Scandinavia House

The Men in Denmark's Freedom Council
2022-09-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | NY
Join us for a book talk with C. Flemming Heilmann on his translation of Halfdan Lefevre’s The Men in Denmark’s Freedom Council, out now from Telemachus Press! Heilmann will discuss the seminal work first published in Danish in 1945, and his work in translating it for a broader audience.
The Men in Denmark’s Freedom Council is a story of Denmark’s resistance leaders, their underground movement during Nazi occupation and how they coordinated the nation’s freedom fighters to mount military confrontation of the enemy. Their 11-member Freedom Council went on to form a government-in-waiting in anticipation of liberation, to run the country pending restoration of democratic elections. Each member’s family background and career are vividly depicted. Halfdan Lefevre had from the start of World War II, documented the genesis and evolution of the resistance movement and its struggle against Nazi occupation since April 1940. He was the recording scribe for the underground Freedom Council and author of illegal leaflets and news communiques distributed by the resistance. His scholarly account offers details of the German invasion, the government’s quick surrender, and then the emergence of the resistance movement, which led to the establishment of the crucial Freedom Council.
The German invasion came as a shock to the Danes, as they had a non-aggression pact with Germany and just wanted to live in peace. Denmark’s government was replaced by a multiple-party national government which chose to comply with most Nazi demands, so as to survive and minimize the loss of blood and treasure suffered by other countries over-run by the German war machine. This policy was initially accepted by many Danes, but far from all. The narrative relates how resistance cells were spawned across the country. However, they lacked coordination and cohesion which limited their impact and caused overlap and waste. It was the handful of leaders of a group that was to become the Freedom Council, who then initiated coordination and cohesion. In the months after the occupation an embryonic sense of national unity soon emerged, bringing together all classes and political parties. Denmark coalesced as an evolving freemasonry. People cheered their king; gathered in communal singing of national songs, appreciating anew the patriotic lyrics; they took every opportunity to proclaim their Danishness. Shame over the puny military resistance to the invasion prompted the raising of monuments to those who fell during the limited confrontation. Behind broad national solidarity, a rejection of the government’s compromising policies emerged.
This program will take place in-person at Scandinavia House; RSVP required.
About the Author
Christian Flemming Heilmann was born in Malaysia to Danish parents and studied at Cambridge University, where he graduated with degrees in Economics and Law. He has since held executive and CEO positions in the manufacturing sector focused on the consumer goods packaging industry, mainly public companies listed on Johannesburg, Toronto and New York stock exchanges, and has most recently been associated with investment in and management of buy-outs of distressed businesses, with multiple directorships in public and private companies in South Africa, Western Europe, Canada and the USA.
In 2017 he published Odyssey Uncharted, a memoir of World War II childhood and education on four continents, set in mid-20th century history, and in 2019 published his second book, The Unacceptable Face, charting a career on three continents under apartheid, extreme socialism and disparate iterations of capitalism. His translation of Halfdan Lefevre’s The Men in Denmark’s Freedom Council, a 1945 history of the Danish resistance movement under Nazi occupation during WWII, was published in February 2022 by Telemachus Press.

Norwegian II—Hybrid Language Classes
2022-09-27 18:30 - 20:30
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In course building on Norwegian I (or equivalent), continue to expand your vocabulary and master grammatical structures, while enhancing your conversational abilities, and deepening your cultural knowledge of all things Norwegian.
You will get to practice conversations in class which will put your grammatical structures to the test, all the while building on your listening, and speaking skills. A greater focus will be given to pronunciation, Norwegian structure, tone, and flow. There will also be weekly at-home assignments focusing on reading, writing, and grammar. By the course’s end, you should be able to conduct simple conversations in Norwegian.
Ideal for:

Those with basic knowledge of, or previous instruction in, Norwegian
Those who wish to strengthen their Norwegian language skills

You will develop:

Greater proficiency in Norwegian
Improved conversational and grammatical skills, as well as improved pronunciation in Norwegian

