Josefina Paulson, a "riksspelman" and world champion of the modern nyckelharpa, has worked as a freelance musician and producer touring all over the world with her nyckelharpa. She has enchanted audiences in Australia, USA, Japan, and throughout Europe and Sweden. Her love for travelling through music and culture has been the start of many collaborations with other musicians and dancers who are curious to explore the fusion of traditions.

With a discography including more than 20 album releases, Josefina has been awarded with some of the finest titles in folk music, and in 2025 was nominated for both the artist of the year award and the traditional musician of the year awards at the national Folk and World Music Gala in Sweden. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Traditional Music from the Royal Academy in Stockholm.

Josefina Paulson with Friends and Family

For this Australian tour in 2026, Josefina is joined by:

• Fredrik Bengtsson: Her husband and acclaimed double bassist, versatile across folk, traditional, classical, and jazz genres

• Big Fiddle Little Fiddle: The dynamic Australian duo featuring cellist Louise Godwin and multi instrumentalist Jessica Foot (violin, hardingfele, oboe, cor anglais)

This special collaboration will showcase a repertoire spanning Nordic music and original compositions created specifically for the Australian tour. The sounds of Scandinavia will intertwine with contemporary Australian influences to create a tapestry of sound that transcends borders.

Duo Paulson/Bengtsson (Sweden)

Frederik Bengtsson, a southern Swede with a double-bass, and Josefina Paulson, a nyckelharpist born and raised in Västmanland county in Sweden, meet in this duo to discover how they can challenge their given roles that comes with their instruments. Together, they take new roads with the melodies and tell the stories in a personal way. Duo Paulson/Bengtsson perform new composed music in traditional style, blending flavours of jazz, baroque, and drone music, and painting a picture of a dream and illusion. Mirroring the darkness and light of the seasons, each instrument leaves its traditional roles, taking turns to carry the melody and lead the dance. [http://www.josefinapaulson.se/bengtsson.html#bengtsson]

Big Fiddle Little Fiddle (Australia)

Big Fiddle Little Fiddle (Jessica Foot, violin, hardingfele and Louise Godwin, cello) have been drinking tea and playing tunes for 10 years and have been heard at festivals and in venues and lounge-rooms playing a mix of original tunes, lots of music about their friends, plus Celtic, Scandi, and other vibes. Jess loves English tunes

more than Lou. Lou loves dark tunes and mournful laments. "Cello tunes", she calls them. BFLF laugh and chatter and play raucous string arrangements. It’s a sort of gentle chaos, and their joy is infectious. They bring everyone along for the journey: people always leave gigs saying they’re going to unpack their instrument they haven’t played in ages. [https://bigfiddlelittlefiddle.com/]

Contact the host of Josefina Paulson with Fredrik Bengtsson & Big Fiddle Litt