Swedish Beginner 2
2023-02-20 19:20 - 21:00, 2023-02-27 19:20 - 21:00, 2023-03-06 19:20 - 21:00, 2023-03-13 19:20 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | NY
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this winter at Scandinavia House! In this course for those who are still new to Swedish but have a basic knowledge of sentence structure, greetings, times and numbers, and basic vocabulary, students will learn sentence structure in sentences with more than one verb, placement of adverbs, plural endings, conjugation of adjectives, objective and possessive pronnounncs, and the past tense. Various cultural aspects will also be highlighted during the course. This class will take place as hybrid learning, with classes offered at Scandinavia House and online via Zoom.
At the end of the semester students will know:

How to structure sentences with more than one verb
The conjugation of adjectives
The past tense

Students will be able to:

Talk about their families and things they’ve done or do, as well as make future plans and purchase items.

Prerequisite: Beginner Swedish 1 level or equivalent. Instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total class time over 9 weeks.
**There will be no class on February 20 & February 27 (winter recess).**

Swedish Beginner 1 - Winter
2023-02-21 18:10 - 19:10, 2023-02-23 20:00 - 21:00, 2023-02-28 18:10 - 19:10, 2023-03-02 20:00 - 21:00, 2023-03-07 18:10 - 19:10, 2023-03-09 20:00 - 21:00, 2023-03-14 18:10 - 19:10
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this winter at Scandinavia House! In this course held both in-person and as remote learning for those completely new to Swedish, students will learn the very basics of Swedish structure and pronunciation while also discussing cultural aspects of Swedish life. This class will take place as hybrid learning, with Tuesday sessions online only (via Zoom) and Thursday sessions both online and in-person at Scandinavia House.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

Structuring statements and questions
Greeting people
Numbers and how to tell time

Students will be able to:

Talk about themselves and how they spend their days.

No prerequisites required. Instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total class time over 8 weeks.
**There will be no classes from Thursday, February 16 through Tuesday, February 28 (winter recess); classes will resume on Thursday, March 2.**

EVIL FLOWERS
2023-02-21 19:00 - 20:30
This February, join us for a book talk with award-winning Norwegian writer Gunnhild Øyehaug on her new book Evil Flowers. With moderator Catherine Lacey, she’ll discuss her collection of playfully surreal stories about love, death, and metamorphosis.
In Evil Flowers, a precise but madcap collection of short stories, Gunnhild Øyehaug extracts the bizarre from the mundane and reveals the strange, startling brilliance of everyday life. A section of a woman’s brain slips into the toilet bowl, removing her ability to remember or recognize types of birds — though she is an ornithologist. Medicinal leeches ingest information from fiberoptic cables, and a new museum sinks into the ground. Across 25 stories, Øyehaug renovates the form again and again, confirming Lydia Davis’s observation that her every story is “a formal surprise, smart and droll.”
Inspired by Charles Baudelaire, a dreamer and romantic in the era of realism, Øyehaug revolts against the ordinary, reaching instead for the wonder to be found in fantasy and absurdity. Brimming with wit, ingenuity, and irrepressible joy, these stories mark another triumph from a dazzling international writer.
This event will take place in-person at Scandinavia House. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above.
About the Author
Gunnhild Øyehaug is an award-winning Norwegian poet, essayist, and fiction writer. Her story collection Knots was published by FSG in 2017, followed in 2018 by Wait, Blink, which was adapted into the acclaimed film Women in Oversized Men’s Shirts. Her novel Present Tense Machine was published in 2022. Øyehaug lives in Bergen, where she teaches creative writing.
About the Moderator
Catherine Lacey is the author of the forthcoming novel Biography of X, as well as the novels Nobody Is Ever Missing, The Answers, and Pew, and the short story collection Certain American States. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award, and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship. She has been a finalist for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and was named one of Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Believer, and elsewhere.

