Listen to excerpts from Norwegian American Music

• Late Night Square Dans mp3
• Norsk Spring Dans mp3

The Berntsons
Norwegian American Music
ACCD-0703

One Norwegian American family, three generations of musicians, over one hundred years of traditional Scandinavian Music making. The Berntsons are joined by GRAMMY® - nominees Loretta Kelley and Andrea Hoag.

This recording features the same traditional song repertoire which has been played now by three generations of Berntson family musicians. Similarly, the same exact instruments are used....the 1916 Beckwith family pump organ, the 1920's B & D tenor banjo, and the late 1930's L5 style guitar are all played on this CD. The very violin which Bennie Berntson first learned to play as a young boy in 1900 can be heard on "Bennie's Waltz." And, just as in the old days, in addition to the mix of older and younger generations of Berntson family musicians, there are new friends and neighbors who have dropped in to play....in this case, violinists Loretta Kelley and Andrea Hoag. The Berntsons are alive and well and heading into their second century of music making.

Eleanore Berntson Lundeberg has at the time of this recording been playing this same repertoire on the same 1916 Beckwith pump organ for seventy two years. She has transcribed scores of the old Scandinavian folk tunes which she learned from her father, preserving this rich trove of music for future generations.

Karl Fredrik Berntson Lundeberg is a CBS/Sony recording artist, a piano player and an award winning composer who owes any musical success he has had in the world to the early experiences of learning and playing guitar with the Berntson family as a young boy.

Andrea Hoag has studied with Pakkos Gustaf and Nils Agenmark and is a graduate of Malungs Folkhogskola (Sweden). She is known across the U.S. for her playing in American as well as Scandinavian folk fiddle styles. Andrea and Loretta are 2007 GRAMMY nominees for Best Traditional World Music Album. They have been heard on NPR's All Things Considered and Performance Today.

Loretta Kelley is America's foremost player of the Norwegian hardingfele (Hardanger violin). In Norway, she has performed on the Norwegian State Radio and consistently places high in Norwegian fiddling contests. She regularly tours the US, Canada, and Norway.