Himmeleite duo in Hol old church

The duo Himmelleite consists of Ingrid Lingaas Fossum on langeleik, vocals, and kravik lyre, and Vemund Olav Aukrust on reed organ and church organ. They began performing together in 2022 and have since given numerous concerts. In the autumn of 2025, they released the album Efterklang fra fjeldreisen, which was nominated for the Folkelarm Prize in the “Ensemble Performance” category the same year.

Himmelleite has a distinctive soundscape, combining the gentle resonance of the langeleik—an instrument that has existed in Norway for at least 500 years—with the tones of the reed organ and church organ. The duo performs traditional music from their home regions of Gudbrandsdalen and Valdres, drawing on manuscripts and folk music archives. They present this repertoire in a fresh musical setting, where the langeleik and the organ alternate between leading and supporting roles.

Audiences can hear halling tunes, lyar tunes, hymns and songs, springleik dances, and Valdres springar tunes in the duo’s own arrangements—sometimes combined with classical interpretations of the same traditional material.

Himmelleite is another word for the horizon and is often used to describe the visible skyline stretching into the mountains.