Swedish Advanced Beginner 2
2023-02-21 19:20 - 21:00, 2023-02-28 19:20 - 21:00, 2023-03-07 19:20 - 21:00, 2023-03-14 19:20 - 21:00
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this winter at Scandinavia House! In this course offered remotely via Zoom by Scandinavia House, students will now be ready to work more in depth with structure in various sub-clauses. They will learn how to use the reflexive possessive pronoun and more specific ways to express future tense while slightly more fact-based texts are introduced. The course also includes cultural elements in regards to social and family life, as well as education that will be discussed.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

Indirect speech
Reflexive possessive pronouns
The future tense

Students will be able to:

Talk about their education and future plans, and retell stories shared with them.

Prerequisite: Swedish Advanced Beginner 1 or equivalent. Instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total class time over 9 weeks.
**There will be no classes on February 21 or February 28 (winter recess).**

Swedish Intermediate 3
2023-02-22 18:30 - 20:10, 2023-03-01 18:30 - 20:10, 2023-03-08 18:30 - 20:10, 2023-03-15 18:30 - 20:10
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this winter at Scandinavia House! In this course based on conversation and grammar, students will now deal with finesse and formal language. Instead of expanding our writing, we will focus on condensing. Discussions will span traditions, Vikings and lore, unwritten societal norms, leadership, work and family structures as well as poetry. This class will take place online only via Zoom.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

How adjectives and participles can function as nouns
Sub-class without som or har/hade, and structure with unstressed objective pronouns
Idiomatic expressions and the use of her or all

Students will be able to:

Discuss poetry and literary writings, various family structures through history and how to conduct work applications and interviews in Sweden.

Prerequisite: Swedish Intermediate 2 or equivalent. Instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total over 9 weeks.
**There will be no class on February 15 or February 22 (winter recess).**

So Damn Easy Going
2023-02-22 19:00 - 21:00
This February, see the Swedish dramedy So Damn Easy Going / Så Jävla Easy Going (dir. Christoffer Sandler, Sweden, 2022). On the verge of adulthood, 18-year-old Joanna’s mind is like an amusement park at peak season — only her ADHD meds help to keep her buzzing mind in check. But with a depressed father whose sick pay barely covers the rent, money is tight, leaving Joanna to scramble for creative ways to afford her medication. In the midst of all this chaos, the charming and confident Audrey appears, and soon Joanna has both a bursting mind and an exploding heart to deal with. Can she manage both without becoming an unfiltered version of herself? Based on the critically acclaimed young-adult novel by Swedish author Jenny Jägerfeld, So Damn Easy Going captures the cacophony of light and sound of ADHD in a funny, sweet coming-of-age drama about love and daring to be yourself.
“Perfectly capturing the charm and chaos of first love, So Damn Easy Going is a captivating adaptation”—QueerScreen

About the Director
Christoffer Sandler (born 1986) has worked in film and television since 2010. In 2018 he wrote and directed the comedy series “Sjukt Oklar (Ellen & Vera)” for the national Swedish public broadcaster, SVT. The series was very successful within its target group 13-18 years old, with half a million views. So Damn Easy Going is Christoffer’s feature debut.

Swedish Advanced Beginner 1
2023-02-23 18:50 - 19:50, 2023-03-02 18:50 - 19:50, 2023-03-09 18:50 - 19:50
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this winter at Scandinavia House! In this course held in-person at Scandinavia House and offered remotely via Zoom, students will continue to perfect their previous learned skills and pronunciation, while also expanding into more complex sentence structure. Furthermore, the students will be asked to express their opinions or beliefs in simple discussions related to Swedish life within the themes studied. The students will be required to read a literary book over the course of the semester.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

How to connect main and sub-clauses
Adverbs denoting position or destination
The concept of depiction

Students will be able to:

Talk about people, computers, food and things done and wished for in the past.

