in its 121st year of performing waukegan choruses merge · 28th, the annual scandinavian songfest...

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Published by the American Union of Swedish Singers In its 121st year of Performing Svenska Sånger in America

Volume CXXI May, 2013 No. 5

The Swedish Glee Club - Waukegan,

on April 24th, voted unanimously to

accept as full members, the Waukegan

Swedish Women's Chorus singers, to

create a mixed chorus.

The Waukegan singers have been busy

in the past few months with several

singing engagements.

On March 6th, they sang at a retire-

ment center at Hawthorne Woods in

Vernon Hills, IL. And, on April 6th,

they sang at the Covenant Village Re-

tirement Home in Northbrook, IL. One

of our women singers resides there. It's

always a pleasure to sing for the folks in

these homes. They enjoy it very much.

The Annual Normennenes Sångarfest

was held on March 15th at the Estonia

House in Lincolnshire, Il., and, on April

28th, the Annual Scandinavian Songfest

was held at North Park University in

Chicago. April 21st, the singers partici-

pated in the Waukegan Choral Festival

Concert at the First Presbyterian Church.

Our Valentine's Day Party was Febru-

ary 16th at the Swedish Cafe in Linden-

hurst, IL. Along with good Swedish

food, we enjoyed music and sing-

ing. Everyone had a good time.

March 9th, everyone was Irish for the

night. Gene Sanderlin's whiskey cake,

and Irish coffee made by Charlene Vo-

jtko and Pat Minkler, were among the

highlights of our St. Patrick's Day Party

at the Lake Forest American Legion

Hall. The corned beef and cabbage din-

ner with all the trimmings was catered by

Catered Productions of Libertyville, IL.

There was lots of Irish music and sing-

ing, and fun for all.

Next up for the Swedish Glee Club -

Waukegan is our Spring Concert and

After the Concert Dinner on June 2nd,

and our summer picnic on July 20th.

- Pat Minkler, Swedish Glee Club -

Waukegan

Waukegan Choruses Merge

The Waukegan Concert Chorus, three church choirs, and the men and women of the Waukegan Swedish Glee Club combined at the Waukegan Choral Festival to sing “Missa Brevis” by Joseph Hayden.

Above: St. Valentine’s dinner at the Swed-ish Café. Seated around the table are (left

to right) Gunnel Lundquist, Elaine and Ralph Hogstrom, Pat and George Minkler,

and Alf Lundquist. Below: The Waukegan men sing Irish tunes for St. Patrick’s Day. Left to right are Bob Barron, Pat Cosgrove, Jeff Delay on piano, Evert Schmidt, George Minkler, Gene San-

derlin and Alf Lundquist.

May 2013 MUSIKTIDNING page 2 of 7

OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE

AMERICAN UNION OF SWEDISH SINGERS (Organized November 24, 1892)

A Musical Journal in English and Swedish

"To teach, cultivate and promote Chorus singing, principally Swedish."

ELLEN SVENGALIS, Editor 204 Wyassup Road

No. Stonington, CT 06359

Tel: (860) 535-0362 Fax: (860) 535-0378 E-mail: [email protected]

CHARLES UPCRAFT Business Manager

4525 Parkside Lane Edina MN 55436

Phone: (952) 928-8173 E-Mail: [email protected]

JAMES R. MAURICE Subscriptions

445 E. North Water St. E2203 Chicago, IL 60611-5542

Tel: (312) 670-9570 Winter (Jan-Apr) tel: (727) 729-6269

E-mail (all yr.): [email protected]

OFFICERS OF AUSS 2012-2016 President: Alana Mapes

25500 NW Svea Dr. Hillsboro, OR 97124

Phone: (503) 647-5486 E-mail: [email protected]

