Perhaps the most unique email in CHM’s history graced our inbox this January. It was from the Academic Male Choir of Helsinki, a group of sixty-five men from Sweden and Finland who were touring the Western United States in April. They contacted us about local connections to Scandinavian and Nordic history, wondering if we could recommend a place for them to stop and stretch their legs as they drove up the coast. Of course, our first recommendation was the Coos History Museum, and we negotiated a presentation on local Scandinavian history in exchange for a song.
So, in the early evening hours of April 10, our ears were graced by the beautiful voices of sixty-five Scandinavian men. We stayed open late, welcoming the choir into our Sprague gallery where our Educator Sire Pro delivered a well-received presentation. Then, as the picture above demonstrates, we moved outside for a private concert of not one, not two, but three songs.
The entire museum staff got the opportunity to mingle with and get to know the choir during their visit, and its safe to say we loved welcoming our new friends to Coos County, and they seemed to love it too.
We wish the Akademiska Sangforeningen safe travels on the rest of their journey, and we hope to welcome them back soon!