This hybrid class will be held both in-person and via Zoom; in-person attendance for the first four classes is highly recommended.
Prerequisite: Norwegian I or equivalent; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Marie-Therese Bjornerud. Tuition is $675 ($607.50 ASF Members); 20 hours total class time.
*There will be no class on Tuesday, October 4.
Required & Recommended Material
Required:
Textbook: PA VEI TEKSTBOK, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202340940
Workbook: PA VEI ARBEIDSBOK, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202343163
Highly Recommended:
Word List: PA VEI Norsk-Engelsk Ordliste, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202372255
CD-set: PA VEI ELEV-CD til tekstbok, ELLINGSEN, 2012 – ISBN: 9788202371869
Also Recommended:
Online exercises (both oral and written) following the textbook
Notebooks for vocabulary as well as notes
Duolingo (Android, Apple) and other language apps to expand vocabulary and support the learning process

Advanced Beginner Swedish 1
2022-09-27 18:30 - 20:10, 2022-09-20 18:30 - 20:10, 2022-09-13 18:30 - 20:10
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In this course held as remote learning, 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. This course will take place remotely via Zoom; 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.
**There will be no class on October 4 (Yom Kippur) or November 8 (Election Day)**

The Nordic Council Literature Prize Nominees: Denmark & Greenland
2022-09-27 13:00 - 14:00
This fall, join us for a virtual literary series with the nominees of this year’s Nordic Council Literature Prize! Awarded since 1962 alongside other prizes from the Nordic Council in music, film, and environment, the Literature Prize is selected annually for a work of fiction (poetry, prose, or drama) written in one of the Nordic languages, Created to generated greater interest in the sense of Nordic cultural community and to recognize unique artistic endeavors, each year’s prize is selected by the Nordic Adjudication Committee, made up of two members from each of the Nordic nations.
Danish author Solvej Balle has this year been nominated for her large-scale prose work Om udregning af rumfang (On the Calculation of Volume, not translated into English), the third of a seven-volume planned series about her protagonist Tara Selter’s dislocation from time, in which she no longer experiences the changes of weeks, months, or seasons.
Also nominated from Denmark, Rakel Haslund-Gjerrild’s Adam i paradis (Adam in Paradise, not translated into English) is a deeply insightful portrait of the painter Kristian Zahrtmann (1843-1917). And this year’s nominee from Greeland, Jessie Kleemann’s poetry collection Arkhticós Dolorôs (2021) explores abuse of nature by modern humanity, the loss of indigenous culture, and the struggle for a descendant of the Greenlandic Inuit to find a new identity in a modern, globalized present. In this panel discussion, the nominees will discuss their work with Tore Leifer (anchor, Kulturen) as moderator.
This event will take place as a Zoom webinar; please ask questions in the chat or send them in advance to info@amscan.org. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above. This conversation will be recorded and available later to stream on our Virtual Programming page and on our YouTube channel.
About the Speakers
Solvej Balle (b. 1962) made her debut in 1986 with Lyrefugl (Lyre Bird), and went on to write one of the 1990s’ most acclaimed works of Danish literature, Ifølge loven (According to the Law: Four Accounts of Mankind, 1996). She published a book on art theory, Det umuliges kunst (The Art of the Impossible, not translated into English) in 2005, a political memoir Frydendal og andre gidsler (Frydendal and other hostages, not translated into English) in 2008, and two books of short prose Hvis (If, not translated into English) and Så (Then, not translated into English), published simultaneously in 2013. Om udregning af rumfang is Solvej Balle’s major comeback, not just to Danish or Nordic fiction, but to European fiction in general.
Rakel Haslund-Gjerrild (b. 1988) is an award-winning Danish author whose oeuvre consists of short stories, philosophical cli-fi and most recently a historical novel, Adam in Paradise, a novel about art and homosexuality in the early 20th century.
Jessie Kleemann (b. 1959) was born in Upernavik, North Greenland, and is a trained actor and graphic designer. Kleemann is one of Greenland’s most significant and experimental writers, with poems included in many anthologies, and she has represented Greenland at many poetry festivals abroad. Filmmakers have used her poems as the basis for films: Arctic Ache (2014), directed by Diego Barraza, and Killerbird (2015), directed by Ivalo Frank. Outside Greenland, she is best known as a performance artist, in which the artist invests her body to explore the themes that the poems investigate in rhythm and words. Kleemann published her first poetry collection in Greenlandic, Danish and English in 1997, Taallat – Digte – Poems.
About the Moderator
Tore Leifer is a radio presenter, anchor of the daily show Kulturen at the national Danish Broadcasting Corporation. Among other degrees, he holds an MA in musicology, film and media studies and is the author of ten books in various fields. He is a knight of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Beginner Swedish 2 & 3
2022-09-26 18:00 - 19:10, 2022-09-22 18:00 - 19:10, 2022-09-19 18:00 - 19:10, 2022-09-15 18:00 - 19:10, 2022-09-12 18:00 - 19:10
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall both remotely and in-house at Scandinavia House! In this combined course of two levels, students who already have some exposure to Swedish via apps or other means will continue to develop their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills within a cultural context.
At the end of the semester students will know:

