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The Lesser-Known Choral Works Of Camille Saint-Saëns, Nicholas Newman

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

This conference-style presentation will focus on the repertoire of Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921). While his Ave Maria setting and Requiem Mass have continued to be widely performed well after his death, Saint-Saëns left behind an oeuvre of over sixty choral works. This presentation aims to highlight these works, making them applicable for choral ensembles of a variety of size, level, and voicing. Saint-Saëns’s choral output consists of triumphant, nationalistic TTBB settings, several accessible motets, SSA and SATB pieces depicting mythology, nature, and romantic heroes’ journeys, and even chansons featuring the composer’s own poetry. Score packets will be provided in advance, as …

Full Issue

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

Bass Mark Elyn Lived Well, And Remembered Jussi Well, Dan Shea

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

How many people are there who still can testify that they heard Jussi Björling on many occasions? Mark Elyn was one who heard Jussi in rehearsal and on stage with him, in three major Verdi operas, in rooms large and small, up close and personal. As a young singer himself, fresh from Seattle’s Cornish School of Music, he was eager to learn useful vocal technique and found inspiration from Jussi’s example.

Jussi-Fest In Voxnabruk July 3rd And 4th, Sue Flaster

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The 21st Annual Jussi-Fest in Voxnabruk went off successfully July 3 and 4 despite challenges: Norwegian tenor Bror Magnus Tödenes, who had been scheduled to appear, was forced to cancel due to a death in the family. As arranger Stefan Olmårs noted, you can’t have a Jussi event without a tenor, so he brought along veteran Swedish tenor Sonny Wallentin and his accompanist wife. They both performed valiantly.

Words Of Remembrance Of Jacob Forsell 1942-2023, Janel E. Lundgren

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The eminent photographer and writer Jacob Forsell has died at the age of 81. He has been of great importance both to Jussi Björling’s cause as well as to the Jussi Björling Society. He had a strong connection to Jussi via his close kinship with John Forsell: he was the grandson of the renowned singer and opera director, who meant so much to Björling’s early career. Therefore, he seemed specially sent to be the editor of a luxurious gift and anniversary book with the name: Jussi: the Song, the Man, the Pictures, together with Harald Henrysson and Björn Ranelid. This …

Jussi Björling Societies Planning To Sponsor New Release Of The 1952 Classic Rca Recording Of Il Trovatore In Outstanding Sound, John H. Haley

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The Jussi Björling Societies and I are pleased to announce plans for an upcoming new sponsored release that will be available by November 2023 exclusively through the Societies (ordering details to be provided soon). This release is being prepared through High Definition Tape Transfers (HDTT), a Canadian label, sourced on a very rare reel-to-reel tape release of this recording, which I am restoring. The tape source appears to be much closer to the master tape than all other releases through the years, and it has extraordinary sound quality, such that this new release will sound substantially better than any prior …

Henry Fogel Zoom Presentation For Jbs-Usa On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, On The Topic,, Janel E. Lundgren

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Arts executive extraordinaire Henry Fogel will conclude the JBS-USA Zoom Series for 2023 with a comparative presentation on Jussi’s live performance and studio recordings, drawing on his exceptional collection of recordings for musical examples. The broadcast will air live on Tuesday, October 24 at 7:30 pm ET, and will be repeated on Saturday, October 28 at 12 noon ET. Members and non-members will be able to register to attend this event on our website beginning September 1.

He Sings In The Spirit Of His Father, Calle Friedner

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

It’s a beautiful summer’s day. We are in Jussi Björling’s and his family’s summer paradise on Siarö in the archipelago north of Stockholm, now divided between the two siblings, Ann- Charlotte and Lars. He has built a house of his own and couple of out-buildings in the part of the site where Jussi’s singing studio is situated. Lars is happy: this day he and his wife Leila have been married for exactly seven weeks. We’ll come back to that.

The outdoor temperature is 77 degrees F, but we are sitting talking in the shadow of the trees. Lars says it …

Lars Björling To Speak On “Remembering My Father’S Met Performances, Fall 1959”, Janel E. Lundgren

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

JBS-USA is privileged to present Jussi’s son Lars Björling in a special Zoom presentation from Sweden for the Jussi Björling Society USA on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at 7:30 pm ET, a broadcast which will be repeated on Saturday, August 26 at 12 noon ET. Following the presentation will be a Q & A segment, to which attendees may submit questions.

Lars will recall the fabled performances by his father, on returning to the Met in November of 1959 after an absence of more than 2 ½ years. At Jussi’s first performance of Cavalleria rusticana, according to Harald Henrysson, “his …

Full Issue

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

No abstract provided.

The 2022 Jussi Björling Stipendium To Baritone John Lundgren

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Baritone John Lundgren has received the 2022 Jussi Björling Stipendium (Award). This award is given on behalf of The Royal Theatre’s Soloists Foundation, and previous recipients have included soprano Hillevi Martinpelto, violinist Kalle Moraeus and Harald Henrysson. This year’s award was 125,000 kroner (about $12,600 US). Lundgren has also received the Birgit Nilsson Prize in 2006, and was named a Royal Court Singer by King Carl XVI Gustaf in 2021.

