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GRANTS AVAILABLE TO SCANDINAVIAN ARTISTS
THE DEADLINE FOR CULTURAL GRANT APPLICATIONS
IS MARCH 31ST 2008
The American Scandinavian Society of New York helps support the arts in general and Scandinavian artists in particular via Cultural Grants that are awarded at the annual meeting in September.
In order to be considered as a recipient of a grant from the American Scandinavian Society, applicants must:
- be an artist with ties to at least one of the Scandinavian countries
- be actively contributing to the enhancement of the Scandinavian image in the New York area
- show skills, talent, and promise in the chosen field of their art
Both performing and non-performing artists are awarded.
To apply, please fill out the Cultural Grant Application Form {click here}, and send it with your resume, portfolio, web-address, photos, and any other relevant information showing excerpts of your work, to the Vice President of your Scandinavian country or to Else Matthews at this address:
American Scandinavian Society of New York
317 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Or e-mail it to:
awards@americanscandinavian.org
Cultural Grant Recipients 2007
Maia Elisabeth Sorensen - Contemporary Dance and
Dance filmMaia graduated from the Martha Graham
School of Contemporary Dance in New York in January 2007
with a third year post certificate program focused on
choreography.
Her mission is to create short dance films of imaginary
universes that will trigger not only her own creativity
but the audiences as well. I.e. make an audience
understand with their senses and not with their mind.
Dance film is a completely new art genre, neither dance
or film. It is a contemporary art form that deserves
more attention and time for exploration for both the
creators and audience. It is very cutting edge,
experimental and an area full of opportunities that
haven't been met yet. In dance film we can explore new
limits of the body and how it is perceived through the
camera lense. How to make dance alive when it is not
live, how to show details that are not visible to a
theater audience, how to make the camera and dance meet
as one and not be two separate medias.
Marcus Forss
Marcus Forss is a young talented Swedish-American
Classical Clarinetist born and raised in NYC. Marcus
has performed with many top scandinavian musicians
as well as performing as a soloist in several
concertos, including one concert at Carnegie
Hall. Marcus went to college at Skidmore College
where he studied music and clarinet
performance and after graduating went on to take a
postgraduate performance diploma at the Australia
National University under Alan Vivian. After
receiving SWEA's prestigious Performing Arts award
this summer as well as the A.S.S. award, Marcus has
decided to take his Masters degree at the Royal
College of Music in Stockholm under Hermann
Stefansson and Martin Frost.
Pauliina Silvennoinen
Pauliina graduated from Turku Art's Academy in Turku,
Finland, May 2005. She is currently sharing her time
between New York City and Finland.
Pauliina performs with different choreographers in New
York and Finland and creates her own work with other
freelance dancers and musicians. In New York she also
organizes art events which combine American and Finnish
art and culture. The latest event "This Single Night of
Summer" started a series of art events, which will
gather together Finnish and American artists to share
their work in the fields of dance, music, poetry and
multimedia.
Pauliina has performed in Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Netherlands and USA. As an organizer she has been active
to produce dance events around Finland and Sweden with
Scandinavian production group DaArt.
She has taught dance for various levels in contemporary,
modern jazz and ballet. In New York Pauliina does
volunteer work for New York Finnish Lutheran Church.
Pauliina is very active in New York's Scandinavian
field.
Pauliina is grateful for American-Scandinavian Society
for the grant! This will help her to continue her work
in New York area.
For more information about her you can go to
www.myspace.com/pauliinasilvennoinen
Former Cultural Grant Recipient
The chairperson's speech 2006
Yael Acher - Musician/Composer
Award Recipient 2006
 
Yael Acher from Tel Aviv and Copenhagen graduated with a BA in Music, Classical Flute Performing Arts from the Rubin Academy for Music & Dance, Jerusalem. She is currently sharing her time between Copenhagen and New York City where she is taking an MA in Contemporary Composition while performing as an instrumentalist/composer.
Her art stretches from the classical through modern, free-improvisation, contemporary and progressive, jazz and beat, Latin and electronics. She has performed in as a soloist, in multi performance productions and in concerts in Scandinavia, Israel, Romania, France, and New York.
Yael also co-operates with choreographers and dancers as an electro acoustic composer/performer and as such has traveled extensively with modern dance productions.
Her latest CD, “La Belle Ombre” with music composed in Copenhagen, was created with the help of a grant from the Danish Art Council
The Danish daily, Berlingske Tidende calls her music, “Colorful, flying flute tones…”, and “Spell-binding, action packed and deeply original.”
For more information, go to her website: www.modianomusic.com
Kirsi-Marja Alanen - Musician
Award Recipient 2006