Prerequisite: Swedish Beginner 3 level or equivalent. Instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $499 ($449.10 ASF Members); 15 hours total class time over 8 weeks.
**There will be no classes from Thursday, February 16 through Monday, February 27 (winter recess); classes will resume on Thursday, March 2.**

Music on Park Avenue with Per Tengstrand & Opus—The Grieg Concerto
2023-02-23 19:30 - 21:00
Music on Park Avenue returns this fall! The series presented by Scandinavia House and Per Tengstrand welcomes audiences back to Victor Borge Hall beginning in October for another season of its popular performances. Held monthly on Thursday evenings, concerts will begin at 7:30 preceded by conversation by Tengstrand about the pieces and composer.
In tonight’s performance with Tengstrand accompanied by strings from Opus at Princeton University, hear the crown jewel in Scandinavian classical music: Edvard Grieg’s beautiful piano concerto.
Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above; concerts will take place in Victor Borge Hall. Music on Park Avenue will continue with performances on March 23 and April 20, 2023.
The Music on Park Avenue concert series is supported in part by a generous grant from The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and in part by the Lynn Carter Fund of the ASF.
Thanks to a generous loan by Victor Borge’s grandson Finn, concerts will be performed on Victor Borge’s personal Steinway piano.
Schedule & Ticketing
SCHEDULE
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Beethoven’s Waldstein & Appassionata
Join us for the first concert of three in the fall celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven following the 250th anniversary of his birth in 2020. Tonight’s performance includes two iconic sonatas — both popular but also so different.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Tengstrand & Opus: Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto
Hear what is perhaps the most beautiful and original of Beethoven’s piano concertos, with Per Tengstrand joined by musicians from Opus at Princeton University.
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Premiere of Beethoven and the Freedom of the Will documentary
Film & Concert with Per Tengstrand and Hana Mundiya, violin
See the World Premiere of Tengstrand’s documentary about the power of Beethoven’s music: during his days, through historic events as well as its importance today; followed by a performance with violinist Hana Mundiya, who is featured in the film.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
The romantic piano: Chopin, Liszt and Schubert
Per Tengstrand starts off the new year with the music of three romantic composers: the lyrical Chopin, the virtuoso Liszt and the intimate Schubert.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Tengstrand & Opus: The Grieg Concerto
A crown jewel in Scandinavian classical music, Edvard Grieg’s beautiful piano concerto, with Per Tengstrand and strings from Opus at Princeton University.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Masterpieces for Cello and Piano: Per Tengstrand and Robin Park
The artistic director of Opus, cellist Robin Park, will join Per Tengstrand on stage to play some of the great works written for cello and piano by Beethoven and Rachmaninov, both famed and less known discoveries.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Tengstrand & Opus: The Tchaikovsky Concerto
One of the most famous works of music in history will end the season in a fascinating and dynamic arrangement for piano and string quartet.
PASSES
SERIES PASS
$120/$96 ASF for members
A ticket to all seven performances in the series.
About Per Tengstrand
Per Tengstrand has firmly established himself as one of today’s most exciting pianists. He has been described by The Washington Post as “technically resplendent, powerful, intuitively secure,” and by The New York Times as “a superb Swedish pianist” whose recital “was rewarding, both for its unusual programming and for his eloquent, technically polished performances.”Tengstrand is the subject of the acclaimed Swedish documentary The Soloist, directed by Magnus Gertten and Stefan Berg (Sweden, 2003), which was featured at the International Festival of Cinema and Technology in New York.
In 2005 he was decorated by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden with the “Litteris et Artibus” Medal for outstanding service to the arts. During the pandemic, Per started making music documentaries which were viewed and appreciated by people all over the world. As this line of work will continue, the documentary Beethoven and the Freedom of the Will is planned to have its world premiere at Scandinavia House in 2022.

Comedy Queen
2023-03-01 19:00 - 21:00
“A tender journey into the process of grief and how to manage it – more specifically, if you’re a gutsy young gamine, harshly and unfairly interrupted in the middle of your childhood” — see the critically acclaimed Swedish dramedy Comedy Queen (dir. Sanna Lenken, Sweden, 2022) at Scandinavia House! Sasha doesn’t want to cry — and she’s deeply angry at her mother for taking her own life. To escape a similar fate, the 13-year-old compiles a survival list. First up: cut off her long hair. Second: don’t read any more books. Third: never take care of something that’s alive. And fourth: become a stand-up comedian to make her papa laugh again. As she sets off on her checklist — some of which prove more challenging than others — Sasha can count on support from her friends and family, even when they don’t fully understand her. Based on the acclaimed novel by Jenny Jägerfeld and winner of awards including the Crystal Bear at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, Comedy Queen sensitively depicts an emotional journey of grief and anger transformed by humor.
“Treading the fine line between the gutsy and the brittle, Sanna Lenken’s return shines a ray of joy on the harsh process of grief management” (Cineuropa)

