I attended a superb concert yesterday at ‘den norske lutherske‘ (the Norwegian Lutheran) Mindekirken Church in Minneapolis yesterday.  It was a nice blast from the past as I taught an adult Norwegian class there several years ago.  Although it isn’t in the greatest location, the Church is beautiful.  It was built in 1922 an and looks great to this day.  Wood floors, beautiful stained glass windows, and of course the Norwegian flag adorn the sanctuary.  All throughout the rest of the church there are pictures of Norway and the Norwegian-Americans who founded the church and have supported it through the years.

My previous endeavors in the church took place in the basement classrooms and dining hall, so it was nice to sit in the balcony and hear the music fill the sanctuary.  These women have phenomenal voices.  Their group, Cantus, consists of about 30 women from the ages of 20 to 40.  They are on tour in the midwest until March 13.  Check out their website to see if you can catch a concert!  They all reside in Trondheim, although just a glance at their bunads would tell you they come from many different places in Norway.  There were only 2 bunad styles that were alike.  They are always fun to look at when you see many of them together.  Bunads truly are amazing traditional attire and the fact that they are still worn so much still today is pretty cool.

Check out the ‘Norwegian’ page on facebook to see all 5 of the videos that I took at the concert.  Tove Ramlo-Ystad conducts this fantastic group of women.  You’ll notice a tubaist, Øystein Baadsvik, in several of the songs.  He is the world’s only freelance tuba soloist according to the concert program.  Pretty cool!  He was really impressive.  I had not heard so many different noises come out of a tuba before!  I encourage you to check both Cantus and Øystein out!