Objective, possessive and some indefinite pronouns
Adjective conjugations and comparatives
Past and present perfect tense

Students will be able to:

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

Prerequisite: Swedish Beginner 1 course or equivalent. This course will take place in a hybrid format offered in-person at Scandinavia House and via Zoom; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition is $695 ($625.50 ASF Members); 21 hours total class time.
**There will be no class on October 10 (Columbus Day), October 31 (Halloween), or November 3.**

Beginner Swedish 1
2022-09-23 19:20 - 21:00, 2022-09-16 19:20 - 21:00, 2022-09-09 19:20 - 21:00
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall 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.
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. This course will take place in a hybrid format offered in-person at Scandinavia House and via Zoom; 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.
**There will be no class on October 10 (Columbus Day) or October 31 (Halloween)**

Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel
2022-09-22 19:30 - 21:30
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.
Jeffrey Siegel’s opening night is dedicated to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and the Sonata Opus 110, written after deafness engulfed the talented composer.
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.

Oh, To Be A Butterfly
2022-09-21 19:00 - 21:00
On September 21, see the moving heartwarming new Danish drama Oh, To Be a Butterfly /Lille sommerfugl (dir. Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, Denmark, 2020) at Scandinavia House!
Stubborn pig farmer Ernst (Jesper Christensen) and his wife Louise (Karen-Lise Mynster) are celebrating their golden anniversary with a festive party at the local assembly hall, inviting friends and family to an evening of pop hits and lots of dancing.
But the family hides several secrets — and Ernst holds the biggest one.
Over the course of a long, surprising, and wistful evening filled with laughter, songs, and speeches, the truths will gradually come forth, putting them all to a serious test.
Special thanks to the Danish Film Institute.
Protocols
This screening will take place in Victor Borge Hall; attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks during the program 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.

Intermediate Swedish 3
2022-09-21 18:30 - 20:15, 2022-09-14 18:30 - 20:15
Learn the Nordic languages in classes offered this fall at Scandinavia House! In this course based on conversation and grammar held as remote learning, 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.
At the end of the semester, students will know:

Transitive and intratransitive verbs
Emphatic rewriting
Clause abbreviation

Students will be able to:

Discuss poetry and literary writings and have an understanding about Swedish norms in society and at work.

Prerequisite: Swedish Intermediate 2 or equivalent. This course will take place remotely via Zoom; instructions for remote learning will be emailed upon registration. For questions about language levels, please contact Malin Tybahl. Tuition $695 ($625.50 ASF Members); 21 hours total class time.
**There will be no class on November 2 or November 23 (Thanksgiving)**

W.: A Novel — Virtual Book Talk
2022-09-21 14:30 - 15:30
On September 21, August Prize-winning Swedish novelist Steve Sem-Sandberg & translator Saskia Vogel join us for a virtual discussion on W. A Novel, out on June 28 from The Overlook Press! They’ll discuss the writing and translation of this new literary literary reimagining of one of modern literature’s touchstone texts — the play Woyzeck— hailed as a “sharp and hypersensitive novel about abandonment and violence…a fantastic, spellbinding, and terrifying book” (Dagens Nyheter).

Considered the first modern drama and based on true events, 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, written in 1836 by Georg Büchner and unfinished at his death at just 23 years old. 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. He grasps at understanding and experiences feelings of time and timelessness; he finds patterns and repetitions, but these are of no interest to those determining his fate.

