Musiktidning Nov. 1999

              siRtiSning
Published by the American Union of Swedish Singers
In its 107th year of Performing Svenska Sanger in America
VOL LXXXXIV November 1999 No. 9
Katrineholm Convention - Tour '99
WHEN DON AHLM SET UP THE TOUR '99
itinerary the schedule was centered on
the A.U.S.S. attending the Rikssangar-traff
in Katrineholm, Sodermanland. This
turned out to be a very exciting event.
Our male chorus took part in an indi-vidual
chorus concert on the city square
in the morning. In the afternoon we had
the privilege of taking part in a full re-hearsal
led by the great Eric Eric son and
the dynamic Hakan Sund. In the evening
we went to a banquet/concert at a large
sports complex. Here both of our cho-ruses
sang and we listened to a fine pro-gram
put on by the combined Swedish
choruses numbering about 250 singers.
The Svenska Korsang President, Wera
Koner, was there, and speeches, gift ex-changes,
warm aquavit and merriment
were the orders of the night.
Wherever we performed in Sweden we
gave an A.U.S.S. pin to the members of
the host chorus and an invitation to come
to our Minneapolis Convention. Thanks
especially to Verdandi's Joel Johnson for
his help on these promotions. Joel also
brought with him enough of the beauti-ful
A.U.S.S. beer mugs that Verdandi had
made so that I could present one to ev-ery
host chorus president.
While in Katrineholm we were invited
to a special banquet at the Stora Djulo
Manor House. We were greeted by May-or
Marita Bengtsson and tables brimming
with glasses of champagne. The restored
manor house, centuries old, wonderful
Continued on page 9
Svenska Korsang President Wera Korner
AUSS Cultural Heritage Foundation
As MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN OF THE A.U.S.S. Cultural Heritage Foun-dation
I feel now is the time to remind all singers that the a new year
is fast approaching and dues will be due the first of January 2000. As
you all know, the dues have been substantially decreased from what
it was years ago and the benefits are far greater than before. If you
are a member we encourage you to talk to others in your chorus and
ask them to join.
Our membership has increased over the past years, but it is hard to
understand why we only have 58 percent instead of a hundred. The
benefits a member receives for their chorus far exceeds the member-ship
dues, which is now $25.00 for an individual member and $40.00
per family membership which includes the A.U.S.S. history book "A
Century of Song" and a beautiful pin. After the initial dues, the annu
Continued on page 9
SEATTLE
SINGERS ON
'99 TOUR: (L-R)
Maury Lawson,
Peter Reisinger,
Dave Storm, Bob
Carter, Dave
Anderson and
Carol Lawson.
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THE STATE OF THE UNION
THIS WILL SURPRISE AND AMUSE some of my friends
in the A.U.S.S. Yesterday I received a call from
Peter Fox Smith of Vermont public radio. He hosts
Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and does a great
yearly tribute to Jussi Bjorling. He asked me for
advice on Swedish spelling and pronunciation.
There is a very mature, white-haired gnome in
Chicago who will find the news that I am an ex-pert
on Swedish especially hilarious.
One of my goals for the A.U.S.S. is that we de-velop
closer ties with choruses in Sweden. Our
Tour '99 certainly helped a great deal. As proof, I
just received an invitation for the A.U.S.S. to at-tend
a convention celebrating the 100th anniver-sary
of the Sandviken Manskor and the 90th anni-versary
of the Gavleborg Manskor. Unfortunate-ly,
it is the week before our big event in Minneap-olis.
I do hope that these increased contacts will
result in all Divisional Conventions in 2002 host-ing
a visiting chorus from Sweden.
It sure is a small, small, Smaland. I found out at
the O.D. concert that the Yale Glee Club was tour-ing
Sweden at the same time the A.U.S.S. were.
There have been many exchange visits between
these two going back to 1928.
There are many of you now busily planning holi-day
entertainment, "julbords," and the like. I have
just read in the prestigious Acquavit Restaurant news-letter
that it is perfectly permissible to serve either
red or white wine with lutfisk. I, personally, feel so
relieved because, as you know, I am a real stickler
for gourmet standards.
The weather here in Vast Jamtland, Vermont is puz-zling.
Ice on the ponds in late October followed by a
beautiful day perfect for golf. We have already caught
a record 10 mice. I saw a family
of the little critters by the back
door with suitcases and the lit-tle
ones with backpacks from
L.L. Bean. Also the caterpillars
are big and fuzzy. All this will
hopefully lead to a cold and
deep white winter.
That is it for this issue,
Now should I take a pow-er
nap or work "i skogen"
with my chain saw?
- Carl-Erik Westberg
AUSS
President