Lögberg-Heimskringla - 09.05.2003, Blaðsíða 4

page 4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday, 9 May 2003
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This column recognizes people oflcelandic descent who have made or are making a contrihution to the Icelandic/North American community. Please let us know ifthere is someone
you would like to see featured. Contact (204) 284-5686 or email us at logberg@mts.net
Your True Voice is Deep in Your Bones
Kristin Johnson helps her students find theirs
Since 1994, Kristin Johnson
has been the director of
the Sóley Söngmenn, a group
of men from Geysir and
Riverton who keep the
Icelandic musical tradition
alive. Kristin not only directs
the group, she also arranges
music for them. She sets to
music poems, such as one on
John Ramsay and one which
David Gislason, a member of
the group, wrote.
Kristin is the third
youngest of seven children.
Although her older siblings
began their piano studies with
Lilja Palsson Martin, who was
Arborg’s piano teacher, it was
Mattie Clegg who taught
Kristin to play by ear. She
also had lessons at St.
Benedict’s Convent. She says,
“I played and played and
played as a youngster.”
In order to continue her
studies in music, she drove in
and out from Arborg to
Winnipeg to study with Elma
Gislason. “She was very good
at encouraging her students.
She encouraged me to be in
the Philharmonic Choir, and
later in the Opera Chorus.
And I took part in festivals.”
“I played the old pump
organ in the Geysir Church
from the age of sixteen.”
Then her teacher Lilja Martin
told her “It’s good sight read-
ing practice to play hymns
because you have to read four
notes at the same time.” After
she married, she led the choir
in the Arborg Church.
She has also taught piano,
organ, guitar and singing. She
has directed choirs, such as
the Arborg Community Choir
and the Centennial Singers.
She says they “had excellent
singers, among them Thor
Johannesson of Vidir and
Geraldine Finnson Bjornson
from Riverton.”
Then she began studying
music at the University of
Manitoba. Her major was
voice. “I loved singing
Schubert and Bach. I sang in
Italian and Latin and
German.” She graduated from
music in 1979, the same year
her son finished the two year
diploma in agriculture.
Kristin in many respects
has been a traditional farm
wife. She has done the gar-
dening and cooking and keep-
ing of house. She has never,
however, had to drive the trac-
tor and work as a farm hand.
Rather she followed her heart
into music. She says, “Your
true voice is deep in your
bones. You have to contact
your soul voice.” She is “now
learning to connect using a
primordial sound, which is
expressed from the whole
body.”
And now she is following
her heart into holistic healing.
Her interest in alternative
healing began when she was at
university and noticed a
course in shiatzu. She took it.
This has led her to the study of
HunaKane, a Hawaiian form
of massage and Reiki.
Her interest in holistic
healing is not entirely new.
Twenty years ago she had a
health food store in Arborg,
one of the few female entre-
preneurs at the time. Now she
is searching for a way to com-
bine her passion for music
with the one for healing. She
says, “Our bodies hold old
trauma. One way to release
that trauma is to sing. There
are many ways to use the
voice, such as shouting,
screaming, groaning.”
She observes that, “People
used to sing when they
worked, when they went to
church.” Because those
opportunities don’t offer
Kristin Johnson
themselves now, people are
“holding instead of express-
ing.”
Kristin attended Normal
School and then went up to
Churchill, MB for two years to
teach. After she married, for
four years she taught music
for grades one to nine in
Arborg.
She is married to Kristjan
Johnson, a farmer who is part
of the Johnson Seeds estab-
lishment. In his twenties he
began seed cleaning, and it is
now a worldwide business.
They have two children.
Their son Keith is on the farm
in the seed plant business.
Their daughter Esther is mar-
ried to Brian Pallister, now a
Member of Parliament. They
live near Portage la Prairie,
MB.
Kristin’s parents were
Valdimar Sigvaldason and
Ingibjorg Anderson. She
made her first trip to Iceland in
the summer of 1998. Then she
got to know relatives in
Húnavatnssýsla, Reykjavík
and Selfoss. In the Millennium
year she responded to an ad
from a man who was studying
at the Bifrost School of
Business and who wanted
someone to come to Iceland
and speak English with him
for one month.
Besides spending time with
her five grandchildren, Kristin
continues to pursue training in
holisitic healing practices,
including the use of the voice as
a healing instrument.
Ivbmh
Minnist
R17 TI71
JDJC/ JL
í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
Argyle Transfer Ltd.
Specializing in livestock
transportation
Wally & Linda Finnbogason
Stonewall, MB
Wally 467-8822 Mobile 981-1666
Daryl 322-5743 Mobiie 981-5460
The 2003
Jcelandic
©pen
The 3rd Annual Icelandic Open
proudly sponsored by the
Lögberg-Heimskringla
At Links on the Lake
(formerly Pelican Beach)
When: Friday, August lst, 2003
Place: Links on the Lake, Gimli MB
Time: 9:30 to 11:00 am Lunch and Registration
Start: 11:00 pm Shot Gun Start
Format: Texas Scramble
Cost $150.00 per person. Early bird entry before
June 15, 2002 to be eligible for firee entry to the
2004 tournament. If you played last year, have one
member paid by June 15 to secure your team place.
Your entry includes:
• Lunch
• Tee box gift
• Dinner at the Johnson Hall at 6 pm
• 18 holes of golf with a cart!
• Did I forget to mention prizes for everyone!
So come out and swing like a Viking!
Don’t delay. We sold out last year!
For registration and sponsorship information please call:
Audrey Kwasnica at the L-H 204-284-5686 or 1-866-564-2374
or email logbergadmin@mts.net
Guesthouse BB 44
Borgarholtsbraut 44
200 Kópavogur lceland
info@bb44.is • Tel/Fax:354-554-4228
• Situated in a quiet neighbourhood in Kópavogur
■ Personal service in a smoke free house
• Furnished rooms wíth TV, also ensuites available
• Family oriented surroundings
• Deck with hot tub and cozy yard
• Kitchen and laundry facilities, good parking
■ Ciose by are Kópavogur swimming pool, Gerðarsafn,
Salurinn (music hall), musem of natural history, harbour
'for small boats and interesting hiking trails
Summer Rales June 1- August 31/2003
1 per room incLbreakfast buflet $52“
2 per room $79“ • 3 per room $111“
Studio apartment 2 persons $109“
Winter Rates in ellect until May 31st
1 per room incl. breakfast bulfet $39“
2 per room $60“ • 3 per room $83“
Studio apartment 2 persons $81“
Book oniine and save 10%
Visit us on the web at http://www.logberg.com