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.This event will take place as a Zoom webinar; please ask questions in the chat or send them in advance to info@amscan.org. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above. This conversation will be recorded and available later to stream on our Virtual Programming page and on our YouTube channel.

The Viking Heart — Virtual Book Talk
2022-09-20 19:00 - 20:00
This September, join us for a new virtual book talk on The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World with Arthur Herman! Now out in paperback from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York Times historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist Arthur Herman’s epic story of this remarkable and truly diverse people was acclaimed on its 2021 release as “a fresh and wholly engaging reassessment of the legendary Vikings” (Booklist) and “a fine history of a people who deserve more attention” (Kirkus Reviews). In a follow-up to his 2021 talk at Scandinavia House on the book’s release, Arthur Herman returns to discuss themes that have gained new relevance over the past year — including recent archeological discoveries regarding the Viking legacy, Finland and Sweden’s application to join NATO, and the Viking context to the Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder.
For millennia Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes lived a remote and rugged existence among the fjords and peaks of the land of the midnight sun. But when they finally left their homeland in search of opportunity, these wanderers — including the most famous, the Vikings — would reshape Europe and beyond.
In The Viking Heart, Arthur Herman melds a compelling historical narrative with cutting-edge archaeological discoveries and DNA research to tell their story. He also explores how the Scandinavian experience has universal meaning, and how we can still be inspired by their indomitable spirit and the strength of their community bonds — much needed in our deeply polarized society today.
This event will take place as a Zoom webinar. Please ask questions in the chat or send them in advance to info@amscan.org.
“Honestly assesses the results of the Vikings’ past actions around the world and makes an evenhanded argument for the importance of Viking culture in U.S. history…As we wrestle with how to make our world a better, more equal place, The Viking Heart provides a framework for recognizing the importance of the past in shaping our present and future”—BookPage
About the Author
Arthur Herman is Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller How the Scots Invented the Modern World and Gandhi and Churchill. His novel Gandhi and Churchill was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Washington, DC.

The Last Wild Horses by Maja Lunde
2022-09-13 18:00 - 19:00
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 September 13, we’ll be discussing The Last Wild Horses by Norwegian author Maja Lunde, out now in translation by Diane Oatley.
Translated into 40 languages and winner of the Norwegian Bookseller’s Prize, Maja Lunde’s heart-wrenching new tale, set in the distant past and the dystopian future, explores extinction and survival, family and hope. In Russia in 1881, when the skeleton of a rare wild horse is brought to him, zoologist Mikhail plans an expedition to Mongolia to find the fabled Przewalski horse, a journey that tests not only his physicality, but his heart. In 1992, alongside her troubled son Mathias and several Przewalski horses that she has dedicated her life to saving, veterinarian Karin travels to Mongolia to re-introduce the magnificent horses to their native land.
In 2062, Europe’s future is uncertain — but Eva is willing to sacrifice nearly everything to hold onto her family’s farm as a pregnant wild mare she is tending is about to foal, even when her teenage daughter implores Eva to leave the farm and Norway. When a young woman named Louise unexpectedly arrives on the farm, her mysterious intentions will either bring them all together, or devastate them one by one.
Spanning continents and centuries, The Last Wild Horses is a powerful tale of survival and connection–of humans, animals, and the indestructible bonds that unite us all.
“Brilliantly complex….Lunde delivers a perfect blend of gripping human stories, historical and scientific fact, and speculative elements”—Publishers Weekly
About the Author & Translator
Maja Lunde is a Norwegian author and screenwriter. Lunde has written five books for children and young adults. She has also written scripts for Norwegian television, including for the children’s series Barnas supershow (“The Children’s Super Show”), the drama series Hjem(“Home”) and the comedy series Side om Side (“Side by Side”). THE HISTORY OF BEES was her first novel for adults. She lives with her husband and three children in Oslo.
Diane Oatley is a writer, independent scholar, and translator. She began her undergraduate studies of English literature at the University of Maine and completed an MA in comparative literature at the University of Oslo. Her poetry has been published in anthologies and journals in England, Norway, Spain, and India, and she is the author of three poetry chapbooks. In 2014 Diane received NORLA’s annual Translator’s Award for nonfiction, and two of her literary translations have been long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award. She is a member of the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association and the Norwegian chapter of PEN International.

