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	Syttende Mai: String Music from Norway With special guest artist Karen Solgård Norwegian Hardanger fiddler
	This concert was placed at the conclusion of Syttende Mai events at Mindekirke (the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church in south Minneapolis). But first there was a festival church service (with its own prelude concert of local Norwegian male choruses), the annual parade that meanders through the neighborhood, an outdoor picnic replete with folk dance groups and Norwegian folk art demonstrations, all of which was preceded by the annual Syttende Mai banquet the evening beforehand. Members of the Twin Cities Hardingfelelag led a procession of revelers from the outdoor picnic back into the church sanctuary for our concert, which was festooned with small Norwegian flags on each pew. Many audience members sported Norwegian (national costumes), which added to the feeling of festivity. The audience was relatively sedate (like one might expect of Norwegians), but once Karen played a meaningful tune or the orchestra played something beloved by Edvard Grieg or Ole Bull, wave upon wave of emotion flowed from the pews up to the stage. During intermission and after the concert people gathered to share personal stories of their Norwegian history or heritage, while others came up to express interest in having the orchestra perform this concert again, across the state of Minnesota. Of the three cultures we visited with our concerts this first season, the Norwegian culture is by far the most thoroughly inculcated into the Minnesota landscape. However our audience’s extraordinary response demonstrated to me that even the most seemingly familiar cultures are not truly and deeply known by people who are even just 1-2 generations past the exodus from the homeland. Furthermore, true, compelling connections to home are rare and precious to those more closely connected in time to the original exodus.