Nordic Newcomers : Fall Mini Tour 
 Explore how Swedish musicians who immigrated to the Upper Midwest (late 1800s–early 1900s) shaped regional traditions with fiddles, button boxes, nyckelharpas, and bagpipes—leaving a legacy in both Minnesota and Sweden.
​
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
6:00 pm - Milaca Community Library 
Thursday, October 16
6:00 pm - Sandstone Public Library 
Sunday October 19 
2:00 Grass Lake Mission Church:    
Saturday, October 25
10:30 am - McGregor Public Library 
Tuesday, October 28
6:00 pm - Rush City Public Library ​

Location: Historic Grass Lake Mission Church  
​Date:  Sunday, October 19, 2025 
Join us at the Historic Grass Lake Mission Church—the last surviving building of the Swedish immigrant town.  Built in 1898, this historic site features their newly restored late-19th-century chapel pump organ played by Judy Peterson 

Renee Vaughan (nyckelharpa)will share tunes and stories of the Swedish musicians who settled in the area.  (50 mile radius) of the church.  Tång Anna, Per Selander, Gumas Lars Larsson, and Korp Eric Linde.   Special guest Sarah Pradt (hardingfele)   ​

Look for an upcoming Nordic Newcomers presentation with the Minnesota State Fiddlers Association.
Click HERE for their website.   MSFA has lots of great resources on lots of musical topics

"We are pleased to have Renee Vaughan  join us in February to share one of her latest projects, Nordic Newcomers – Swedish Immigrant Musicians in the Upper Midwest   sharing stories and tunes from the first-generation Swedish Immigrant Musicians that settled in Minnesota
Fresh from a musician-in-residence at the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin, Renee had an opportunity to do more extensive research on the fiddle tunes of the earliest Swedish immigrants to Minnesota. During this process, she uncovered some great stories and histories of these musicians that shaped the traditional music landscape of our communities. 
This is a “must” for any traditional musician who enjoys playing, learning and listening to traditional tunes from the Upper Midwest.

​Bring your instrument – Renee will teach a couple tunes as part of her talk. 
The live session will be on Zoom February 22nd, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. (US Central). It will be recorded and posted on the MSFA YouTube channel afterwards. 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84509207101?pwd=txJdL4vPHvwj4orbz2jLSKblnXiE1D.1
 
Meeting ID: 845 0920 7101
Passcode: 130805
These workshops are sponsored by the Minnesota State Fiddlers Association; they are free and open to the public. "