Beth Hoven Rotto Featured in Norwegian Fiddle Exhibit

DECORAH — Vesterheim is opening the new exhibit, Hand Me Down the Fiddle: Norwegian Fiddlers, Fiddles and Fiddle Tunes in the Upper Midwest, with a gallery talk by project consultant and guest curator Beth Hoven Rotto on August 17, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. in the Museum Building. The exhibit is open from August 15, 2024 to May 18, 2025. The exhibit features Norwegian and Norwegian-American fiddlers, fiddles and fiddle tunes from the Upper Midwest. Rotto is a fiddler with the Decorah-area band Foot-Notes and a historian who has spent decades researching Scandinavian folk music in America. In 2018, Rotto was part of a project featuring Norwegian-American fiddler Ole Hendricks, which included a recording and presentations. In 2019-2020 she was a fellow of the American Scandinavian Foundation, studying Norwegian-born fiddler Johan Arndt Mostad and his tune books. In 2022, she was Musician-in-Residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, working extensively with historic recordings in the Mills Music Library, transcribing and sharing her work with an ensemble formed of university and community members. On August 20, registration will open at vesterheim.org/folk-art-school for online music classes during the winter with Gard Nergard and Beth Hoven Rotto. The exhibit was made possible by a Scandinavian Folk Arts & Cultural Traditions in the Upper Midwest grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) and a generous gift to the Vesterheim Annual Fund from Carol Birkland and Tom Woxland, and Peter Dahlen and Mary S. Carlsen. Become a part of the exclusive circle! Subscribe to the newsletter for free and gain access to special offers, bonus content and insider perks."