Vice President: Christine Johnson

39201 Polo Club Dr. #105 Farmington Hills, MI 48335-5626


Secretary: Kelly Otto

P.O. Box 20835 Portland, OR 97294


Financial Secretary: James R. Maurice

445 E. North Water St. E2203 Chicago, IL 60611-5542 Phone: (312) 670-9570

Winter (Jan-Apr): 670 Island Way #904 Clearwater, FL 33767

FL phone: (727) 729-6269 E-mail (all yr.): [email protected]

Treasurer: Charles Upcraft

4525 Parkside Lane Edina MN 55436

Phone: (952) 928-8173 E-Mail: [email protected]

Librarian: Robert Voedisch

722 N. Haddow St. Arlington, IL 60004

Phone: (842)255-7253 E-mail: [email protected]

Director-in-Chief: Sherry Dreyfuss

11665 Gleneagles Lane Belvidere, IL 61008

Phone: (815) 885-1424 Fax: 815-885-2250

E-mail: [email protected]

Asst. Director-in-chief: Ken Olsson P.O. Box 445

Jamaica, VT 05343 Phone: 802-874-4366


Asst. Director-in-chief: Vance Sele 314 NW Treglown Ct. Hillsboro OR 97124


DIVISION PRESIDENTS (2010-2014)

Eastern: Ellen Svengalis 204 Wyassup Rd.

No. Stonington, CT 06359 Phone: (860) 535-0362


Central: David Winter 3550 N. Lake Shore #1004

Chicago, IL 60657 Phone: (773) 549-1678


Western: Karen Jones 2521 S. W. Bertha Boulevard

Portland, OR 97201 Phone: (503) 244-1469


OTHER OFFICES Website Coordinator:

Ellen Svengalis 204 Wyassup Rd.

No. Stonington, CT 06359 Phone: (860) 535-0362


Chorus Recruitment Chairman: Carl-Erik Westberg

P. O. Box 178 Londonderry, VT 05148 Phone: (802) 824-6578 Fax: (802) 824-3358


Membership Directory Coordinator: Kelly Otto

P.O. Box 20835 Portland, OR 97294


HONORARY PRESIDENTS, AUSS

Donald Lamont Carl-Erik Westberg

Jody Jones Joseph P. O’Leary

HON. DIRECTORS-IN-CHIEF

Robert Read Arthur W. Elander

Ernest Gunn Jeffrey DeLay

MUSIKTIDNING SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Please send material to the Musiktidning Editor. If possible, please

send both stories and photos via E-mail ([email protected])

Material for the June issue is due June 8.

“These vests will be the bane of my existence,” exclaimed

Jody Jones in the van on the way to practice Monday night.

Years ago, before I had children, I was a health/PE teacher

at a large high school in the area. I coached girls tennis,

swimming, gymnastics and track and field. I was fortunate to

have some fantastic athletic young ladies, and we took second

place at the State AAA Track Meet. At the end of the season

banquet the girls gave me a plaque. On it was engraved, “The

only victories worth winning are those

earned by hard work.” (I wonder

where they had heard that?) That one

sentence can apply to all our endeavors.

In the Musiktidning I whined about

having a huge bolt of red fabric in my

house, moving from one room to the next

to get out of my way. Well, we planned

to make new vests for the 2012 conven-

tion. That didn’t happen. Our plan was

to have two work parties, have women

bring sewing machines and get them all made. That also did

not happen. Jody Jones and Gayle Grossen went pattern

shopping only to find there were no appropriate pat-

terns. They finally found one, part of a costume.

Jody made one of every size from a 10 to 20, only to find

that the size was all wrong. Our tiniest member fit a size

16. (You should have heard the exclamations when singers

were told their vest was 4 sizes larger than they usually

wore.) They had wing like shoulder seams, that belonged on

a Star Trek set. They were also very short waisted.

We decided that each vest would have to be measured to fit

the singer, inches would have to be added to the length, and

the shoulder seams adjusted so singers would not take flight

during a performance. Kelly Otto is, as I write this, punching

in over 360 grommets down the front so the vests can be laced

by this Saturday. Jody purchased vast amounts of “boot

length” black shoelaces only to find that they were not long

enough. Back to the store, return them and purchase inexpen-

sive black ribbon.

