Enjoy Celtic Music at Ridgedale Library

Adults can enjoy music from around the world and learn about other cultures at a new “Global Folk” program series scheduled this fall at Hennepin County libraries. All programs are free.
 
Enjoy “Swedish Singing” with Flickorna Fem, a quintet of Swedes and Swedish-Americans whose affection for all things Swedish is obvious. Learn West African dance moves with Kenna-Camara Cottman, a dancer, choreographer, and director of Voice of Culture Drum and Dance. And gain an appreciation for innovative interpretations of Appalachian and Celtic music when multi-award-winning dulcimer and autoharp player Karen Mueller performs.
 
The programs are funded by Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
 
Flickorna Fem, which means “The Five Girls” in Swedish, is a quintet of five women, two of whom are native Swedes, two are Americans with Swedish ancestry, and one is an immigrant from Jamaica who married a Swede. They perform almost exclusively in Swedish from a repertoire of 200 songs from the Swedish folk tradition and the Swedish American immigrant experience — spirited dance tunes, solemn hymns, sentimental ballads, and humorous stories-in-song.
 
Singers Christine Albertsson, Carline Bengtsson, Malla Corbett, Elisabeth Skoglund, and Nina Clark have performed in Sweden, for Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia during their visit to the American Swedish Institute, for several Swedish cultural societies, at festivals, libraries, churches, colleges, and many community events.
 
Flickorna Fem has recorded three CDs:  “Jul” (Christmas), “Kärleksvisor” (Love Songs), and “Sommartid” (Summertime).

World class dulcimer and autoharp musician, recording artist, and instructor Karen Mueller will sing and perform innovative interpretations of traditional Appalachian and Celtic music that offer a new, contemporary perspective of North American folk music tradition.
 
As folk music has evolved from a strictly local context to new styles influenced by world music traditions, Mueller is one of only a few musicians who has adapted complex traditional Celtic and American fiddle music to the dulcimer and autoharp.
 
She was awarded first place at the 1986 International Autoharp Championship and in 2000 received the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association’s “Recognition of Excellence.” Mueller was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame in 2006 and is a 2012-13 winner of a McKnight Artist Fellowship for performing musicians.
 
She also plays guitar, mandolin, Irish bouzouki, and bass dulcimer.
 
Mueller has performed at festivals, libraries, schools, and other events coast to coast and in Europe. She is co-founder of Seattle Autoharp Week, which has become a popular annual event. She also has recorded four critically-acclaimed CDs — Landscape of the Heart, Clarity, Still Point and Autoharp Gourmet — and is author of Favorite Dulcimer Arrangements and the CD/books Celtic Autoharp and Autoharp Gourmet.

Global Folk: Appalachian and Celtic Music

Saturday, Nov. 10, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
Registration required, begins Oct. 13. Register online or call 612-543-8800.
For Adults. The Appalachian and Celtic styles are at the heart of Karen Mueller’s repertoire. Enjoy her singing accompanied by the dulcimer and autoharp.
This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Global Folk: West African Drum and Dance
Plymouth Library
Saturday, Sept. 15, 1:30–2:30 p.m.
Register Online or call 612-543-5825.
For Adults. Feel the rhythm and learn the culture and history of West Africa from dancer Kenna Cottman. Be ready to move at this interactive program which includes drumming, dancing, rhythm-making, singing, storytelling and more.
This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Global Folk: West African Drum and Dance
Brookdale Library
Saturday, Oct. 20, 10:30–11:30 a.m.
Registration required, begins Sept. 22. Register online or call 612-543-5600.
For Adults. Feel the rhythm and learn the culture and history of West Africa from dancer Kenna Cottman. Be ready to move at this interactive program which includes drumming, dancing, rhythm-making, singing, storytelling and more.
This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Global Folk: Appalachian and Celtic Music
Sumner Library
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2–3 p.m.
Registration required, begins Sept. 22. Register online or call 612-543-6875.
For Adults. The Appalachian and Celtic styles are at the heart of Karen Mueller’s repertoire. Enjoy her singing accompanied by the dulcimer and autoharp.
This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Global Folk: Swedish Singing
Brooklyn Park Library
Sunday, Nov. 18, 3-4 p.m.
Registration required; begins Oct. 21; limit 70. Musical group Flickorna Fem gives musical voice to the group members’ shared affection for Sweden. They perform traditional Swedish folk and Swedish immigrant music.
This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.