Anna C. Rue (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
The Nordic Folklife Project (UW-Madison), welcomed its first Musician-in-Residence in the spring of 2022. Iowa-based fiddler Beth Hoven Rotto worked with archived collections of Norwegian American old-time music and established a local ensemble to perform tunes from these collections. The ensemble has continued in the aftermath of the residency, with some support from the Nordic Folklife project. In this presentation I will describe the ways our project has taken an active role in revitalization efforts in Norwegian American old-time music and the strides that have been made, while also considering some potential effects of privileging this traditional music over others.
Part of 01-06 Navigating Revitalization and Heritage Work in Nordic American Music and Dance Communities, Thursday, November 02, 8:30 am–10:00 am