Join the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce New England and kick off this holiday season with good friends and new acquaintances at the 53rd annual Christmas Dinner on Saturday, December 12. The dinner event includes a glögg, lucia pageant, our traditional catered smörgåsbord with complimentary drinks and dessert as well as songs to accompany the snaps and a raffle.
Take the opportunity to meet other members of the Swedish–American Community in New England. Limited seats available – get your ticket today!
Ivan is a priest in a rural church known for the apples that grow on a large tree in front. He’s odd: seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, in denial about personal facts, and convinced he’s at war with Satan. The rectory is a half-way house for recently paroled convicts. Adam arrives for 12 weeks, a large, tough neo-Nazi, first baffled by Ivan’s thick-headed optimism, then angry. He vows to break Ivan’s faith. Meanwhile, in exasperation at Ivan’s insistence, Adam sets a personal goal: to bake an apple pie. All goes awry for the tree: crows, worms, lightening. The Book of Job gives Adam perverse insight, and his hooligan mates provide the resolution’s spring.
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.
A collection of recent prints by artists from Íslensk grafík / Icelandic Printmakers Association including etchings, Chine-collé, monoprints, lithographs and electro etchings inspired primarily by Icelandic landscapes and human nature.
This exhibition was made possible through a collaboration with The Boston Printmakers who completed an expedition to Iceland in August of this year and collaborated with Íslensk grafík artists.
The Belmont Gallery of Art will present a companion exhibit featuring additional works by Íslensk grafík artists alongside works by The Boston Printmakers through December 5th.
Íslensk grafík / Icelandic Printmakers Association celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. The Association runs its own gallery and studio in the centre of Reykjavik and serves as an organized interest group whose primary functions are promoting printmaking in Iceland, organizing combined exhibitions for members, and introducing international printmaking to Iceland and Icelandic printmaking abroad. Íslensk grafík has approximately 70 members.
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, Finlandia Foundation-Boston invites pianist Paavali Jumppanen for a special performance featuring works by the famed composer.
Save the date for another Sibelius150 event: Sunday March, 22nd at 3pm (free)
Continuing the Sibelius 150 years celebration, Finlandia Foundation-Boston welcomes Glenda Dawn Goss, author of Sibelius: A Composer’s Life and the Awakening of Finland. Ms. Goss will share her insight into the life and works of the great composer in the context of Finnish and Northern European cultural history.
About Sibelius
Jean Sibelius, born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957, was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic period. His music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity.
The core of Sibelius’ oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies. Like Beethoven, Sibelius used each successive work to further develop his own personal compositional style. His works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded.
In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius’ best-known compositions include Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto in D minor, Kullervo, and The Swan of Tuonela (one of the four movements of the Lemminkäinen Suite). Other works include pieces inspired by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala; over 100 songs for voice and piano; incidental music for 13 plays; the opera Jungfrun i tornet (The Maiden in the Tower); chamber music; piano music; Masonic ritual music; and 21 separate publications of choral music.
Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s. However, after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music to The Tempest (1926), and the tone poem Tapiola (1926), he produced no large scale works for the remaining thirty years of his life. Although he is reputed to have stopped composing, he in fact attempted to continue writing, including abortive efforts to compose an eighth symphony. He wrote some Masonic music and re-edited some earlier works during this last period of his life, and retained an active interest in new developments in music, although he did not always view modern music favorably.
The Finnish 100 mark bill featured his image until it was taken out of circulation in 2002 when the euro was adopted as a cash currency. Since 2011, Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on 8 December, the composer’s birthday, also known as the ‘Day of Finnish Music’.
A program featuring Haydn, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Chopin. Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian has performed extensively in her native Armenia and the former Soviet Union, as well as internationally. Her solo appearances and frequent contributions to a number of ensembles have won acclaim from the renowned authorities in the musical world, including praise from Paul Badura Skoda, Mikhail Pletnev and Daniel Pollock.
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian has performed extensively in her native Armenia and the former Soviet Union, as well as internationally. Her solo appearances and frequent contributions to a number of ensembles have won acclaim from the renowned authorities in the musical world, including praise from Paul Badura Skoda, Mikhail Pletnev and Daniel Pollock.
After finishing the Tchaikovsky Music School in Yerevan under the guidance of Professor E.Tandilian Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian graduated with honors from the graduate piano class of Professor Lev Vlasenko and Mikhail Pletnev at the Moscow Conservatory. Among the highlights of her performing and teaching career are the prize at the Transcaucasian Music Competition in 1981 and the professorship at the Yerevan State Conservatory, where she taught a piano class and also the methods of piano teaching in 1988-2005. In 1986-1988 Lilit Karapetian- Shougarian also assisted Professor Lev Vlasenko in his piano class at the Moscow Conservatory.
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian is at home both with the classical and modern repertoire. Her spirited interpretations of Rakhmaninov, Liszt, Chopin, Debussy and Olivier Messian invariably fascinate the public. Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian has had an impressive number of solo recitals in Syria, Jordan, the United States, Great Britain, Italy and Argentina. In 1994 she was invited to perform in the prestigious Grande Finale concert together with Ann Shein, a world-famous pianist, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Her 1995 recital at the Washington Arts Club and a series of concerts in Buenos-Aires and Cordoba in 1996 were highly praised by international press and local musical circles.