My hat goes off to the 6 women who volunteered to make 5

vests each. When we wear them Saturday these ladies need to

take an extra bow. Completing them was truly “a victory

earned by hard work.”

What victory can your chorus celebrate? Set some goals.

The best one I can think of is setting one to get your mem-

bers to the upcoming conventions. Share your goals in the

Musiktidning, putting them in writing keeps you aware of

them. They may not happen on the planned schedule. Our

vest schedule did not, but it is close to completion now, and

by May 11th, we will have accomplished it. (Now we need to

set a new goal: skirts and aprons.)

- Alana

President’s Message Alana Mapes, AUSS President, [email protected]


April 30 was a dry, warm Tuesday

evening. Over 25 members of the com-

bined men’s and women’s choirs of Port-

land traveled to a lovely tree farm in

West Linn. We met with many members

of the Finnish community to sing at the

Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Night).

There we were treated to Swedish hot-

dogs, with all the fixings, IKEA lingon-

berry punch and delicious doughnuts.

There was special wood on the bonfire

this year. For several years, there was a

smaller replica of a Viking ship that sat

out, exposed to the moist Oregon

weather. Some of the wood had rot-

ted. This year, that decayed wood was

removed and brought to the bonfire. (It

will be replaced, and the ship will once

again look great.)

We sang Du gamla, du fria, Sköna maj,

välkommen, and, in Finnish, we sang

Maamme (Vårt land) and Samannimis-

estä sävelrunosta, (Finlandia). Susie

Winn, our resident language specialist,

quickly picked out a Finnish girl watch-

ing, and saw her quietly singing along

with us. She immediately went up to her

to check out our pronunciation of the

words. We actually did pretty well, but

we needed a “softer T” more like a “D”

Valborgsmässoafton in Oregon

sound.

Anna-Karin Lindberg-Rednoske had

compiled a song sheet for all to sing. All

joined in singing, Vintern rasa tut, Nu

grönskar det, Vårvindar friska, Stu-

dentsång, I det gröna, and lastly, Du

gamla, du fria.

There was no chill in the air, it was

DRY, everyone was full, happy and full

of song. It was a good night.

- Alana Mapes, Scandia Ladies Chorus

Above: The audience joined in singing traditional spring songs. Below: Having fun on the tree farm are (left to right): Vance Sele, Susie Winn, Robin Richey,

and Dee Carlson.

Singing at Valborgsmässoafton are (left to right): Unknown, Austin Buchholtz, (Portland’s webmaster and artist, in back), Dee Carlson, Anna-Karin Lindberg-Rednoske (in the stu-

dent’s cap), Gunnilla Admund, Ross Fogelquist, and Kennert Andersson.


A celebration of Nordic Music

was the theme of the Spring Sånger-

stämma (song festival) on April 21,

hosted by the Seattle Swedish

Women’s Chorus. Participants in-

cluded the Bellingham Damekor,

the Finnish Chorale Society, the

Norwegian Ladies Chorus, the Nor-

wegian Male Chorus, the Svea Male

Chorus and the Swedish Women’s

Chorus. A combined chorus ended

the program with three thrilling

songs: What a Wonderful World,

Finlandia, and Stockholms Melodi

by Evert Taube.

Maria Mannisto, renowned so-

prano and director of the Swedish

Women’s Chorus and the Finnish

Chorale Society, performed two

songs. The Svea Male Chorus was

under the direction of Jim Erickson.

Maria directed the combined cho-

ruses.

Attendees and performers were

invited to enjoy a repast of breads

and savories following the program.

Seattle’s Swedish Cultural Center

was the venue for the Sånger-

stämma. Beautiful views of water

and mountains were a perfect setting

for the melodius music flowing

from the Stockholm Room. The

program was so successful that par-

ticipants want to host a Sånger-

stämma next year.