The Fantastic Art of Paper Cutting With Danish Paper Cut Artist Torben Jarlstrøm Clausen
2022-08-21 12:00 - 14:00
Back by popular demand, celebrated Danish paper-cutting artist Torben Jarlstrøm Clausen returns for a workshop on creating wonderful paper-cut beings! Clausen, who has held paper-cutting workshops in Denmark, Japan and the U.S., has created a magical paper-cut universe inhabited by beings previously confined inside the paper. “I can sense that the beings are in the paper, but at the same time they are sad. After some help from the scissors, they travel around happily in our diverse world,” Clausen explains of his artwork.
In this online workshop held via Zoom, Clausen will share his techniques and guide viewers through creating their own paper-cut magic. Participants will also explore the paper-cut artwork of renowned storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, and hear about Clausen’s own journey to becoming a paper-cutting artist. The class will be limited to 30 participants to allow for audience interaction.
The class will take place as virtual instruction over Zoom; students should supply their own materials to cut alongside Clausen. Skill is beginner-level and above.
Materials:

Sharp pair of scissors
Five pieces of any color paper sized approximately 4 x 4 inches (approximately the thickness of printer paper)
Five pieces of any color paper sized approximately 1 x 2 inches
Additional paper to use as needed

About the Instructor
Torben Jarlstrøm Clausen started as a paper-cut artist in 2004. Since then, he has exhibited over 110 places in the U.S., Japan, and Denmark and has held numerous workshops in the same countries.Clausen lives in Odense, Denmark, which is the birthplace of world-famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen, who was also a very skilled paper-cut artist. Torben Jarlstrøm Clausen seeks with his paper cuts to maintain and renew this old paper cut tradition, which Hans Christian Andersen was an exponent of almost 200 years ago. Learn more on his website, Facebook page, Etsy shop or follow him at @JarlstroemPaper (Twitter) and @JarlstroemPaperArt (Instagram).

Girl Picture with Alli Haapasalo
2022-08-09 19:00 - 21:00
“A true and tender portrait of female adolescence (IndieWire) — screening at Scandinavia House on August 9, see the hit new Finnish film Girl Picture /Tytöt tytöt tytöt (dir. Alli Haapasalo, Finland, 2022) ahead of its theatrical release on August 12! Director Alli Haapasalo will be present for a film talk and Q&A following the screening.
In this coming-of-age dramedy from the director of Force of Habit and Love & Fury, best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö have each other’s backs, always, aspiring for adventurous lives filled with experiences and passion. Emma, on the contrary, has given her whole life to figure skating — nothing gets between her and success. But when the girls meet, life opens new paths that send them rocketing in new directions. While Mimmi and Emma find themselves experiencing the earth-moving effects of true love, Rönkkö is on a quest to find pleasure. As new bonds form and others are tested over the course of three successive Fridays, the girls must navigate the complex paths of teenage desire. (100 min. In Finnish & French with English subtitles)
“Haapasalo clearly understands that, when you’re young, desire can feel confusing or gratifying, thrilling or overwhelming…an affecting achievement that never feels less than loving”—The Film Stage

Girl Picture opens theatrically on August 12 at IFC Center and other theaters.
This screening will take place in Victor Borge Hall; attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks during the program and observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here.
About the Director
Alli Haapasalo (b. 1977) is a Finnish director and writer. With her third feature film Girl Picture she continues her passion to tell strong female driven stories. Haapasalo’s feature debut Love and Fury (2016) followed a writer finding her own voice. Force of Habit (2019) – written and directed by a collective of seven writer-directors – dealt with gender bias and structural misuse of power. It traveled the world bringing home some awards and received Jussi-nominations (Finnish Film Awards) for best film, best directing and best screenplay, and was given the Nordisk Film Award in 2020.
Haapasalo wrote and directed short film Doing the Right Thing (2020) about the early stages of covid-19 pandemic for HBO Nordic’s series At Home. She has also directed episodes for spy thriller series Shadowlines (2019). Alli Haapasalo has a BA from Aalto University’s School of Film, Television and Scenography, and an MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Timothy Johnson
2022-07-27 19:00 - 21:00
Nordic Summer Jazz continues at Scandinavia House this July with performances from some of Scandinavia’s most talented jazz musicians, composers, and singers! On July 27, see Norwegian guitarist and composer Timothy Johnson with fellow jazz artists Dan Finn (bass), Martha Kato (keyboard), and Christian McGee (drums), performing live in Volvo Hall.
Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above. To receive their complimentary tickets, ASF Members must first log into the Elevent ticketing platform using their member email before adding tickets to their cart. Attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here.