Lilit also performed with the Arlington Symphony and the Williamsburg Symphony orchestras. Her most recent recitals with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra featured Mozart’s Concerto # 23 (A-Major) and Saint-Saens’s concerto #2 (g-minor). In 2006-2007 she had solo recitals in Venice, in the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome and Teatro di Marcello of Rome (the recording of that concert can be found here). She also performed during the internationally broadcasted 1st anniversary of Telepace Armenia.
Mrs. Karapetian-.Shougarian has authored several articles on musicology and theory of piano interpretation. Among them are Methodological Observations in the Process of the Advanced Piano Teaching (2004); The Vocal Element in Franz Schubert’s Piano Sonatas (2004); and The Art of Interpretation and International Competitions. (2007)
Lilit is currently a resident of Wellesley, Massachusetts. In September, 2009 she joined the faculty of the New England Conservatory Preparatory and Continuing Education Departments, where she currently teaches a piano class and simultaneously works as accompanist at the NEC Graduate School. She also teaches piano at the Rivers School Conservatory and Sharon Music Academy.
Being the spouse of Rouben Shougarian, Armenia’s first Ambassador to Washington (1993-1999) and Italy, Spain and Portugal (2005-2008), Lilit traveled extensively and in addition to her professional career performed many social and diplomatic duties.
Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian has continued her performing career after moving permanently to the United States. In 2009-2011 she had solo recitals in Watertown and Washington DC. She also played together with Dr. Magdalena Richter (violin) in Arlington, MA. The highlight of her recent performing career was a solo recital at Williams Hall, NEC on January 23, 2012.
In March, 2013 Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian offered a master class and guest artist gala concert at Bridgewater State University, Department of Music.
Since April, 2013 she has been collaborating and performing with with Levon Chilingirian, a world renowned violinist from London.
Directed by Jessica Oreck. Brothers Aarne and Lasse Aatsinki are cowboys of the Arctic. Quiet but good natured, dare-devilish but humble, rugged but gentle, and exceptionally knowledgeable when it comes to their little slice of wilderness. These men are what John Wayne wanted to be. The brothers, along with their wives and children, live well north of the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, where they are the leaders of a collective of traditional reindeer herders who manage the last group of wild reindeer in all of Finland. Aatsinki follows the family for the span of one year, quietly observing their seasonal routines and the difficulties and joys of a life so closely tied to the land. 84 minutes. In Finnish with English subtitles. Presented as part of The Scandinavian Library’s Nordic Film Series.
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.
What is a “Fika”? Fika is a social institution in Sweden; it means having a break, most often a coffee break, with one’s colleagues, friends, date or family. The word “fika” can serve as both a verb and a noun. Swedes, like most Scandinavians, consider coffee an important part of their culture.
Join us for this special concert presented as part of a series during the SCC’s weekly Kaffestugan (café). Enjoy Swedish pastries from Worcester’s Crown Bakery, waffles and open-faced sandwiches, and bring your brunch into the Nordic Hall for some musical accompaniment!
Scandinavian fiddle duo lydia ievins and Andrea Larson are eager to share the music they’ve brought home from a rewarding year of studying together in Sweden. They perform an energetic and engaging program of traditional music on fiddle, 5-string fiddle, nyckelharpa, and voice — including waltzes, schottises, polskas, and more.
Lucas Moodysson’s adaption of his wife Coco’s novel about three young misfits growing up in early ‘80s Stockholm. Pixieish, mohawk-sporting Klara and her best friend Bobo are 13-year-old rebels looking for a cause. Despite having no instruments or discernible musical talent, the two put all their energy into forming an all-girl punk band, recruiting their shy, classical guitar-playing schoolmate Hedvig as the third wheel.
102 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.
Swedish-American fiddler Brian Wicklund returns from his native Minnesota to host an evening of globe-trotting musical adventure. Brian is best known for his work in bluegrass music touring internationally as a sideman with many of the top bluegrass players in the country. In the last decade, he has returned to his Swedish roots through travels to Dalarna, Sweden to study the region’s distinct fiddle style. Brian will be joined by guitar wizard Flynn Cohen. Presented in collaboration with the Suzuki School of Newton.
Presented as part of The Scandinavian Library’s Nordic Film Series.
It is 1953, and Freya, who had gone to America as an officer’s bridge, has returned home to begin a new life. She moves into a small house of distant relatives in a quiet fishing village within Iceland. But unlike the drab, plump girl who went abroad, Freya, now in her twenties, is a stunningly beautiful woman. With her long chestnut brown hair, slender figure, and chic American fashions, she is somewhat of a mystery to the woman of the household, including the inquisitive eleven-year-old Agga, and especially to the men of the community. But as Agga soon notices, strange things have been happening since Freya’s arrival. Women are asserting their independence and men are mysteriously keeling over. Is Freya a murderess? A goddess of love? These are questions young Agga would very much like to have answered. 102 minutes. In Icelandic 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.
