HISTORY

In 1995, Anja Mikkelsen was invited by the Folkemusikkens Fællesekretariat to make a list of all young Danish folk musicians. It turned out that this was to be the seed of the first ROD. The list was used as an invitation to a convention where young folk musicians could meet on their own terms.

The first convention was held in 1996 with Anja Mikkelsen, Jesper Vinther and Julie Heebøll in the working group. Among the first "roots" are names such as Harald Haugaard, Tove De Fries, Katja Mikkelsen, Nanna Jørgensen and Steffan Sørensen. The convention was a great success, and it was the first time that so many young Danish folk music enthusiasts were gathered in one place.

Since 1996, ROD has been in constant development, now with a number of participants approaching 200 and with young musicians from all kinds of musical backgrounds, and hopefully ROD will continue to inspire and be a way into folk music for young musicians for many, many years to come. .

ROD AT FESTIVALS

We play at a number of festivals every year. It's a nice way to see each other when there's no ROD. We play a concert with "storspils" tunes from this year's ROD in exchange for free festival entry and food. ROD sends out emails when the festivals are approaching.