2018 World Records Symposium

March 23, 2018

World Records Symposium

Cover of Fiddling for Norway, by Chris Goertzen

Free and Open to the Public 

April 12-13, 2018
University of Wisconsin-Madison
126 Memorial Library
728 State Street

University Club
803 State Street

April 14, 2018
Folklore Village
3210 County Road BB
Dodgeville, WI

The World Records Symposium, which has been organized by the Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture annually since 2013, is being run by the Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Music in the Upper Midwest project this year. From April 12–14, they’ll be welcoming musicians, folklorists, historians, community members, and plenty more from throughout the Upper Midwest and the Nordic countries to Madison, exploring the documentation and revitalization efforts of Scandinavian musical traditions on both sides of the Atlantic. There will be several presentations by panels of artists and academics, two nights of concerts with musicians from Scandinavia and Scandinavian America, and a community dance at Folklore Village in Dodgeville, WI. The keynote address will be by Dr. Christopher Goertzen, Professor of Musicology, University of Southern Mississippi, and author of Fiddling for Norway: Revival and Identity.

The panels will take place during the day on April 12-13 in Memorial Library, Room 126. The April 12 concert starts at 7:30pm, the April 13 concert at 7:00pm, and both will be at University Club, 803 State Street. The community dance on April 14 starts at 7:30pm at Folklore Village, and will feature Foot-Notes, of Decorah, IA. All of the speakers on the panels, and the details about the concerts, are listed on the complete schedule.

World Records Symposium 2018 concerts poster

Mills Music Library is pleased to co-sponsor this event with the Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Arts in the Upper Midwest project, the Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture, the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic, and the Borghesi-Mellon Workshop.