Musiktidning Apr. 2009

              Volume CXVII April, 2009 No. 4
Published by the American Union of Swedish Singers
In its 117th year of Performing Svenska Sånger in America
The St. Paul Swedish Male Chorus sang
once in the fall, at Fish Lake Lutheran
Church. In January, we had three concerts.
First, we sang at Sunrise Care Center in
Roseville to an enthusiastic audience of res-idents.
On January 13, we sang at Christ
the King Lutheran Church, where we joined
the Joyful Noise Bells in a fun concert which
was followed by delicious goodies. On Jan-uary
29, we sang for the residents of Beck-etwood
Coop following their annual lute-fisk
dinner. A very delightful time was had
by all.
We were honored to combine with the
American Swedish Institute Male Chorus,
to help the Nordkap Chorus celebrate their
100th anniversary. The Norwegian chorus
event took place on Saturday, March 21 at
Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul.
Our chorus will be hosting five Rotary
members from Sweden. We will welcome
them to Minnesota and St. Paul with a pot-luck,
a few songs, and hope to show them a
good time.
Our director, Don “Torgy” Torgersen is
doing well. After the destruction of their
home in Hugo, MN last May from a torna-do,
he and his wife, Julie, moved into their
son’s home temporarily. They are now in a
new home in Forest Lake, about 15 miles
north and getting on with their lives. Torgy
also had some medical problems shortly af-ter
the tornado, but is pretty much back to
his old self.
We will be celebrating our 128th year at
our spring concert on Sunday, May 3, at First
St. Paul Chorus
News
The St. Paul Swedish Male Chorus poses at one of their recent programs. Director Don Torgersen is at the far left in the front row.
The Scandinavian House Party Show, 88.5
FM, WVOF, Fairfield University is now in
its 30th year. Lars Sundman (AUSS presi-dent
1978-1982) and Bob Lindahl did the
two-hour show together every Saturday af-ternoon.
In 1981 they decided to take every
other Saturday, and that is when Wivan (pro-nounced
Veevahn) Sundman got on board,
helping her husband Lars. When Lars died
1985, Wivan continued with the program
every other Saturday.
In August 2008, WVOF entered into a part-nership
with Hardford’s WNPR radio sta-tion.
Most DJ’s had to give up their time
slots to make room for that station’s pro-gramming.
At that point, Bob decided to
leave, but Wivan continued. The Scandina-vian
House Party had to give up its Saturday
time slot and move to Sunday at 3:00 p.m.,
but only for one hour, which Wivan doesn’t
like. She says it’s “too short time, but bet-ter
than no time at all.”
Wivan says that there are many listeners in
Scandinavia via the internet, who send her
e-mails saying that “they like to listen to
‘Gamla Skivbekanta,’ [the old familiar re-cordings]
because I don’t play anything else.
I use the old records, cassettes and CDs:
gammal dansmusik [old dance music], a lot
of music from accordion clubs, chorus sing-ing,
soloists, Vikingarna, Sven-Ingmars, Dal-apolisens
spelman, Salvation Army Bands,
etc. Different groups from Sweden have sent
me CDs. My house is full of music, and it
is nice to be able to share that via radio and
internet.”
The accordion is another hobby of Wivan’s.
She plays for VASA at different occasions
such as dinners, midsummer, Christmas, and
Lucia. She is active in the Salvation Army
“New England Stringband Association” that
plays at concerts and congresses. Wivan also
plays the accordion at the Scandinavian Club
in Fairfield and sometimes she entertains at
nursing homes. She often plays for dancing
after Northern Lights/North Star concerts.
You may have heard her leading sing-a-longs
in AUSS convention hospitality rooms.
Wivan is a charter member of the Northern
Lights Singers, which started 1990, and has
been the treasurer since its beginning. She
is currently the Finance Secretary of the
Eastern Division (since 1992).
You can listen to Wivan Sundays 3-4 p.m.
Eastern Time by going to her website:
www.scandinavian houseparty.com and
clicking on the link to her show, or by going
directly to www.wvof.org.
Connecticut Radio Personality Wivan Sundman
Wivan Sundman at the radio controls of WVOF in Fairfield, Connecticut
Lutheran Church, 463 Maria Avenue, St.
Paul. Our guest artist will be John Berquist
who is one of our singers. He will serenade
the audience with great skill playing his
button accordion. The concert begins at 3:00
p.m. and will be followed by coffee and re-freshments.
- Compiled from material submitted by
Wayne Johnson
Happy Spring!