PEOPLE on a hike - Gjendine & Jørgine - from Bøverdalen to New York

We welcome you to an exciting evening that connects Norwegian folk music with the 19th century emigration to America! With singer Camilla Granlien at the centre, this trio offers music and stories about jazz and city life, folk music and village life, and Gjendine and Jørgine.

Jørgine Boomer (1887-1971) and Gjendine Slålien (1871-1972) both came from simple backgrounds in Bøverdalen, in Gudbrandsdalen. Jørgine traveled to America, worked her way up and married Lucius Boomer who later became hotel director at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Together they ran the hotel until his death. She dabbled in New York society, ensured that Frank Sinatra's career was boosted by giving him a job at the hotel as a musician, listened to Cole Porter while he composed, knew presidents and royalty and was much loved by many of her special guests. She traveled home to Bøverdalen several times and built herself a Villa Jotunheimen both there and in the USA.

Gjendine, on the other hand, was the estate and Edvard Grieg's greatest source when it came to folk music. She never left her hometown despite courtships and offers to study singing abroad. She enchanted people with her singing voice, she was cheerful and quick with her lines and couldn't live without the mountains around her. Two charming ladies with bones in their noses. At the same time, two very different ladies. One with a lot of adventure and eager to travel and see, while the other instead let the world come to him. So different choices and so different lives, but maybe they had more in common than one would think? The concert narration is produced in collaboration with Riksscenen in Oslo, Nartellerfestivalen and Musikk i Innlandet.

Cast:
Camilla Granlien - song
Mari Skeie Ljones – harding fiddle
Alf Hulbækmo – piano