The 8th Nordic Harp Meeting 2015 was held 15-18 October in Turku, Finland. It was organised by Helka “Harpbreaker” Ermala, Antti “Hairyface” Saarinen and Yrjänä “Pegleg” Ermala. The programme contained workshops both on beginner and advanced level, as well as dancing, ballad singing, storytelling, evening concerts etc.

Among the workshop teachers were:

Anna-Maria Toivonen: Rune singing, the traditional way to sing ancient Finnish poetry
Arja Kastinen: Small kantele improvisation connected to the runosong tradition
Eeva-Kaisa Kohonen: kantele + harp ensemble
Henrik “Hummel” & Monica Schön: Swedish medieval ballads
Katja Nyuppieva: South Karelian (Livvi) folk music
Maria Ojantakanen: Danish ballads and the viking-age lyre
Pekko Käppi: Jouhikko
Tulikoira: Western Finnish songs and ballads
Vincent Michaud: Gaelic harp and Scottish dances
Wendy van der Meijs: Harp for beginners
Yrjänä Ermala and Eetu Klementti: Instrument making.