Kai Robert presents

Get ready for a Sarpsborg Millenium concert tour with soloist Anette Lyche Brautaset and the Greåker Men’s Choir

Photo courtesy of KR Johansen
Kai Roberts will play five Midwestern concerts this fall with the Greåker Men’s Choir and Anette Lyche Brautaset.

Leslee Lane Hoyum
Rockford, Minn.

It’s 2016 and Sarpsborg, Norway, is celebrating its 1000th anniversary. On this side of the Atlantic, trumpeter extraordinaire Kai Robert Johansen is back from Oct. 2 to 8. His engagements are limited so you won’t want to miss out!

“I am thrilled to come back,” said Kai Robert. “We have been very busy celebrating 1000 years in Sarpsborg, my hometown, and soon I will return to the Midwest to share our celebration with you. I am bringing you soloist Anette Lyche Brautaset and the Greåker Men’s Choir. You will not be disappointed.”

Kai Robert has been performing for more than 45 years and is the Midwest’s most beloved Norwegian trumpeter. He has performed on radio and TV not only in Norway but throughout Europe and the United States. He has released 60 albums, several of which have reached gold and platinum status, and he has written several musical tributes to honor the Norwegian royal family. He also has received several Norwegian cultural awards for his work as a musician and a composer.

“I am always at home when in the Midwest,” said Kai Robert. “The people are incredibly friendly, and it is always my pleasure to share the magnificent talent we cultivate in and around the community of Sarpsborg. This will be my twelfth visit to the Midwest and it won’t be my last.”

Anette Lyche Brautaset is making her American debut. “Not only is this my U.S. debut,” Brautaset says, “but this is my first trip to the United States. I am very excited.” The soloist is well known in Sarpsborg for her beautiful presentation of hymns and her lovely interpretations of the works of Alf Prøysen and Erik Bye, venerable Norwegian music legends.

The Greåker Men’s Choir, founded in 1933, also will perform. Director Hilde Everløff Andersen said “the boys” have been practicing energetically for their Midwest tour. The group is very excited to share Norwegian music with the Midwest and learn more about the Norwegian-American experience.

The program surely will share the vibrant musical history of Sarpsborg, a city founded in 1016 by the Viking King Olav Haraldsson, later known as Saint Olav. It is part of Norway’s fifth-largest urban area and is located just one hour southeast of Oslo.

Tour dates:
Mindekirken (Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church)
Sunday, Oct. 2, 11:00 a.m.
924 E 21st St., Minneapolis
At the official opening of the Leiv Eriksson International Festival. For information, call (612) 874-0716.

Dalton Opera House
Sunday, Oct. 2, 4:30 p.m.
109 Summit Ave., Dalton, Minn.
For more information, call Greg and DeeDee Peterson, (218) 770-0095.

Calvary Lutheran Church
Monday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.
1405 S 9th Street, Grand Forks, N.D.
For more information, call Darlene Holien, (701) 746-7673.

Kringen Lodge, Sons of Norway
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 7:00 p.m.
722 2nd Ave. N, Fargo, N.D.
For more information, call (701) 232-9222. The concert is free, but come for dinner at Kringen from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. for $11 per person.

Northland Community & Technical College Auditorium
Wednesday, Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m.
1101 Hwy. #1 E, Thief River Falls, Minn.
Sponsored by Snorre Lodge. Free will offering. For information, call (218) 681-2116.

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 9, 2016, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.