Mostly Nordic Music and Smörgåsbord Series Announces 20th Anniversary Season
Beginning on February 8, 2015, the Mostly Nordic Chamber Music and Smörgåsbord Series will bring musicians from the Nordic countries to Seattle, Washington.
By Sara Keats, Nordic Heritage Museum –
The Mostly Nordic Chamber Music and Smörgåsbord Series celebrates its 20th Anniversary Season on Sunday, February 8, 2015 with a 5:00 p.m. concert of Finnish classical music. This will be the first of five concerts between now and May featuring internationally and nationally acclaimed artists representing all five Nordic countries.
“This series is unique in all of North America,” says artistic director Lisa Bergman. “No other series presents such a spectrum of music history while remaining focused on only one of the five Nordic countries per event. These artists, who hail from all over the world, are true ambassadors of culture who are happy to mingle with audience members following the music.”
Bergman has led the Mostly Nordic Series as its artistic director for the past 19 seasons. She won the 2013 Gracie Award for writing and hosting the Exploring Music program on Classical KING FM 98.1. She hosts the popular classical music program Bach’s Lunch.
This year the Nordic community will celebrate the 150th birthday of two of its most celebrated artistic talents: composers Johan Julius Christian Sibelius and Carl Nielsen. Both considered mavericks, neither seemed adversely affected by public opinion or pressures to conform. Both loved nature and created music, passionately rooted in the individual landscapes and climates of their native lands. In the February 8th concert, “Sibelius, Strings, and Serenades,” Seattle-based ensemble North Corner Chamber Orchestra will pay homage to Finnish composer Sibelius. On March 8, the Northwoods Wind Quartet will perform a program entitled “Sparklers and Marzipan—a Birthday Salute!” featuring Nielsen’s “Wind Quintet” On April 12, Swedish soprano Lena Moén makes her U.S. debut, performing with pianist Lena Johnson and clarinetist Sean Osborn.
Single ticket prices are $47 for Museum Members, $55 for non-Members (including smörgåsbord) and concert-only tickets are $22 for Members, $27 for non-Members. Series packages (including ticket to all five concerts and smörgåsbords) are $200 for Members and $235 for non-Members.
Tickets may be purchased through the Nordic Heritage Museum website at https://www.nordicmuseum.org/MostlyNordic.aspx or by calling (206) 789-5707, ext.25.
2015 Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series Concert Schedule:
For each concert, the doors open half an hour before the concert. Dinner is served directly after the concert concludes.
February 8, 2015 at 5 PM FINLAND
NOCCO (North Corner Chamber Orchestra) – “Sibelius, Strings, and Serenades”
North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO) is a new Seattle-based ensemble of seventeen dynamic professional musicians, led by violinist Victoria Parker. The members of NOCCO perform regularly with Seattle’s major musical institutions. This program celebrates the 150th birth year of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius with “Rakastava” (“The Lover”) for strings and timpani, Britten’s “Simple Symphony,” and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade For Strings.”
March 8, 2015 at 4 PM DENMARK
Northwoods Wind Quintet – “Sparklers and Marzipan — a Birthday Salute!”
Innovative, versatile, and just plain fun, Northwoods Wind Quintet returns to Mostly Nordic by popular demand! Celebrate Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 150th birth year and the twentieth anniversary of Mostly Nordic with this program featuring Nielsen’s “Wind Quintet,” Clarke’s “March for the Prince of Denmark,” and a potpourri of popular works such as Prokofieff’s “Peter and the Wolf,” Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March,” Roupen Shakarian’s “Alpine Morn,” and some PDQ Bach just for fun!
April 12, 2015 at 4 PM SWEDEN
Lena Moén, soprano (US Debut) & Lena Johnson, pianist, with Sean Osborn, clarinet
“Songs of the Heart”
Swedish soprano Lena Moén joins Swedish pianist Lena Johnson to perform a program of Swedish master composers Peterson-Berger, de Frumerie, Linde, Stenhammar, and a tip of the hat to Schubert. Moén joins us from the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Tallin Baroque, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Johnson is a graduate of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and a frequent performer in such locales as London’s Royal Festival Hall.
May 3, 2015 at 4 PM NORWAY
The Nord Trio: Sini Simonen, Violin; Heidi Luosujärvi, Accordion; and Inger-Kristine Riber, Piano – “Tango Under the Arctic Moon”
Dazzlingly virtuosic, adventurous, and intense, this Norwegian-Finnish trio of violin, accordion, and piano is equally at home with its own arrangements of solemnly burning Finnish tangos and Piazzolla’s Argentine passion as it is with Norwegian masters Grieg, Sinding, Geirr Tveitt, and Ole Bull.
May 31, 2015 at 4 PM ICELAND
Asa Gudjonsdottir, violin & Julien Beurms, piano – “Sirens of the Sun Voyager”
Iceland-born violinist Asa Gudjonsdottir is joined by Belgian pianist Julien Beurms in a program that includes a seafaring adventure with Icelandic masters Atli Heimir Sveinsson, Jón Nordal, and Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, the unexpected bluesy twist of Ravel’s “Sonata No. 2,” and a rollicking finale with Bartok’s electric “Roumanian Dances.” Gudjonsdottir is a Fulbright scholar, a graduate of Reykjavik Conservatory, Icelandic Academy of the Arts, Stetson University, and the Hartt School of Music. Beurms is also a Fulbright scholar, a graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Mons, New England Conservatory, and Director of the Brussels Chamber Music Festival.
These programs are subject to slight change.
Sponsors for the 2013 Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series include Artsfund, 4Culture, the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Scan│Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun, and the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
About the Nordic Heritage Museum: With over 65,000 visitors annually, the Nordic Heritage Museum is a cultural treasure in the Pacific Northwest. It is the only museum in the United States that represents the cultural heritage of all five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The Museum’s mission is to share Nordic culture with people of all ages and backgrounds by exhibiting art and objects, preserving collections, providing educational and cultural experiences and serving as a community gathering place. The Nordic Heritage Museum presents a wide range of vibrant programs including contemporary art exhibitions, outstanding concerts, lectures and films and a variety of special events throughout the year.
Museum hours: Tues-Sat 10 am to 4 pm; Sun 12 noon to 4 pm; Mon closed
Admission: $8 general; $7 seniors & college students; $6 children over 5 years;
FREE for children 5 and under and Museum members; free on first Thursdays
The Museum is located at 3014 NW 67th Street, Seattle, WA 98117. Please visit www.nordicmuseum.org
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