(Photo submitted)
As part of a music residency organized by Vesterheim, the Swedish folk band Jaerv recently met with K-12 students in the Decorah Community School District. Band members instructed more than 1,000 Decorah students in late October, including elementary students, middle and high school orchestra and choir participants and middle school band students. Vesterheim’s support of the Nordic Folk Music Residency was made possible in part by a gift to the Vesterheim Annual Fund by Bob and Mary Jane Lake.
Jaerv’s visit to Decorah included a Center Stage Series performance with the band The OK Factor on Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Luther College. For the concert, Vesterheim partnered with Luther College and the Decorah Performing Arts Boosters to provide complimentary tickets for more than 60 students and their families.
“I am always grateful and thrilled to be able to welcome professional musicians to my classroom, exposing students to the wide range of possibilities that music offers,” said Sarah Kowitz, director of the Decorah Middle School Orchestra. “And the students are always enthralled. Jaerv and the OK Factor did not disappoint – they held the students’ attention and were inspiring.”
Jaerv performed traditional Swedish music for each group of students. Music students in kindergarten through second grade and middle school students in band and orchestra were treated to performances by Jaerv, while vocal students in grades three through 12 learned to sing a traditional Swedish song. Older students added layered harmonies to the traditional tune. The Decorah High School Concert Choir learned a traditional Swedish follow-the-leader style line dance and also learned to sing the tune in three-part harmony. A pari of high school orchestra students were even able to experiment with playing the nyckelharpa, a stringed instrument from the Middle Ages used widely in Scandinavian folk music.
“It was amazing to experience the piece of Swedish culture that they brought to us,” said Caleb Johnson, a senior in the Decorah High School Concert Choir. “I loved the songs that they played for us, and we had so much fun with their activities, both the songs they taught us and the dance we did.”
The Jaerv quintet performs folk music with influences from both jazz and pop music and has toured the U.S., Japan, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Finland, Norway and other countries.
“When young people get to learn from and work alongside professional musicians like Jaerv, it helps them see music not just as something they do in school, but as a meaningful path they can pursue throughout their lives,” said Andrew Ellingsen, director of folk art education at Vesterheim and former public school music educator. “Partnerships between Vesterheim, Luther College and the Decorah Community School District make opportunities like this possible — experiences that no single institution could offer alone. At Vesterheim Folk Art School, part of our mission is to keep folk art traditions alive and vibrant, and that begins with helping the next generation see themselves as part of that living tradition.”
