Submitted Photo Christina Larsen is the first Minot State University student to participate in the Oslo (Norway) Chamber Choir Apprenticeship Program.

Minot State University’s Christina Larsen broke new ground as the first MSU student to take part in the Oslo Chamber Choir Apprenticeship Program, returning from her exceptional musical journey in Oslo, Norway, according to a MSU news release.

“It was fascinating to learn about the culture while I was there,” Larsen said in the release. “I spent a lot of time talking with the members about both music and day-to-day life. There were many similarities, yet many differences.

“It is also a very beautiful thing to learn about aspects of the culture that have existed for years,” she said.

The apprenticeship was established through a partnership with The Oslo Chamber Choir (Oslo Kammerkor), directed by Hakon Nystedt. During the choir’s fall 2023 semester visit to Minot through the Artists in Residence program, the members conducted a masterclass and performance. As part of this collaboration, Larsen was chosen to assist the choir in Norway, with travel expenses covered, for two weeks leading up to its concert last June.

“I was greeted by Ingrid, one of the choir members at the airport,” Larsen said. “We took the train from the airport to the middle of the city, where I would be spending my first couple of days. They decided I should spend the first couple of days in town to get to know the city.”

The elementary education and music major ventured into some recommended places.

“Ingrid had suggested I check out Vigeland Park,” Larsen said. “I entered the park through an entrance that was not one of the main entrances, so I wasn’t quite sure what I would find. I walked past some tennis courts and a cute little puppet theater, so initially, I thought it was a pretty normal park. Then I turned a corner and saw a bridge, a river and a ton of statues. I then, out of curiosity, looked up more information about the park.

“Apparently, there were over 200 sculptures, and they were supposed to represent the different aspects of humanity,” she said. “One of my favorite parts was there was a path that brought you to a little patio under the bridge right by the river, and it was very beautiful and quiet there.”

Another place Larsen explored brought back memories of home.

“I met with Georg and Agnes and went to the Folk Museum. Georg worked there for many years, so he knew all of the ins and outs. We went there, and one of the first things we did was check out the stave church. It is the church that the one in Minot was based on,” Larsen said. “The church and many other buildings from around the country had been moved years ago to make the museum, and I believe it was one of the first buildings moved there. They also said it is one of the few left in the country. It was almost identical to the one in Minot, except clearly a little older.”

During those initial days, Larsen also had the opportunity to observe rehearsals, during which she learned new approaches to choral music.

“One thing they were really trying to do was apply aspects of Norwegian folk music to other styles of music. For example, a Bach chorale that no one had been allowed to listen to so that it would not affect their interpretation,” Larsen explained. “With the Bach piece, he wanted the sopranos to come in more confidently, so he had them do it over and over again in different ways. The Bach piece was a piece for two choirs, so he had them moving around the room into different groups.”

The connection between Norwegian music and dance became even clearer to Larsen during her visit. While visiting the university, she observed a folk dancing lesson.

“The choir somewhat regularly does folk dancing because so much folk music is based on dancing. Learning the dances helps them to sing the music better and to connect with it,” she said. “Anna brought in Andrea, one of her friends from the academy of music who plays a traditional Norwegian instrument called the lengeleik. She taught us a dance from the area she is from called the Hallingspringar. It is a partner dance from the region of Hallingdal. They are learning this dance to prepare for a folk music festival that is taking place in Hallingdal this year.

“I got to go to the Academy of Music, where Anna gave me a tour and a lesson in Norwegian folk music. Folk music is typically taught by ear, and I have not learned a whole song by ear in a long time, so that was really fun to do. She taught me two different songs, ‘Tita gol pa Hammarsete’ and ‘Nestgarn,'” Larsen said. “‘Tita gol pa Hammarsete’ was a dancing tune about Tita, who is a bird, and she sings at Hammarsete. She also explained some of the different versions of the song and explained that there were also some nonsense words in the song that, at one point, were words but, over time, have been lost. ‘Nestgarn’ was the name of a farmer, and it was a song about what he said when he died. She said it was some nonsense, but a lot of folk songs are.”

Larsen also noticed similarities in the use of syllables between the songs.

“One thing that happened in both, were syllables that weren’t really words, and I asked why it was like that. She explained that a lot of folk singing is intended to mimic the fiddle. As a result of this, there often isn’t a place to breathe, so you have to breathe wherever you can,” she said. “Because of that, they are also hard to separate into parts to teach because of how it all flows together. I asked her about how she learns her music, and most of it is taught to her by her folk music teachers, but the academy also has a lot of old recordings made by musicologists years ago that they listen to, too.

“All the folk musicians in the program also have to do folk dancing classes to understand the music better,” she said.

Reflecting on her entire experience, Larsen gained valuable insights and left with something to look forward to next year.

“My biggest takeaway from my time with the choir is that you have to be willing to try anything and that you have to be confident in yourself and the part you play,” she said. “It was wonderful to spend time with my fabulous hosts, get to know them, learn their stories and learn how they got to where they are.

“I was blessed to have some very meaningful conversations with them, and I’m hoping to see them again when the whole (MSU) choir goes next year.”