About the Musician
Timothy Johnson is a Norwegian guitarist, and composer based in NYC. He has performed at world-renowned jazz clubs like Dizzy’s Club (NYC), The 55 Bar (NYC) Scullers Jazz (Boston), Smalls (NYC), and at festivals like the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival (Argentina), as well as clubs in Japan and Norway. Additionally he has appeared alongside jazz luminaries Damien Sneed, Melissa Aldana, and Neal Smith, and has also performed in the musicals Pippin and Once on this Island.
He completed his Bachelors degree at Berklee College of Music on scholarship, and recently completed his Masters degree at the Manhattan School of Music on scholarship, studying with Mike Moreno. He has received many prestigious awards along the way, such as the Berklee Jimi Hendrix Award, the NAMM Innovation Award, the Juvenarte composition award, placed runner up in Lee Ritenour’s Dreamcatcher Competition, and most recently was a scholarship/fellowship recipient of the Norway-Amerika Association.

Jostein Gulbrandsen Trio
2022-07-21 19:00 - 21:00
Nordic Summer Jazz continues at Scandinavia House this July with performances from some of Scandinavia’s most talented jazz musicians, composers, and singers! On July 21, see acclaimed Norwegian guitarist and composer Jostein Gulbrandsen along with fellow jazz artists Ronen Itzik (drums) and Mike McGuirk (bass), performing live in Volvo Hall.
Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above. To receive their complimentary tickets, ASF Members must first log into the Elevent ticketing platform using their member email before adding tickets to their cart. Attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here.

About the Musicians
Jostein Gulbrandsen is a guitarist, composer, author and educator, originally from Norway, based in NYC since 2001. Gulbrandsen blends music from his native Norway with American jazz with compositions that are melodic and open-sounding, with more upbeat material drawing from swinging hard bebop mixed with blues and fusion. He has released three albums under his own name, Twelve (2007 Fresh Sound New Talent), Release of Tension (2011) and Looking Ahead (2018 Curling Legs records). He holds a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of music. His best-selling method book Modern Jazz and Fusion Guitar was released on Hal/Leonard in December 2016. Gulbrandsen has performed with his Quartet and Trio at Rochester International Jazz Festival, Trondheim Jazz Festival(Norway), Nordic Jazz Festival (Washington DC), Faro International Guitar Festival (Portugal) and Acoustic Landscapes Guitar festival. He has also performed at Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Birdland, Blue Note NYC, 55 Bar, Smalls, BB Kings Blues Bar, Hard Rock Cafe NYC, Scandinavia House/Victor Borge Hall, Blues Alley and The Kennedy Center. He has held master classes at Trondheim Jazz Festival and The Music Conservatory in Agder (Norway) in Faro (Portugal)and at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (USA) and is a featured artist for Collings Guitars, Quilter Labs Amplification, Eventide Effects and Curt Mangan Strings. In addition to being an accomplished jazz and fusion guitarist and composer, Gulbrandsen is fluent in many other musical styles including blues, country, rock, pop, funk and classical guitar. Gulbrandsen has been interviewed and reviewed by several major newspapers and magazines in his native Norway, including Dagblade, Adresseavisen, Trønderavisa, Namdalsavisa and Musikkpraksis and also US publications such as Vintage Guitar Magazine, Jazz Times, Jazz Trail and All About Jazz. His recent performances at the Rochester International Jazz festival and Trondheim Jazzfest (Norway), received great reviews.
A native of Jerusalem, Israel, drummer Ronen Itzik relocated to the United States in late 2000. After completing degrees at Berklee College of Music and Florida State University, he established a reputation as an in-demand drummer and sought-after recording artist in New York City. He has incorporated his unique background and knowledge of diverse musical styles into performances at venues such as the Village Vanguard, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Blue Note and Bimhuis. His numerous international appearances include jazz festivals in Israel, Germany, Korea, Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Canada and Ukraine. He has performed and recorded with jazz greats Lee Konitz, Gary Burton, Kenny Werner, Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, and Arnie Lawrence among many others.
Bassist Mike McGuirk grew up in Portland, Oregon, and received a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas, where he studied with Jeff Bradetich. In 1997, he won the International Society of Bassists jazz bass competition. He has played and/or recorded with John Abercrombie, Marc Copland, David Liebman, Tim Hagans, Don Friedman, Joey Baron, Andy Laverne, Eliot Zigmund, Adam Nussbaum, Bennie Wallace, Mulgrew Miller, Billy Drummond, Renee Rosnes, Walt Weiskopf and Eddie Henderson among others. Recently, he can be heard on Marc Copland’s Lunar featuring David Liebman, and Jed Levy’s Round and Round on Steeplechase records.

