‘Such a buzz all weekend’
Jim Erik Hoem Johansen says that the Jew’s harp festival in Molde was a great experience.
Around 40 festivalgoers turned out for Molde’s first-ever Jew’s harp festival.
By Veronika Søum
Translated by Lucy Moffatt
‘It’s been such a buzz all weekend. Everything went off really smoothly. Plenty of people turned up and we had really brilliant artists. A great experience from beginning to end,’ says Jim Erik Hoem Johansen.
The Jew’s harp player from Vestnes just outside Molde has been trying to bring the Jew’s harp festival to Romsdal for years. And 2025 was the year his dream finally came true. Jew’s harp enthusiasts travelled to Molde from far and wide to meet likeminded people at the festival, which ran from 19 to 21 September.
‘It’s really cool to be holding the Jew’s harp festival here – that way, other people get to see our wonderful town and beautiful nature. It also shows that Jew’s harp communities can spring up in unexpected places. One really fun thing is that once we started digging, we found out that there used to be a Jew’s harp tradition in Møre og Romsdal county,’ Jim Erik tells us.
Local material
Some people in the workshops and at the festival were first-timers, but plenty of familiar faces also made the trip to Molde. In all, around 40 people attended, aged 10 to 79.
The festival took place at Romsdal Museum, with activities taking place in the Krona building and Kylling Farmhouse. Bernhard Folkestad ran a Jew’s harp workshop for beginners, while Jim Erik and Kenneth Lien took care of intermediate players, and Anders Røine led a masterclass.
The festival kicked off on Friday with a performance by fiddler Britt Elise Skram from Vestnes, who treated the audience to a wide selection of local material from Møre og Romsdal. After that, Anne Hungnes took the stage with a story and a Jew’s harp tune.
Jim Erik and Daniel Due-Tønnessen rounded off the evening with several local tunes and a few Jew’s harp classics, as well as a brilliant duet performed on Jew’s harps in different keys.
Double concert and dance vibes
On Saturday, there were workshops and opportunities to socialize before lunch, followed by more workshops and a lecture by Anders Røine about his PhD thesis on rhythmic structures and stroke formulas on the Jew’s harp.
After dinner, it was time for another concert in the Krona building. First up were Anders and Marit Kalberg, with a gorgeous Sudan Dudan set. Then Kenneth Lien and Jørgen Skjulstad aka Centre of the Universe kicked off a barnstorming gig that got the audience on their feet and kept them dancing until closing time.
The party spilled over into Kylling Farmhouse just across the courtyard, with more chat and socializing, Jew’s harp playing and dance.
The festival ended on Sunday morning with one last round of workshops before everyone left for home, full of impressions and, hopefully, new inspiration – with a few new tunes and perhaps even a new Jew’s harp in their baggage.
