Night Tree, though rooted in the Celtic folk tradition, uses Celtic as well as other folk traditions such as Swedish, Jewish and American Folk, Progressive Bluegrass and even the Avant-garde to influence their original works. The Night Tree sound spans the dark resonance of the cello, bari sax, and cajon to the drones of the accordion all the way through the soaring melodies of their duelling fiddles, and their shows combine both traditional and original music. This Boston based folk band has been awarded the New England Conservatory Wildcard Honors Ensemble for 2016-2017.
Night Tree is:
Lily Honigberg – violin
Chris Overholser – violin
Zach Mayer – bari and soprano sax, voice
Sunniva Brynnel – accordion and voice
McKinley James – cello
Julian Loida – percussion
Saturday, April 8th | 1 pm
Admission $10; Free for SCC Members
Workshop Description:
Two hours before her concert with Night Tree in the Nordic Hall, accordionist Sunniva Brynnel will lead a tune learning workshop with a focus on traditional Swedish tunes. All instruments are welcome. We encourage you to stay after for lunch at our Kaffestugan and for the Night Tree Concert at 1 pm.
Tuition Price: $25, $20 for SCC Members
Duration: 1 hour
About Sunniva Brynnel:
Born in Uddevalla, Sweden in 1986, Sunniva has led a life dedicated to music. Her studies have taken her from various programs in Sweden to Dublin, Leeds College of Music in England, and now to New England Conservatory in Boston to complete her masters of music in jazz. Having studied world music, pop music, jazz, composition, and Irish/Gaelic singing, Sunniva is involved in a handful of music ensembles with different musical focuses. For more information on those ensembles and Sunniva’s other endeavors please visit her website.
A remote fishing village in Iceland. Teenage boys Thor and Christian experience a turbulent summer as one tries to win the heart of a girl while the other discovers new feelings toward his best friend. When summer ends and the harsh nature of Iceland takes back its rights, it’s time to leave the playground and face adulthood.
ABOUT THE FILM: American Masters — Eero Saarinen:The Architect Who Saw the Future explores the life and visionary work of Finnish-American modernist architectural giant Eero Saarinen (1910-1961). Best known for designing National Historic Landmarks such as St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch and the General Motors Technical Center (Warren, Mich.), Saarinen also designed New York’s TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Yale University’s Ingalls Rink and Morse and Ezra Stiles Colleges, Virginia’s Dulles Airport, and modernist pedestal furniture like the Tulip chair. His sudden death at age 51 cut short one of the most influential careers in American architecture. more
Sunday, March 26th | 3pm
Admission is FREE. Donations are accepted to continue free programming.
In this real-life Cool Runnings the predominantly white community of the rural Swedish town of Borlänge (whose town slogan is “Nice People”) is confronted by the influx of Somalis who have fled war and come to live in Sweden. Integrating has proven difficult, so entrepreneur Patrik Andersson decides that all the Swedes and Somalis need is something in common to bring them together, and so he encourages them to learn bandy (a cross between ice hockey and soccer) with the goal of becoming the first ever bandy team to represent Somalia at the Bandy World Championships in Irkutsk, Russia, even though they have never skated in their lives!
In Swedish, English, and Somali with subtitles. 90 minutes.
Saturday, March 25th | 1pm| admission $8; FREE for SCC Members
Based on Fredik Backman’s international best-selling novel, Ove is the quintessential angry old man next door. An isolated retiree with strict principles and a short fuse, Ove spends his days enforcing block association rules that only he cares about and visiting his wife’s grave. Enter a boisterous young family next door who accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox while moving in and Ove has a new source of ire. Yet over time an unlikely friendship forms and we learn of Ove’s past happiness and heartbreaks. What emerges is a heartwarming tale of unreliable first impressions and the gentle reminder that life is sweeter when it’s shared.
116 minutes. In Swedish with English subtitles.
Free; donations accepted.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
After their public showing movies in our film series become part of the Scandinavian Library’s collection of DVDs available for borrowing by Library members.
During our weekly Kaffestugan we will be celebrating the Swedish tradition of Våffeldagen. Swedes have enjoyed waffles in some form since the 1600’s and they remain popular today. So much so they celebrate them every March 25th! Often covered with cream and jam instead of syrup, these are sure to delight. Come on out for lunch and a waffle or just a waffle on it’s own! We won’t judge. The standard Kaffestugan menu will still be available.
Come join the Scandinavian Cultural Center as we watch the Grand Final of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen, the competition to choose the country’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev later this year. It’s a fun-filled, highly choreographed event where twelve acts compete in Friends Arena live from Stockholm.
Our party will be in the Napoleon Room at Club Café in Boston. Food will be available as well as a cash bar. The event starts promptly at 2 PM! While free, registration is required. #melfestboston #NordicBoston
Address:
Club Café
206 Columbus Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Did you know that puffins spend most of their life at sea only to return to land to mate each spring? Over half of the worlds population of puffins return to Iceland each year… that is 8-10 million birds! The Icelandic word for puffin is “lundi”.
Join us as we celebrate this adorable sea bird with a puffin themed craft!
Space is limited. Advanced registration suggested.
Sunday, March 5th | 12:30 pm
Admission $5; Free for SCC Members
Join Finlandia Foundation of Boston in a special centenary year of independence lecture with professor Börje Vähämäki in a discussion in the Kalevala, the Finnish National epic. Professor Vähämäki’s lecture emphasizes the world view of the Kalevala, allowing him to bring out the Kalevala’s great diversity – the myths, shamanism, “Finnishness” and overall moral and religious values reflected in the epic poem. He will recite and chant a few lines in Finnish (as a sampler) and try to define what the Kalevala is.
3pm | admission is FREE
ABOUT Börje Vähämäki
Born and educated in Finland, Börje Vähämäki received all of his academic degrees from Åbo Academy University in Turku, Finland. In 1975, he accepted a position as professor of Finnish Studies at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, where he taught until 1989, after which he moved to initiate and head a Finnish Studies Program at the University of Toronto. He retired in 2014.
Early in his career, Mr. Vähämäki specialized in Finnish linguistics and wrote his magnum opus, Existence and Identity (Åbo Academy University Press), as well as several articles. However, at both Minnesota and Toronto his teaching dealt mostly with Finnish literature, including the Kalevala, and Finnish cinema, and so he changed his research focus accordingly. Over the last four decades he has published numerous articles on Finnish literature and the Kalevala, and written books on the Finnish language, including Mastering Finnish, a language learning textbook and CD set.
In 1997, Mr. Vähämäki founded the Journal of Finnish Studies, which he edited for 12 years. In 1999, he established
a small publishing company, Aspasia Books, Inc., which has published over 30 English titles of relevance to Finnish studies, including Kivi’s Seven Brothers and the trilogy Under the North Star by Väinö Linna. His translations include A Treasury of Finnish Love Poems, Finnish Short Stories (with Ingrid Jensen), Red Moon over White Sea by Laila Hietamies, and Fragments of Lappish Mythology by L.L. Laestadius. He published two audio books of Kalevala poems in 2009. He was awarded the insignia of Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, First Class, and was inducted as the 137th foreign member in the Kalevala Society of Finland.
Sunday, March 26th | 3pm