Music on Park Avenue with Per Tengstrand—Season Opener: Beethoven's Waldstein & Appassionata
2022-07-21 08:00 - 17:00
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.
On October 13, join us for the season opener “Beethoven’s Waldstein & Appassionata.” In the first of three concerts this fall originally planned in celebration of the composer’s 250th anniversary in 2020, Tengstrand performs two iconic sonatas — both popular but also so different.
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 November 17 & December 1, 2022, and January 19, February 23, 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.

A Postcard to Annie With Ida Jensen, Martin Aitken & Désirée Ohrbeck
2022-07-13 13:00 - 14:00
On July 13, acclaimed Danish author Ida Jessen joins us with translator Martin Aitken for a virtual discussion on the new book A Postcard for Annie. With moderator Désirée Ohrbeck, they’ll discuss the writing and translation of the prizewinning anthology hailed as an “insightful, original collection” (Kirkus Reviews) following the inner lives of several women on the brink, or sidelines, of catastrophe.From the winner of the Lifetime Award from the Danish Arts Foundation and the 2017 Critics’ Choice Award, Ida Jessen’s A Postcard for Annie traces the tangled emotional lives of women facing moral dilemmas. A young woman witnesses a terrible accident with unexpected consequences; a mother sits with her unconscious son in a hospital room; a pair of sisters remember their mother’s hands braiding their hair. In seaside tourist villages and in snowy cities, turbulence destabilizes composed lives, whether through outright violence between strangers or habitual domination between loved ones.
Writing with the same narrative generosity, Jessen fills each story with bracing passages that splash with the living world, only to become concentrated in the unfixed, vacillating matter of a human psyche caught between silence and speech, paralysis and action.
A Postcard for Annie will be available beginning June 28 from Archipelago. This event will take place as a Zoom webinar; please ask questions in the chat or send them in advance to info@amscan.org. Registration is required; please sign up at the link above. This conversation will be recorded and available later to stream on our Virtual Programming page and on our YouTube channel.
About the Speakers
Ida Jessen is widely considered to be the master of psychological realism in contemporary Danish fiction. Having made her debut with the short-story collection Under Sten (Under Stone) in 1989, Jessen’s breakthrough came with the trilogy: Den der lyver (The One Who’s Lying; 2011), Det første jeg tænker (The First Thing I Think Of; 2006), and Børnene (The Children; 2009). The latter earned her the Booksellers Prize, the Golden Laurel and a nomination for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Her short story collection, Postkort til Annie (Postcard to Annie; 2013) earned her another nomination for the Nordic Council Prize. Jessen was recently awarded the 2017 Critics’ Choice Award (April 2018) for The Anagrams of Doctor Bagge. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Award from the Danish Arts Foundation.
Martin Aitken has translated numerous novels from Danish and Norwegian, including works by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Peter Høeg, Ida Jessen, and Kim Leine. He was a finalist at the U.S. National Book Awards 2018 and received the PEN America Translation Prize 2019 for his translation of Hanne Ørstavik’s Love. He was a recipient of ASF’s Nadia Christensen Translation Prize in 2012 for Hildegard, by Anne-Lise Marstrand-Jorgensen; now in its 43rd year, ASF’s Annual Translation Competition awards prizes for outstanding translations of poetry, fiction, drama, or literary prose written by a 20th- or 21st-century Nordic author.
About the Moderator
Désirée Ohrbeck served as a Danish Lecturer at the Scandinavian Studies Department at University of Washington from 2010-2016. She is now a proud board member for University of Washington Scandinavian Studies Advisory Board. Désirée M. Ohrbeck is a columnist writer for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and a frequent contributor in Danish media both on TV and radio. She has written op-eds, commentaries, and essays for Politiken, Berlingske Tidende and Jyllands-Posten.