- Mary Hillman, Swedish Women’s

Chorus, Seattle

Seattle Sångerstämma is a Big Hit

Editor’s Notes Ellen Svengalis, Muiktidning Editor, [email protected]

Computers make our life easier, but then

there are times when they can be so

frustrating.

I now have a new computer,

just in time for this issue of

Musiktidning. My old one got a

pesky virus and it wasn't worth

the cost to have it looked at—it

was about 10 years old.

The virus affected, among other

things, how I sent my e-mails.

So, you may have noticed that I was

sending my e-mails via my work address.

If you added that address to your address

book, you can remove it, again. Please use

[email protected] for correspon-

dence dealing with the paper or esven@

comcast.net for all other matters. I hope

you will understand if I didn't reply to your

recent e-mails in a timely manner.

My new computer

is lightning fast,

compared with the

old one. Websites

load in split seconds.

It is a real pleasure to

use.

Beginning with this issue of

Musiktidning, and going forward, a

different software is being used to

create the paper. (The old program

didn’t work on the new computer.)

I suspect you won't see any

difference in quality, unless you are

a graphic designer.

Once I'm comfortable with my

new “toy,” and everything I need is

reinstalled, I'll be

a “happy camper.”

Change can be a

good thing.

Happy

keyboarding!

The Svea Male Chorus performing at Sångerstämma

The colorful combined chorus at Sångerstämma


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After a long and snowy winter, spring

finally came to Minnesota in time for the

Spring concert of the St. Paul Swedish

Male Chorus on Sunday, April 28th.

Warm sunny weather greeted the con-

cert-goers to First Lutheran Church, an

historic location above Swede Hollow

where the chorus has it’s roots, and the

music fit the scene well. Our director,

John Berquist, decided to do a theme for

the concert focusing on two of the most

famous Swedish composers: Carl Mi-

chael Bellman and Evert Taube. We had

also been honoring the memory of our

past director and member of our chorus

for 66 years, Don Torgersen, in all of our

concerts this year, so we also featured

two of his songs in our concert.

We began with Torgy’s musical invita-

tion Kom sjung med oss and followed

with a set of six Bellman tunes beginning

with Gubben Noak and five of his 82

Fredmans Epistels: #1 Gutår båd natt

och dag, #9 Käraste Bröder, #33 Stolta

Stad, #80 Liksom en Herdinna, and

ended with the final one #82 Vila vid

denna källa.

We were very happy after this to invite

our guests, the Flickorna Fem to the

stage where they continued the theme

with three more Bellman tunes, several

spring songs, and bridged into songs by

Evert Taube, before closing with a

touching tribute to Torgy by singing Som

stjärnorna små.

Beginning our second set, we sang a

new arrangement of For the Beauty of

the Earth and bridged into the Stu-

dentsång. Next, a set of three waltzes

left the crowd swaying with Sångervals,

Dans på Brännö brygga, and Maj på

Malö, our first Taube piece. We sang

Taube’s nocturne, Sov på min arm, be-

fore inviting the five ladies back to sing a

combined set to close the concert.

Taube’s Min älskling led off the set

followed by his Cuban waltz Fragancia

where our director and one of the ladies

waltzed as the chorus hummed the

verse’s melody. To end this joyous

event, we sang Torgy’s programmatic

St. Paul Swedish Male Chorus Hosts 132

nd Annual Spring Concert

piece Svensk Smörgasbörd (a crowd fa-

vorite), followed by Sköna Maj and the

perennial encore Hälsa dem därhemma.

The crowd responded to this musical

feast with a rousing ovation, and all en-

joyed refreshments and fellowship after-

wards.

Our chorus looks forward to singing at

a few events this summer, and starting

our season anew in the Fall!

-Andy Hennig, St. Paul Swedish Male

Chorus

The 2013 members of the St. Paul Swedish Male Chorus, with director John Berquist (front row right) and accompanist Lynette Campbell (top row, right).