About the Director
Sanna Lenken was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1978. She studied at the Dramatiska Institutet in Stockholm and the European Film College in Denmark. After making several successful short films, including Eating Lunch, and the series Double Life, she directed My Skinny Sister, her debut feature which won the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale and the Audience Award at the Göteborg Film Festival. A Berlinale Talents alumna, her most recent works are the popular series Thin Blue Line for Swedish television and the Viaplay series Thunder in My Heart.

Billedvev
2023-03-05 13:00 - 17:00
Learn the basics of weaving through the use of humble materials and step-by-step instruction. A common picture frame, with glass and backing removed, becomes the ultimate structure with which to create upon. Learn how to wind it with cotton thread to create your warp, and build up your piece weft by weft with a variety of yarns. Discover how color blocking, thread patterns, and textured effects can yield endless possibilities!
Supplies:
– 8×10 picture frame for your loom
– Yarn in multiple colors
– Cotton Crochet Thread
– Tapestry needle (2)
– Scissors
– Tape
In this class, visual artist Allyce Wood will demonstrate the principles of a loom, the terms of weaving, and how to utilize color. We will discuss concepts of tension and thread patterns, elements that contribute to a polished, lasting artwork. Wood will demonstrate techniques learned in her time living in Norway, offering guidance as you create your own piece. Bring your creative spirit and unique perspective — together we will use a variety of techniques to create one-of-a-kind designs.
About Allyce Wood
Allyce Wood (she/her) is a visual artist living and working in Seattle. Through the use of digital and handmade processes, Wood makes installations, works on paper, and textiles with a focus on digital Jacquard tapestries. To her, the loom acts as a mediator between traditional and computerized technologies offering a way to combine online and offline experiences.
Wood lived and worked in Norway from 2015 – 2019, where she received her MFA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2018). She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows in the Pacific Northwest, Glasgow, Milan, Caracas, and Oslo.
Her work has been featured in Crosscut, New American Painting, The Stranger and reviewed by Kunstkritikk, Subject, and Dagsavisen. Wood is the gracious recipient of the Art Projects: Individuals program (4Culture), the GAP Grant (Artist Trust), the Diversestipend For Nyutdannede Kunstnere (Arts Council Norway, 2018) and the 1-årig kunstnerstipend from Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, (Oslo, 2020).

