News

October 11, 2020 On Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m. the Minot Chamber Chorale will launch its first virtual choir concert singing “I Will Go On – Pandemic Poem.” The 5-minute concert will be streamed on the Chamber Chorale’s Facebook page and will be free to view, though charitable donations will be accepted. Prior to the concert, there will be interviews with members of the choir. The interviews will be streamed at 2:30 p.m., with the concert streaming at 3 p.m. that day. To learn mo

September 16, 2019 “Soulful” and “magical,” soprano Arwen Myers and mezzo Laura Beckel Thoreson said in unison in describing their upcoming concert, “Fem Love.” As co-directors of Northwest Art Song, they have put together a program of new music for voice and chamber ensemble that expresses a woman’s perspective on love. To learn more visit: https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2019/09/fem-love-concert-celebrates-love-from-a-womans-perspective.html

June 3, 2019 About 10 minutes of brand new music has been created with Alaska’s patron saint in mind, and the piece is coming to a nearby venue. St. Therese, who is the namesake of a shrine about 20 miles north of downtown Juneau , is the inspiration for new work composed by Emerson Eads to be played April 6 and 7 by Juneau Symphony Orchestra with William Todd Hunt conducting during the symphony’s April concerts. “People love doing new music and discovering new sounds and po

May 24, 2019 Today was our free day. We all spent the day as we wished, a welcome break from the rigorous travel schedule. I was particularly blessed to have a friend from Sweden, Anna Larson, a musician and singer, come to Oslo to visit. We rented a studio downtown with a piano and spent hours reading and singing through folk tunes from Sweden, and a few from Norway. We had met each other about 7 years previously, when mallet percussionist, Anders Åstrand, was invited by Dr.

May 23, 2019 Today was filled with museums and guided tours around Oslo. Our guide was fabulous and led us on a 4-hour tour of the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the Viking Ship Museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum, home of the Gol Stave church (a replica of which is found at the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot). Then we were fortunate to be a able to visit Stortinget (Norwegian parliament). We were met by parliament member Bård Hoksrud from the Progressive party, and then had

May 22, 2019 Today, we made the trip from Rauland to Oslo. We traveled through mountain passes, tunnels, forests and fjords and made it to Oslo. Our first stop was the Holmenkollen Ski Museum. I had contacted a choral conductor friend of mine, Thomas Caplin, who is the co-founder of the World Youth Choir , the director of choral activities in the University of Norway (etc), came to the museum to meet us for lunch. He briefly addressed the choir, and we spent the rest of our l

May 21, 2019 Today we said our goodbyes to the fabulous people at Raulandsakademiet, and set off for Notodden, in Telemark county. Notodden is on the shore of Heddalsvatnet lake, a truly spectacular view. It is also home to Norway’s largest stave church: Heddal Stave Church, which we stopped at before entering the town center. Notodden Airport, Tuven , is located west of the city centre. Norsk Hydro was founded in this town. Notodden is well known for the annual Notodden

May 20, 2019 This morning, after breakfast, we sat in a lecture by our host here from the Raulandsakademiet, Laura Ellestad. She is originally from Calgary, Canada, but she fell in love with the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle and came to Norway to get her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Hardanger fiddle performance. After our introduction to Norwegian Folk Music, we set out for Rjukan. A town of not more than 3,500 people, it is best known for its falls and canyon gorge, as

May 19, 2019 We are staying on the Raulandsakademiet campus which is in a rather remote area in the west of Telemark County. Many of the wood cabin structures have sod roofs. The terrain is a bit mountainous, full of spindly spruce trees mixed in with birch and poplar which are just now greening up. Fairbanks, Alaska is at Latitude 64°8, and here in Rauland we are at 59°42. If my Alaska friends just look at this picture below, they will see the immense similarities. We boarde

May 18, 2019 Rolf Haugen and his friend Hermod Monsen met us at our Hotel and we went by bus to the Langesund Fjord. When we rolled into the city center, not only were the dignitaries from Langesund there, but the Langesund Mandssangforening, a male choir of shanty singers, and their charismatic director, Gunnar, were wildly singing, to the accompaniment of an enthusiastic accordion. After this raucousness, and after our Minot Mayor and City Manager had ceremoniously met the

When I arrived in Minot, I had no idea how strong a connection was felt (and I mean FELT) to Norway. Then I went to Høstfest in Minot and began to realize the magnitude of the identification and the connection! Being here in Skien has been fantastic in every way, but experiencing their Syttende Mai was particularly special. The way the Skien and Telemark governments have bent over backwards to make us comfortable and happy every day that we have been here, has been utterly ov

May 16, 2019 Today I had herring for breakfast. I kept remembering that wonderful Faulty Towers episode where John Cleese hides the breakfast herring in his sweater vest. I was fortunate to not have to hide something like that in such an intimate fashion. We hiked up the hill behind our hotel to sing for the county mayor at the Telemark County Council Tingsalen. It was too hot in the building where they had originally planned for us to perform, so we sang outside. Stig Sjøstr

May 15, 2019 I’m splitting this day into two sections because today is such a full day for us. We were exhausted from the traveling yesterday, so most of us slept splendidly. We woke to a Norwegian breakfast buffet that had something for most any and every one! Eggs sunny-side up, croissants, danishes, baguette, even sea-food including smoked salmon and shrimp, fruit smoothies and a myriad of things that made our three-concert day seem less daunting. Today, Stig Sjøstrøm, was

May 15, 2019 First of all, there are so many people to thank: the parents and families of the choristers, the Norsk Høstfest, Pam Davy, Fred & Joyce Evans, the Minot State Music Department, and the Minot State University, and everyone else who is so rudely left from this statement of thanksgiving. We send our warmest regards and profound thanks for your support, your love, your patronage, and your friendship! And of course this would have all been impossible without our Direc