Arts and Cultural Heritage

Paul Dahlin and the Northern Star Sami Girls' musical history, detailed in the attached artist bios, exemplify the way music is passed down from generation to generation. They learned music from their elders and have made it their mission to share that music with others through performance and teaching traditional styles. The musicians of TCCC are originally from Poland, Paraguay, and Russia. The founders are now a part of the northern Minnesota community and want to build a solid connection with local audiences by experiencing and acknowledging their rich traditions and cultural heritage. TCCC musicians are classically trained and also have worked and learned in a variety of community-based settings. The group is particularly interested in amplifying the work of contemporary composers and have selected pieces for this festival that show the ways classical music and folk music have each influenced the other over generations. Our success will be measured immediately through analyzing the numbers of attending audience members and the audience's reaction during the performances. We will also collect written and/or verbal feedback at each concert, depending on what is best suited to each venue and audience. Musicians will engage with attendees after each performance and synthesize those responses to gauge how audiences connected with the different types of music Feedback from our partner organizations and interest in future collaborations will be another measure of success. Additionally, the success of our events will be reflected in increased interest in the organization's upcoming activities, growing numbers of subscriptions to TCCC newsletter and YouTube channel.