Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.10.2003, Síða 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur, 3 október 2003 • page 5
The New Iceland Youth Choir Tours Iceland by David Gislason, Arborg, MB
Minni ísCands
51 ‘Toast to IceCand
Svífur minn hugur fieim,
Sífjóttyfir öfdu geim,
Uns fonum Sirtist par eyfand í sœnum.
Shfáfjöff með fevítar Srár,
Sfeiðar með vötn og ár,
‘Dunandi jossar í döfunumgrcenum.
BöðvarH. Jakobsson, 1949
Home doth my spirit soar,
Soft oe’r tfie oeean’s roar,
Out zvfere afar distant isfand fiesgfeaming.
‘Wf-ite mantfed mountains yfeam,
SVfoorfands zoitfi fafes and stream,
‘Waterfaffs tumSfe ivfiere meadozvs fie dreaming.
PHOTO BY WANDA ANDERSON
The choir in Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík
In this fashion Böðvar
Jakobsson described his
memories of Iceland, and gave
voice to the feelings of most of
the Icelandic immigrants to
North America who would
never again see the land of
their birth. They remembered
the beauty of the landscape
and the happy times, and their
descendants have never lost
their connection with that
mystic land. Five, six and even
seven generations later, a
group of young Canadians of
Icelandic descent has made
their pilgrimage to this land of
which they have heard so
much. They went to see and
learn, and they went to sing -
to offer their assurance that the
ties have not been broken.
Translation bj David Gislason
They went to sing in Icelandic
— old songs and new, tradi-
tional and original tunes.
The New Iceland Youth
Choir members realized their
dream of taking their music,
along with what they had
learned of the language, and
touring Iceland. With much
support frorn Iceland and from
horne, they travelled the ring
road with concerts in several
places along the way. Where
melodies were wanting, choir
director Rosalind Vigfusson
fashioned new ones, including
a haunting melody to Böðvar’s
poem, Minni Islands, and this
became their theme song. It
was everything we could have
hoped it would be, this tour,
and everywhere they went the
hospitality was overwhelming.
The tóur began with a fine
reception at the Canadian
Embassy in Reykjavík on July
26, where Ambassador Gerald
Skinner played host to the
group. In spite of just having
been in transit for twenty-six
hours and sleeping for two,
(not counting the fitful rest
gained on the bus or in the
plane) our choir was in fine
form here, and sang the
national anthems of Canada
and Iceland as well as a num-
ber of other songs from their
repertoire. Guest soloist
Shelly Gislason sang a French
rnelody (a request of the
Ambassador that French be
included in the program), Un
Canadien Errant.
From here the path led
north, with a visit to Reykholt,
the former home of Snorri
Sturlusson of old. It is fasci-
nating to gaze at the circular,
stone ringed hot pool with the
tunnel leading from it, and
realize that this is the same
pool in which the saga writer
and historian bathed, and con-
sidered his next chapter. Mag-
nús Jónsson and Steinunn
Ingólfsdóttir from Hvanneyri
were our tour guides to this
point, and introduced us to the
many wonders of this part of
Iceland. From there across
Holtuvörðuheiði, past Hrúta-
fjörður and through Blönduós.
On through the scenic
Langidalur and over
Vatnsskarð in the evening sun-
light to stop at the Stefán G.
Stefánsson monument over-
looking Skagafjörður valley. A
welcoming sight, and a fine
photo opportunity. At
Varmahlíð the group was
warmly welcomed by the
chairman of the mens’ choir
Heimir Páll Dagbjartsson, and
their director Stefán Gíslason.
The Heirnir Choir hosted our
group to a delicious dinner of
larnb that evening, and break-
fast each of the three mornings
we stayed there.
Our home in Skagafjörður
was the Varmahlíð school. The
generosity of the Heimir Choir
will not soon be forgotten, nor
the smiling faces of Páll, his
wife Helga, and the others
who cheerfully prepared the
breakfast for our hungry trav-
elers.
On Sunday afternoon, July
27, it was on to Hofsós, a
small village with a rich histo-
ry on the eastern shore of Ska-
gafjörður Bay. Here Valgeir
Þorvaldsson and the Emigra-
tion Centre hosted the first fes-
tival day in honour of the Ice-
landic descendants in North
America. As the bus pulled off
the highway, and turned in
towards Hofsós, we were met
by Valgeir himself and an offi-
cial mounted escort. Follow-
ing a police cruiser, seven
smartly suited, flag bearing
riders led the way into town.
This was a heart-warming trib-
ute to our choir, and everyone
felt like a king or queen,
falling in behind these splen-
did Icelandic horses and rid-
ers, proudly holding their flags
high — the red and white of our
Canadian flag in the lead. As if
this was not enough, the road
was lined with well wishers
and TV canreras as we pulled
into town.
The New Iceland Youth
Choir was the feature event of
the afternoon, and did not dis-
appoint. They sang with much
feeling to a packed hall, and
were called upon for several
encores. Their presence at this
time and place was a powerful
endorsement of the centre
itself, and what it means as an
important interpretive centre
for the history of the emigra-
tion of Icelanders to North
America in the nineteenth cen-
tury. In the evening the group
was hosted to dinner at the
Akra school just east of
Varmahlíð. Here the choir
members met in person a num-
ber of Icelandic children with
whom they had been corre-
sponding in preparation for
this visit.
Tour leader David Gislason and choir director Rosalind
Vigfusson
PHOTO BY DAVID GISLASON
Above Varmahlíð, with Stefán R. Gíslason and Páll Dagb-
jartsson of the Heimir Men’s Choir
Creating Community • Sköpum Samfélag