Kristian Bugge & Ruthie Dornfeld | Allison de Groot & Nic Gareiss

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Kristian Bugge is one of the busiest folk musicians rooted in Denmark. He was born 1979 in Næstved, Denmark. His family lived in Sweden for two years and then settled in Vejle in Eastern Jutland, Denmark. He attended a Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) School where, when asked in the fifth grade which instrument he would like, he chose the violin. Soon the two of them were inseparable. In 2004 Kristian Bugge became the first musician ever to receive the Radium Award. Kristian Bugge is active on the Danish, Scandinavian and North American folk music scene, both as a musician and teacher. Kristian has specialized in the strong Danish folk music traditions, playing with groups like Baltic Crossing, Jensen & Bugge, Gangspil and Jagdselskabet. For about 10 years he played duo with the legendary accordionist, late Karl Skaarup. Kristian has a strong love to the traditional music but also really enjoy experimenting and being part of crossover projects as the cooperation with classical percussionist Ronni Kot Wenzel in the very active duo Wenzell & Bugge and the exciting Danish folk big band Habadekuk.

Fiddler Ruthie Dornfeld’s big tone, fierce rhythm and fluid style, along with a wildly eclectic repertoire, have won her popularity among dancers and concert audiences alike. Fluent in a wide range of traditional styles (Irish, American old-time, Scandinavian and Eastern European, for starters), she has performed and taught for over forty years throughout the USA and from the Manaus Operahouse in the Brazilian Amazon to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. After starting with classical violin as a child in Oregon, Ruthie discovered fiddling at age 18, then hit the road in pursuit of music. In New England, she studied jazz at Berklee College of Music, became a renowned dance fiddler, played in the stringband The Poodles, and founded the transcontinental American Cafe Orchestra with Danish guitarist Morten Alfred Høirup. Now settled in Seattle, Ruthie keeps busy as a member of 3 Fiddlers, 3 Traditions (together with Danish fiddler Kristian Bugge and Métis fiddler Jamie Fox), the tango band Tangoheart, accompanying country singing duo Margo Murphy and John Roberts, and playing for local dances. Ruthie also plays a 5 string medieval fiddle (vielle), and her compositions for that instrument are featured in the recording “Lay of the Waves,” for which she received grants from Artist Trust and the Jack Straw Foundation.

Nic Gareiss (he/they) and Allison de Groot (she/her) sound and move together, engaging tunes and gestures from Appalachia, Ireland, and beyond through banjo, voice, and percussive dance. Named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch," Nic Gareiss has been hailed by the New York Times for his "dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance" and called "the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene" by the Boston Herald.

A resident of Lansing, Michigan, Gareiss received the 2021 Michigan Heritage Award, the state's highest honor bestowed on traditional artists. Allison de Groot has performed at the Newport Folk Festival, Celtic Connections, Rockygrass, Hardly Strictly, Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Tønder Festival. Shaped by the music scene in her hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, Allison also holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston where she attended on the Slaight Family Scholarship, and has been awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Eisenson Family Prize for Excellence in American Roots Music. Her album with Tatiana Hargreaves won Best Bluegrass Album from the Independent Music Awards and was nominated for Liner Notes of the Year at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards.

After a decade of once-off collaborations, Gareiss and de Groot released The Thrill, a visual album inspired by the music of Appalachian musician Hobart Smith, in October 2022. The duo spent concentrated time immersing themselves in archival recordings of Hobart Smith (1897-1965) to create The Thrill. "We listened in hopes of having a conversation with his music," Gareiss says, "not attempting to replicate - which would be impossible! - but hoping for a discourse, an argument, a dialogue with his music." The title itself comes from a quote from Hobart, "music fills you with a thrill you just can't express." The Thrill can be purchased, viewed, and streamed on the platform Bandcamp. Fifty percent of the proceeds benefit Lonesome Pine Mutual Aid, a Black, Indigenous, queer-and women-led organization which distributes flood relief including food, drinking water, and other community care across southwest Virginia where Hobart Smith lived and learned his music. 

Sponsorship Opportunities: These are available for all our shows. For a nominal cost, individuals or businesses can sponsor any of our shows and reap a number of benefits - free tickets, reserved table, recognition on literature, our web site and at the concerts. For more information simply contact our Sponsorship Director Morris Biddle at [email protected]