W. A Novel by Steve Sem-Sandberg
2023-03-07 18:00 - 20:00
Read and discuss Scandinavian literature in translation as part of our Nordic Book Club, now online! Each month we select a novel from some of the best Nordic literary voices. On March 7, we’ll be discussing W. A Novel by Steve Sem-Sandberg, who discussed the novel with us last September in a virtual book talk streaming here.
Considered the first modern drama and based on true events, Georg Büchner’s play Woyzeck tells the story of a loyal soldier and survivor of the Napoleonic Wars who, in a fit of jealous rage, kills the woman he loves. In this literary reimagining of the text, Sem-Sandberg’s W grippingly recounts the lovers’ relationship, the murder case, and the execution, unfolding as the soldier W. struggles to recount the events of his life.
Bringing new light to this story from court documents from the original case, Sem-Sandberg masterfully sustains a rich period atmosphere though poetic and controlled prose even down to the choice of pronouns, as the soldier is held at a cold distance in court proceedings when addressed with the formal, capitalized “You.”
Against a landscape devastated by inhumanity and greed and, yet, which manages to sustain hope, W. tells a ruthless, moving, and utterly relevant story of a soldier fighting to make something of the life given to him.
About the Author
Steve Sem-Sandberg’s novels include The Emperor of Lies, winner of the August Prize; The Chosen Ones, winner of France’s Prix Médicis étranger; and W., which was awarded the Eyvind Johnson Prize. His books have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into 30 languages. In 2020, he was elected to the Swedish Academy, the body that chooses the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age
2023-03-07 19:00 - 20:00
Join best-selling author Reid Mitenbuler to learn about Danish Arctic explorer, resistance fighter, and environmentalist Peter Freuchen in a book discussion of Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age, out February 21 from Mariner Books!
Deep in the Arctic wilderness, Peter Freuchen awoke to find himself buried alive under the snow. During a sudden blizzard the night before, he had taken shelter underneath his dogsled and become trapped there while he slept. Now, as feeling drained from his body, he managed to claw a hole through the ice only to find himself in even greater danger: his beard, wet with condensation from his struggling breath, had frozen to his sled runners and lashed his head in place, exposing it to icy winds that needed only a few minutes to kill him… But if Freuchen could escape that, he could escape anything. And now his story is finally being told.
Meticulously researched and grippingly written, Reid Mitenbuler’s vivid portrait of the “Most Interesting Man in the World” chronicles how the wildly eccentric Dane’s insatiable curiosity drove him from the twilight years of Arctic exploration to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and from the burgeoning field of climate research to the Danish underground during World War II. In today’s program, Mitenbuler will discuss Freuchen’s jaw-dropping expeditions, survival of a Nazi prison camp, and recovery from a devastating injury, as well as the explorer’s restlessness and ideals, which were remarkably ahead of his time — championing Indigenous communities, environmental stewardship, and conversations that continue today.
This event will take place in-person at Scandinavia House. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above.
“This adventure story is impossible to resist” (Publishers Weekly).
About the Author
Reid Mitenbuler is the author of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey and Wild Minds: The Artists and Rivalries That Inspired the Golden Age of Animation. His writing has appeared in Air Mail, The Atlantic, Slate, The Daily Beast, and Whisky Advocate, among other publications. He lives with his family in Los Angeles.

Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel—Immortal Impromptus
2023-03-09 19:30 - 21:00
Internationally acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Siegel returns for his ever-popular Keyboard Conversations® series at Scandinavia House. Each evening comprises an informal commentary on the music and its composers, a full performance of each work, and a short Q & A session. The accessible format enables audiences to build an understanding of classical music whether newcomer or seasoned listener.
A concert to immortalize the great composers with enchanting, improvisation-like masterpieces by Schubert, Sibelius, and Chopin.
Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above. All attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks in Victor Borge Hall and observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here. ASF is committed to providing an environment free from harassment or discrimination in the treatment of individuals and does not permit harassment or discrimination in any forms (whether racial, sexual, religious, orientation or others) within our building. Any visitors who do not abide by these policies will be required to leave. Read our our Non-Discrimination Policy here.
Tickets must be purchased in advance online at the link above.
About Jeffrey Siegel
A renowned pianist and a Steinway artist, Jeffrey Siegel has enjoyed an illustrious career. Born into a musical family, Siegel studied with Rudolf Ganz in his native Chicago, with the legendary Rosina Lhévinne at The Juilliard School and, as a Fulbright Scholar, with Ilona Kabos in London.
He has performed with some of the finest orchestras in the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Moscow State Symphony, the Oslo and Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestras, and NHK Symphony of Japan, among others. In the U.S., his engagements have included solo performances with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Siegel has also collaborated with many of pre-eminent conductors: Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Järvi, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, and David Zinman, as well as legendary maestros of the past, including Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Eugene Ormandy, Sir George Solti, William Steinberg, Klaus Tennstedt, and Yevgeny Svetlanov.
Siegel has also recorded The Power and Passion of Beethoven (Random House Audio, 2006); The Romanticism of the Russian Soul (Random House Audio, 2006); The Romance of the Piano (Random House Audio, 2006); An American Salute (Random House Audio, 2007); Music for the Young – and the Young at Heart (WFMT Radio, Chicago, 2008); and American Pianistic Treasures (WEDU, Tampa), to name a few.
The ongoing Keyboard Conversations® series flourishes in major cities throughout the United States, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Dallas, Denver, and Washington, D.C. Some of these venues have presented Keyboard Conversations® for more than 30 years – testimony to Siegel’s artistry, innovative format, and loyal fans.