The Land of Short Sentences by Stine Pilgaard
2022-07-12 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 July 12, we’ll be discussing The Land of Short Sentences by Danish author Stine Pilgaard, who recently joined us with translator Hunter Simpson in a virtual book talk streaming here.
In The Land of Short Sentences, out in English translation on March 1 from World Editions, a young woman relocates to an outlying community in West Jutland, Denmark, and is forced to find her way — not only in the bewildering environment of the residential Folk High School where her partner has been hired to teach, but also in the inscrutable conversational forms of the local population. And on top of it all there’s the small matter of juggling her roles as mother to a newborn baby and advice columnist in the local newspaper.
In this understated and hilarious novel, Stine Pilgaard conjures a tale of venturing into new and uncharted land, of human relationships, dilemmas, and the ways and byways of social intercourse.
“A charming and funny novel. … The buzz of people coming and going through the pages, and the warmth and wit of the narrator’s voice, make it a pleasure to be in her company”—The Guardian

Carnality by Lina Wolff
2022-07-05 08:00 - 17:00
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 October 4, we’ll be discussing Carnality by Swedish author Lina Wolff, out July 19 in translation by Frank Perry.

Awarded a three-month stipend to travel and work, a Swedish writer flies to Madrid, where in a bar she meets a man with an extraordinary story to tell. In exchange for somewhere to sleep and to hide out for a few days, he is willing to tell her the whole astonishing tale. What follows is an account of fantastic proportions and ingredients: the existence of a shadowy Internet TV show with a certain morality clause, a threat to the storyteller’s life, a diabolical nun, and the story of a girl with a missing left thumb. The tale is also the precursor to a meeting between the writer and the infernal miracle worker, Lucia—a meeting that ultimately forces the writer to make a fateful decision about her own inner essence.

Carnality is a novel about the universal need for spirituality and truth—not to mention a good story—set in the seemingly unspiritual grimy underbelly of society.

“Spellbinding…Wolff poses fascinating questions about the nature of morality and attachment throughout the propulsive narrative, making for a triumph of ingenuity. Readers won’t want this to end.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Astonishing…an adventure through underground society.” —Book Riot, Must-Read 2022 Books in Translation

My Life as a Comedian
2022-06-29 19:00 - 21:00
“Middle-school memories interspersed with accurate humor” (Göteborgs–Posten) — On June 29, see the comedic new Swedish coming-of-age film My Life as a Comedian /En komikers uppväxt (dir. Rojda Sekersöz, Sweden, 2019) at Scandinavia House!
At age 12 Juha is the class clown in the suburbs of Sävbyholm, Sweden in 1975. All he wants to do is fit into the social pecking order at school, and being funny is the only thing he’s good at. As an adult, Juha has found success — regaling sold-out audiences with tales of the horrid and funny experiences of his youth. But when he gets an unexpected visit from an old friend from school, Juha is forced to revisit Sävbyholm to deal with his past — bringing back memories of his quirky family, best friend Jenny, the bullied Thomas and his crazy German mother, and the bullies themselves, Lennart and Stefan. Set between the past and present and adapted from Jonas Gardell’s best autobiographical novel, My Life as a Comedian recalls the awkwardness and uncertainty of youth — and its rippling effects years later.
“Some of us get through the obstacles of childhood and young adulthood, others fall to the wayside. My Life as a Comedian honors both factions by showing us the travails of growing up”—That Shelf
This screening will take place in Victor Borge Hall; attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks during the program and observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here.
Special thanks to the Swedish Institute.

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