FREE Courtroom Concert featuring Nordic Strings: Cheryl Paschke and Andrea Een

Andrea Een, Norwegian-American Hardanger fiddler, received the St. Olav Medal, given by King Harald V of Norway, in May, 2002 for her promotion of greater knowledge of Norwegian culture abroad. Een, whose grandfather, Knute Een, was born in Voss, Norway in 1882, has studied the Hardanger fiddle, the nine-string folk violin unique to Norway, with some of the leading fiddlers in that country. In 2004 she released her solo CD, “From the Valley” (available at AndreaEen.com) which combines her original fiddle solos with traditional dances and tone poems from West Norway. Andrea Een has performed over 125 concerts on Hardanger fiddle in the U.S., Costa Rica, France and Norway and has been a featured solo performer on Norwegian television and radio and National Public Radio and PBS in the United States. In 1998, Een was named a Master Folk Artist by the Minnesota State Arts Board. She is a founding member of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra in residence at the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, Andrea Een has taught Hardanger fiddle, violin and viola at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN since 1977. Her poetry has been published in literary journals and the chapbook, “Some Days We Name It Love” (Heywood Press, 1994).

Cheryl Paschke began playing violin in the 4th grade. Little did she know how “joining the school orchestra program” would shape her life! She went on to play violin as well as viola in college, community orchestras, a string quartet, and ensembles specializing in English country-dance, Arabic, Swedish, and Finnish music. She worked in Minneapolis Public Schools for 32 years, as a school orchestra teacher and district arts curriculum specialist. Cheryl started playing nyckelharpa as an adult, having first encountered the instrument in Sweden at a Midsommar celebration, where several nyckelharpa players were “jamming” together.  Seeing Cheryl’s interest, one of the players offered to let her ‘try’ the instrument.  After a quick scale to check what notes were where, “Johan pa Snippen” came to mind, and her fingers were hooked! Since obtaining a nyckelharpa in 1985, Cheryl has studied locally, in Sweden and recently in Germany. Cheryl performs in several Twin Cities-based groups, including Tjärnblom, Twin Cities Nyckelharpalag, The Swedish Trio, and Finn Hall.

View the Frequently Asked Questions about the Courtroom Concerts.

About the Host

Composer Abbie Betinis writes music called “inventive, richly melodic” (The New York Times), “superb, whirling, soaring” (Tacoma News Tribune), and “the highlight” of the program (Boston Globe).  With over 50 commissioned works for ensembles such as Cantus, the New England Philharmonic, and The Rose Ensemble, Abbie has been awarded a McKnight Composer Fellowship, grants from the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, and Jerome Foundation, and was recently listed in NPR Music’s Top 100 Composers Under 40.  A resident of Saint Paul, she is adjunct professor of composition at Concordia University, and was composer-in-residence with the Schubert Club from 2005-2017.