Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.04.1980, Blaðsíða 2

Lögberg-Heimskringla, föstudagur 25. apríl, 1980
2
Valdimar Björnsson wrifes
Life and the arts in
Iceland have held a
prominent place in Min-
nesota recently. First, in
mid-March, it may be truly
said that Fru Ragnhildur
Helgadottir, a long-time
member of Iceland’s
parliament, came, saw and
conquered through her
lectures at a conference
devoted to the Scandinavian
countries. Then toward the
close of the month, on the
29th of March, Minneapolis
became the starting point
for the tour which takes
three musicians across the
United States and Canada,
preciative audience, are
Sigfus Halldorsson the
composer, Gudmundur
Gudjonsson, the tenor
soloist, and Bill Holm, who
taught at the University of
Iceland for a year, who
sings, plays the piano and
reads his original poetry.
In advance of these public
performances, Thorkell
Sigurbjornsson, composer
and piano teacher in Reyk-
javik, made a quick trip here
on Iceland’s behalf to meet
with leaders in the musical
field in connection with
“Scandinavia Today”
events scheduled in this
country in 1982. In the
meantime, some local
residents are considering
going to New York this
coming fall when the Viking
exhibits will be on there
with the American Scan-
dinavian Foundation as
local sponsor, one of the
chief arrangers being
Magnus Magnusson, the
television star now in
England.
Thorkell, son of Iceland’s
Bishop, was visiting familiar
scenes in his brief stop here,
FROM MINNEAPOLIS
since he received degrees in
music at Hamline University
in St. Paul, Minnesota, and
at the University of Illinois in
Urbana. He went to Seattle
after stopping here to
engage musical leaders
there in discussions. He was
given excellent receptions
by the Minneapolis
Symphony Orchestra, the
St. Paul Chamber Or-
chestra, and comparable
organizations in Seattle.
Promises came from all of
them to rehearse and
present Icelandic music at
the special 1982 events.
There are just four major
scenes of activity in con-
nection with the Scan-
dinavia Today programs in
1982: New York, Min-
neapolis and St. Paul in
Minnesota, Houston, Texas,
and Seattle, Washington.
Ragnhildur Helgadottir
has received deserved
praise for her participation
in conferences at Augsburg
College in Minneapolis,
March 14 and 15, “Con-
temporary Issues: Scan-
dinavia and America”, with
emphasis on the two days
mentioned being given the
status of women in various
fields among the nations of
the North. As a former head
of the Scandinavian
Parliamentary Council and
as a veteran of more than 15
years’ service in Iceland’s
Althing, Fru Ragnhildur had
much to contribute as to the
status of women in all the
northern countries.
American women
delivered papers on
women’s rights in the United
States and in particular in
Sweden and Norway as
well, while Fru Ragnhildur
contributed a fund of
knowledge on Iceland’s
record over the centuries,
and dealt with Norway,
Denmark, Sweden and
Finland in detail also. She
presented significant
statistics about the per-
formance of women in
various fields in all these
countries; her addresses
were concise, well
documented, and delivered
in flawless English. In the
question and answer
periods and in informal
discussion, Fru Ragnhildur’s
ample vocabulary and ease
in handling the English
language impressed
listeners. She could also
shift to “Scandinavian” for
those best accommodated in
that manner. In the few
newspapers still published
in the Scandinavian
languages, all of them with
increasing English ianguage
content, articles have been
appearing summarizing Fru
Ragnhildur’s addresses, and
they have been considered a
valuable contribution by
those interested in the field.
The old expression about
“enjoying oneself like a
King” certainly had ap-
plication to the musical
evening in 'Minneapolis on
the 29th of March. A
deliberate decision had
been made to change the
date of the annual
“Samkoma” of the Hekla
Club Icelandic ladies’
organization, in order to
take advantage of the
presence of the three
entertainers, Sigfus
Halldorsson, Gudmundur
Gudjonsson and Bill Holm.
These “Samkomas” have
always been well attended
annually, now for more than
half a century, but new
records were set this time —
in excess of 200 people
gathered at the Richfield
Community Center, 7oth and
Nicollet Avenue in Min-
neapolis. Coffee and
refreshments followed the
program, of course —
ruliupylsa, vinarterta,
kleinur and other goodies.
Gail Magnusson opened the
program as President of the
Hekla Club; she is a
Western Icelander’s,
daughter of the late Gud-
mundur Gudmundsson, a
manufacturer of false teeth
in Minneapolis, who came
originally from Gimli, and of
his wife, Ingibjorg, born also
in New Iceland in Manitoba
— Sigtryggur Jonasson,
father of the New Iceland
settlement, was a brother of
Ingibjorg’s grandmother.
Gail, whose oil paintings
have earned her a
reputation as an artist, is
married to Bragi Magnusson
whose father, Magnus
Petursson, now dead, was
for many years a teacher in
Akureyri; Ingibjorg
Magnusdottir, an official in
the nursing field in Iceland,
is a sister of Bragi. After his
Universitý training here,
Bragi returned to Iceland
for a time, where he was a
teacher, and he and Gail
were married in Akureyri by
the Reverend Petur
Sigurgeirsson.
Bjorn Bjornson, Iceland’s
Consul in Minnesota, in-
troduced the program
participants, conveying
warm thanks on behalf of
the assemblage to the
Cultural Commission in
Iceland which had made the
trip over here possible, on
the part of the musicians,
with particular mention of
its members, the Rev. Bragi
Fridriksson, Arni Bjar-
narson and Heimir Han-
nesson. Jon Asgeirsson, who
had come from Iceland to
Winnipeg just before the
tour began, was present and
he will travel with them in
something of the im-
presario’s role, over the
whole itinerary. Then Bill
Holm took over with a
humorous account of some
of his impressions during the
year he spent in Iceland. He
moved easily from his in-
formal speech-making style
to the playing of lively
ragtime numbers on the
piano. He also read one of
his unrhymed verses,
composed in Iceland, to
appear with an article in
the quarterly ICELAND
REVIEW. It concerned the
Icelandic language and the
manner in which immigrants
to the western world had to
borrow English phrases in
order even to name many of
the devices new to them and
unknown at the time in
Iceland.
Gudmundur Gudjonsson
sang tunes composed by
Sigfus Halldosson, the
composer himself, providing
the piano accompaniment,
with the numbers ranging
from “The Little Fly” and
“Tondeleyo” to “Grandpa’s
Boy” and “In the Gray
Winter Fog.” Vigorous
applause and “Bravo” calls
were accorded Sigfus and
Gudmundur and a spell of
enthusiasm seemed to grip
the audience. The Samkoma
program was considered
one of the very best ever
presented in the Hekla
Club's history, with large-
scale attendance and the
high quality of the numbers
presented setting new
standards. The atmosphere
generated boded well for
future performances by the
group and the reception to
be accorded them on their
tour of more than 20 cities
and villages, widely scat-
tered over the United States
and Canada. Chicago and
Los Angeles .were, un-
fortunately, dropped from
the itinerary, since Chicago
Icelanders had just been
celebrating their Thorrablot
and there was failure to
reach local sponsors in Los
Angeles in time. Booklets
were available, carrying the
program with details as to
participants, and attractive
messages from supporting
enterprises in Iceland.
Copies of notes and lyric
texts — the Sigfus
Halldorsson Songbook —
were also offered for sale,
and Sigfus and Gudmundur
were kept busy for a while
autographing the books.
This writer has-more than
once promised himself and
others to send a newsletter
and a major one has been in
final stages of preparation
for some time, lacking only
some pictures. That should
come soon, and likely with
1
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