Sunday, September 25, Bjorling Recital Hall, 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.
Union church members Bonnie and Michael Jorgensen are proud to share this second presentation on the Norwegian-American composer Theodora Cormontan (1840-1922). Theodora emigrated from her native Norway to southern Minnesota in 1887 and spent the next 30 years of her life here, until she moved to the Aase Haugen Home in Decorah, Iowa in 1917.
Since rediscovering over 150 of her handwritten manuscript compositions in 2011 (in addition to a number of her published works), the Jorgensens have researched and rehearsed in order to share a composer’s story and artistic expression. Bonne portrays Theodora (an accomplished pianist). Michael tells Theodora’s story and sings.
Our second presentation features music by Theodora Cormontan that we typically did not perform in our first program. This time we also share information and music from composers we believe were a major influence on her work, including Edvard Grieg. We also provide highlights from our Cormontan music tour to Norway in the summer of 2015, when we donated her original music scores to the National Library of Norway and performed there, along with new information we learned about Theodora during our travels. We will be joined by several performers who participated in the Norway tour, including singers John and Katha Chamberlain, Barb and Roger Nelson, and violinist Professor Adrian Lo.
