When the Swedish Radio commisions a new musical work the assignement is almost always reserved for composers active in the field of contemporary classical music. In 2014 the prestigious assignment was given to Swedish folk music legend Lena Willemark.

"Two years ago, in the late autumn of 2013, I read Siri Hustvedt’s book The Shaking Woman. I had just got to the last – totally amazing – pages when I received a call from Mats Einarsson at the Swedish Radio. He wondered if I could consider writing a new work, a commission, for the Euroradio Folk Festival the following summer. I said yes, and so the journey began. The blue journey, Blåferdi. I wrote by the light of day and through the dark of night, straightforward story-telling as well as searching the blue depths. And my wish list of folk musicians for this suite came true!"

Lena’s lyrics on Blåferdi are written, and sung, in Elfdalian, a Swedish minority language. The music consist of through-composed parts with room for improvisation. Written for Lena Willemark’s voice and violin and a select group of folk musicians; Mia Marin, 5-string violin, Emma Reid, violin, Mikael Marin, 5-string viola, Leo Sander, cello and Tina Quartey, percussion.

The first performance of Blåferdi took place June 28th 2014 during the EBU Euro Radio Festival which was broadcasted live in several countries. Already then plans to record an album and to tour with Blåferdi were in place. In October 2015 this was realised when the same group of musicians entered Stockholm’s legendary Atlantis studio to record. In November we mixed the album in the brus & knaster studio.

“Around and beneath the island of that self-conscious storyteller is a vast sea of unconsciousness, of what we don’t know, will never know, or have forgotten.” (S. Hustvedt, “The Shaking Woman or a A History of My Nerves”)

Lena Willemark is one of the Swedish folk music scene’s most pivotal figures. Under her own name and in constallations like The Nordan project with Ale Möller and Frifot she has been a decisive force in the bringing Swedih folk music out into the world. Her postion as a role model for a younger generation of Swedish folk musicians is impossible to over-estimate. The sheer breadth of her artistry make her one of Sweden’s most versatile and genre-crossing artists.