John O. Werner was born on October

21, 1888 in Kristineberg, Sweden in the

province of Västergötland. Together

with his mother and an older brother, he

came to the United States in October of

1900. John’s father had emigrated in

April of the same year to secure a job

and housing for the family. Since his

father had been employed in a textile

factory and was involved with selling

goods, John picked up on that concept

when he was employed at the American

Screw Company in Cranston, Rhode

Island at the age of 13. His responsibil-

ity was to make sure the screws did not

hang up when exiting the machine. It

was not uncommon for the younger em-

ployees to run errands during their lunch

hour to earn a few extra pennies, often to

purchase tobacco for the more senior

workers. Rather than run for tobacco

each day, John obtained a peddlers box

with a lock and purchased a full slab of

tobacco for 48 cents and divided it into

six pieces and sold each one for 10 cents,

thus obtaining a 12 cent profit. He also

learned a valuable lesson not to extend

credit as he did this only once with nega-

tive results.

In 1910, at the age of 22, he joined the

United States Navy, serving for four

years, and after his tour of duty enrolled

in The Pratt Institute. With his educa-

tion, John was able to secure a license as

a marine engineer and joined the Mer-

chant Marine. He was assigned to Stan-

dard Oil of New York with its large fleet

of oil tankers.

At the conclusion of World War One,

he ended up in Seattle, assisting an enter-

prising inventor attempting to fuel 4-

cylinder automobile engines with a com-

bination of steam and gas. Unfortu-

nately, this project did not succeed. So,

after one year, he returned to New York.

Having had some experience with auto-

mobiles, he decided to

start an automobile

supplies company and

borrowed a sum of

money from his father

for equipment and

rented a basement

from one of his

friends.

An opportunity

came when he was

offered to buy a for-

mula for grinding soft

metal without embed-

ding or scratching

surfaces. In order to

develop the product,

he traveled exten-

sively, sleeping in

Pullman cars and inexpensive hotels to

save money. The product was well re-

ceived and became financially success-

ful, so John began producing it in his

father’s old hen house. Unfortunately,

John assumed by buying the formula he

also had the right to manufacture it as

well. This was not the case and he was

sued by the owner of the patent. He set-

tled the suit by shutting down production

of the product.

Having acquired a machine to rebore

automobile engines, he contacted his

earlier clients and for five years re-

bored engines by doing the work

himself to keep overhead low. Dur-

ing this time, he stockpiled engine

parts, gaskets, piston rings and bear-

ings. During the depression years,

and as his cash flow was sufficient,

he was able to take over mortgages

and expand his auto parts business.

In 1930, he hired an assistant by the

name of Einar Nilsson who was to

become a strong and valued business

partner. Together with Nilsson, the

Werner Supply Company was

formed, eventually hiring 40 em-

ployees. In 1947, John turned over

a large portion of his company shares to

Nilsson and George Sullivan, another

partner then acting as advisor for the

company.

At the age of 81, in 1969, Werner and

Nilsson opened the Tri State Auto Ware-

house and John served as President. This

proved to be a success-

ful venture. During the

intervening years, John

and his wife Lilly spent

time in the Sarasota Bay

area of Florida. He

used his entrepreneurial

talents to buy and sell

property and develop

land and to build a

house for himself and

Lilly.

A non-singing mem-

ber of the Verdandi

Male Chorus, he was

active in the AUSS,

serving as Marshall at

Eastern Division con-

ventions where his du-

ties included arranging lodging, and con-

cert programs. He raised funds for the

Verdandi Club House and many other

projects. He established and provided

funds for the Arthur O. Samuelson and

the Erland G. Levine award to honor

non-singers who make contributions to

the AUSS.

John Werner passed away at the Scan-

dinavian Home in Cranston, RI in 1992

at the age of 104.