Lundgren was educated at Vadstena Academy and in The Opera Academy in Copenhagen. During his studies he joined the ensemble of The Royal Danish Theatre and debuted as Schaunard in …

Thorborg Biography Published, Christer Eklund

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

Of the many colleagues who sang with Jussi Björling over the course of his career, Kerstin Thorborg was the closest to him in home ground: she also was born in the province of Dalarna, about 50 miles North of Jussi’s birthplace of Borlänge. In many ways, their careers also were similar, since both had major parts of their professional lives in the United States, centered around the Metropolitan Opera. Thorborg was deeply admired for her vocal range as well as for her acting skills in a wide range of roles.

In 2003 I took over managing the archive of the …

Jussi Björling:, Sue Flaster

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

As we announced in the February 2022 issue of the JBS-USA Journal, we are very excited to publish a book this Fall which will describe the founding of the three Jussi Björling Societies, the writing of the four “basic” books about Jussi Björling, and the history and founding of the Jussi Björling Museum, a unique and deeply admired institution. We have taken advantage of the fact that many of the primary members of our various groups are still with us, and have been enthusiastic participants in this project.

The same good fortune applies to the background of the writing of …

The Jussi Björling Museum Emptied

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

As was previously announced, the Jussi Björling Museum in Borlänge was closed at the turn of the year 2021/22.

Borlänge municipality had debated the fate of the Museum for years, and a decision was made to move it to, or adjacent to, the municipal library. However, it was not until 10 January 2022 that the Museum Curator was informed that the building was to be emptied by the end of February to serve as an office for the upcoming redevelopment of the nearby Liljan building (for the needs of Dalarna University College). Since no new museum space is available now, …

Remembering Don Goldberg, Walter B. Rudolph

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

In my mind, he was a human dynamo. I didn’t know him well, but one couldn’t be around Don Goldberg and not experience who he was. The evening before the official start of our first St. Peter Conference in 2001, everyone around gathered with a few of their favorite recordings. For most of us, this was our introduction to each other. Don was his typical magnetic self, drawing us all together in a manner that left us feeling like we’d known one another for years.

He and I had some natural connection via radio. He had his own show on …

Jussi’S Return To The Metropolitan Opera In 1959, Don Goldberg

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The spring of 1957 was a difficult time for me. I had planned to attend every Bjoerling performance during the 1957-58 season not knowing in the spring of ’57 that those Met performances would be his last ones for two seasons. So the announcement of Jussi’s return to the Met on November 16, 1959 in Cavalleria Rusticana was to begin a special season for me. Getting tickets for that performance involved standing on a long line that stretched down Thirty-ninth Street down to Broadway.

Conrad L. Osborne To Speak On “The Art Of Jussi Björling”, Conrad L. Osborne

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

JBS-USA is privileged to present the American master of opera critics in a special Zoom presentation for the Society on Tuesday, October 25 at 7:30 pm ET. Members will receive an email invitation to this occasion in September. Current details of event registration appear following this article.

As part of his presentation, Mr. Osborne plans to talk about Jussi’s technique, specifically, his “functional technique,” which is to say the hows and whys of his voice’s makeup. Those are the things that account for the actual sound of the voice, and which made possible Jussi’s extensive command of what Osborne will …

Anders Björling:, Walter B. Rudolph

Newsletter of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

When I read the announcement of Anders’s passing, I immediately thought of Judie. By my calculations, they had passed their 8th wedding anniversary in May. Many of us met her at the Salt Lake City Conference in 2015. Judie renewed Anders. What would he have done without her? They had wonderful years together, and she cared for him through his acute myeloid leukemia (AML). No one else ever knows the depth and breadth of each person’s journey of departure. Judie was Anders’s provider. We acknowledge all she has done and will continue to do in her role.

Marilyn and I …

Engaging Underrepresented 11- To 14-Year-Olds In Music: An Autoethnographic Case Study Of A New Inner-City Afterschool Group Piano Program, Eden A. Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research in music education has documented the underrepresentation of Black students in formal music study in the United States, shaped by economic and cultural barriers (Elpus & Abril, 2024; Alegrado & Winsler, 2020). Access to piano instruction is often limited by the high cost of lessons and instruments, inequitable school funding, and the absence of culturally responsive curricula that reflect the experiences of minority students and families. Traditional piano pedagogy rarely addresses this absence, leaving the piano both symbolically and practically distant for many potential musicians in the United States. This autoethnographic case study chronicles the development, launch, and first …

Convocation Recital: March 6, 2026, Illinois State University School Of Music

School of Music Programs

This is the one hundred and eighteenth program of the 2025-2026 season.

Kemp Recital Hall

March 6, 2026

Friday Afternoon

1:00 p.m.