Weirdshire Presents Benjin

London-based multi-instrumentalist, storyteller, and composer who blends folk, jazz, and classical music with field recordings.

Former principal musician at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre,benjin is a highly accomplished player of the nyckelharpa (Swedish keyed fiddle) and blends field recordings, story telling and samples into his performances.Over two decades of touring and recording with experimental ensembles has led to solo work that's both deeply rooted and utterly original.The nyckelharpa is a bowed instrument with three melody strings, one drone and twelve sympathetic strings (which give it its unique ethereal sound).

The left hand operates three (or four) separate rows of keys which then press directly onto the strings and change the notes.

This keyed mechanism means that all ornamentation on the harpa is without vibrato and imbued with a distinct percussive aesthetic.

Over the last two centuries, the nyckelharpa has been primarily upheld as the national instrument of Sweden where it is generally played in a variety of folk-dance music contexts.

However, traces of premodern iterations of the keyed fiddle can be found across Europe.