Through his contributions, the AUSS

Cultural Heritage Foundation was estab-

lished and has been instrumental in as-

sisting choruses financially, as well as

providing the initial funding for the Sing-

ers’ Gallery in Rockford, Illinois. Since

the Singers’ Gallery provided a home for

the large amount of historical material,

including bound copies of Musiktidning

dating from 1906, it was possible to pre-

serve and categorize this material, now

housed in the Swenson Center at Augus-

tana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

This glimpse of the life of John Werner is

taken from interviews by Lennart Setterdahl

husband of A Century of Song author Lilly

Setterdahl.

- Don Ahlm

Who Was AUSS Benefactor John Werner?

John Werner (left) on his 100th birthday, along with Martin Ahlm, who was AUSS President

(1966-1970), Musiktidning editor (1982-1986), and father of Don Ahlm

John O. Werner


On Tuesday, April 30th, the American

Swedish Institute celebrated Walpurgis,

to welcome the spring, with bon fires,

rock bands, fiddlers, great food, and

1200 celebrants, just like they do in Swe-

den. And some of these wonderful

young people paid the Male Chorus a

visit as we rehearsed classical Swedish

choral music. They liked what they

heard.

Three nights later, we performed with

the Northwestern College Choir at Cal-

vary Church in Historic Golden Valley,

one of the oldest suburbs of Minneapolis.

We opened with a set that included Let

There Be Music, Här är gudagott att

vara, and Studentsång. Then the North-

western College Choir sang some beauti-

ful music, including Scottish songs like

Robert Burns' A Red, Red Rose.

Then, the ASI Male Chorus sang a set

of five songs that included Sommarpsalm

and Kristallen Den Fina.

We concluded by singing three songs

with the Northwestern College Choir.

We really enjoyed singing with the

Northwestern College Freshman Choir.

And they enjoyed singing with us.

We sang very well and received two

standing ovations. Why? Because we

were directed with passion and skill, and

our accompanist played flawlessly.

We concluded by socializing with our

audience over coffee and cookies and

krum kake, all prepared by our dedicated

and talented Auxiliary. The Auxiliary is

ASI Male Chorus Combines with the North-western Male Chorus to Welcome Spring

The ASI Male Chorus and Northwestern Male Chorus combined for a spring concert on May 7

Doug Peterson, a 24-year member of

the ASI Male Chorus, has died after a

long battle with failing health. Born in

Frederic, WI, he resided in White Bear

Lake, MN and was a banker by trade.

Besides being a fine tenor,

a role model, and a good

friend, his most significant

contribution to the chorus

was his connections with

Swedish choruses. He was

vital in helping to arrange

our chorus concert tours to

Sweden in 1995, 2001, 2005,

and 2011, which were a

thrill.

The ASI Male Chorus was

able to sing in the UNESCO World Heri-

tage Cathedral in Luleå, Sweden, and in

the 13th century Cathedral in Visby,

Sweden, because of the friendships Doug

nurtured with choral presidents like

Folke Rydell of Trolhättan, Sweden and

choral directors like Lennart Johansson

from Luleå. Yes, the same Lennart who

brought his gospel choir to the New Ha-

ven convention.

Doug is a past president of the ASIMC

and served the AUSS nationally as Fi-

nancial Secretary (1996-2000). He was

awarded the AUSS Gold Medal in 2006.

Doug is survived by his

wife, Lois (Wendy), a son, a

daughter, and eight grand-

children.

The ASI Male Chorus sang

Blott en dag (Day by Day)

and River in Judea at the

service, held on May 11.

Lennart Johannson attended

the service and spoke on be-

half of the family. He also

sang two solos: Nearer My

God to Thee and How Great Thou Art.

A letter sent from Folke Rydell was read.

Thanks, Doug for being a great mem-

ber of our beloved chorus.

- From material submitted by Richard

Sandeen and Paul Fluegel

DOUGLAS A. PETERSON Oct. 4, 1928 - May 2, 2013

a real blessing.

- Richard Sandeen, ASI Male Chorus

in its 121st year of performing waukegan choruses merge · 28th, the annual scandinavian songfest...

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