A superstar musician in his day, the violinist Ole Bull dazzled audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.  Spending many years in America, Ole Bull was also a business man who attempted (and spectacularly failed!) to create a Norwegian colony in the USA.  "Oleana", as his colony was called, may not have succeeded but his legacy and his larger-than-life personality have not been forgotten in Norway or in the USA.  Ole Bull's greatest hit "Sæterjentens Søndag" will be heard on most of our Musical Migration programs.

Christian Sinding was one of the most prominent composers in Norway, and, after the death of Edvard Grieg in 1907, Sinding was considered to be Grieg's "heir" as Norway's national composer.  Very well-respected in his lifetime, Sinding was sought out by the newly-established Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY to join its composition faculty (though only after Jean Sibelius refused the offer).  Sinding only spent one year in the United States, and composed but a few songs and piano pieces while in the New World.

Signe Lund (aka Signe Lund-Skabo) was also a prominent composer in her day.  She created many musical compositions of note, but her strong opinions on the world around her often landed her in trouble, both in the US and Norway. She lost her teaching position at the Mayville State School (Mayville, ND) after publicly supporting the anti-war socialist activist Kate O'Hare, and, shortly thereafter, returned to Norway after almost 2 decades in the US.

A primary focus of Steven Luksan's research is the Norwegian-American composer Gerard Tonning.  Tonning was born in Stavanger and subsequently lived in Duluth, Seattle, and New York City.  He composed the Norwegian-language opera Leif Erikson in Seattle in 1910.  Steven Luksan and Laura Loge will revive this opera for Leif Erikson day in 2025, and arias from the opera are featured on all Musical Migration programs.

The pioneering composer and musician Theodora Cormontan, whose music speaks to her deep faith and perserverance in life.  Coromontan lived a life full of tragedy and eventually settled in the Midwest of the US.  Her story and her music are featured on our Musical Migration Programs.

The life and works of Bjarne Rolseth is one of Steven Luksan's principal research areas, and his music is featured on our Musical Migration programs.  Immigrating to the United States in the 1910s and working as a church organist and piano teacher, Rolseth's music reflects the unique challenges that immigrants faced when trying to make a living as gigging-musicians.  Rolseth's musical style changed as a result of his immigration.  Original writing in an academic, German-Romantic style, his music became simpler and influenced by tin-pan alley during his years in the US.

To read Steven's research paper on Roselth, click HERE

Alf Hurum was one of the leading Impressionist composers in Norway during the first decades of the 20th Century.  He studied in Berlin and St. Petersburg (escaping Russia just before the 1917 revolution), and blended various influences of German Romanticism, French Impressionism, Russian Orthodox music, and Norwegian nationalism together in his music to create beautifully-original works. 

In 1924, Hurum left Norway for Honolulu (where his wife was from). He briefly served as director of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, but once he settled in Hawaii, he shifted his artistic focus to painting, creating visual art influenced by traditions from Japan and China.