Kirsi-Marja Alanen is a native of Hämeenlinna, Finland.
She has been studying violin at the Juilliard School since 2003 under Professor Lewis Kaplan. Prior to that she studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. Kirsi-Marja has participated in various master classes taught by great violin virtuosos. She has competed in many national and international violin contests.
To quote Professor Kaplan “Kirsi-Marja plays with intelligence, passion and great imagination. She is truly dedicated to her art and has great potential.”
Kirsi-Marja is grateful for American Scandinavian Society for the grant.
This will enable her to continue her studies. After graduation in 2007 she plans to continue with her Masters perhaps at Juilliard or other conservatories in the New York area.
Margret Arnadottir - Musician
Award Recipient 2006

Cellist Margret Arnadottir of Reykjavik, Iceland, received her Masters from The Juilliard School in New York in May of 2006.
Professor David Soyer of The Juilliard School recommended her highly and said: "She is a very gifted young cellist posessed with ample technique, lovely tone and musical sensitivity and intelligence."
Tavros records released a CD recording in 2004 - Rachmaninoff's Eligiaque for trios, performed by Margret Arnadottir, Julia Sakharova and Yung Wook Yoo, reviewed by Nathan A Abbookire who said: "This is the performance that Rachmaninoff could only have dreamed of."
Margret Arnadottir will be performing in the New York area this coming season.
Anne Katrine Senstad - Photographer
Award Recipient 2006

Anne Katrine Senstad is a Norwegian photographer who lives in New York. She spent her formative years in South East Asia, while the developing years were spent in her
native Norway. In 1990 she came to New York to study at Parsons School of Design
where she graduated with a BFA/Fine art of Photography -w/Honors.
She has exhibited internationally, including at the Architectural Museum in Sao Paulo, Stichting Noorderlicht, The Netherlands, and Gary Snyder Fine Art in New York. Her first major solo show was held at Galleri JMS in Oslo, Norway, 2002 where she showed the Light and Color series, a photographic investigation of color, sound and light fields. She has been honored by Her Majesty the Queen of Norway on several occasions, and the Queen also opened Senstad's exhibition at the Trygve Lie Gallery in NY, Febuary 2005.
Her first artist book " The Norwegians" was released in December 2005, with essays by Gerhard Sander, founder of The Sander archives in Cologne, and Thure Erik Lund, prizewinning Norwegian author. The book contains 50 portraits of Norwegian men ranging from explorers to artists to everyday people.
In 2000 the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. made a portrait documentary on Anne Katrine Senstad as a Norwegian artist and photographer living in New York. The film aired in 8 European countries, and was viewed as an important informative document for young aspiring Scandinavian artists and photographers.
Anne Katrine Senstad has received grants from the Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs and The Norwegian Photography Foundation for the Arts.
Her work appears in private, corporate and gallery collections internationally.
For more information, go to her website: www.annesenstad.com
Anders Cato - Director
Award Recipient 2006

Anders Cato was born in Sweden and moved to New York in 1987.
He has directed a long list of plays in New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, besides Europe, among them several Scandinavian production: Ibsen, Strindberg and Noren. In 2005 he directed two critically acclaimed productions at the Berkshire Theatre Festival: David Mamet’s American Buffalo and his own adaptation of Strindberg’s The Father.
In 2002, Cato directed the world premiere of an adaptation by Craig Lucas of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, based on Cato’s own translation, also at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and in 2005 presented at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York.
Cato has collaborated in various capacities, director, producer, stage manager, with many of America’s finest playwrights, including Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, and Sam Shepard. He has written and recorded over 100 programs about American culture for Swedish National Radio. He recently produced a documentary film about Joseph Chaikin and his work with actors with disabilities.
This summer Anders Cato has been busy directing Garret Dillahunt, Robin Weigert and Linda Hamilton in The Night of the Iguana at the Berkshire Theatre Festival.
Arthur Shen - Singer
Award Recipient 2006
Arthur Shen is an American singer with a great love for Scandinavia in general and Finland in particular. His repertoire includes Sibelius, Kuula, Merikanto and Grieg, and among his ambitions is a plan to learn the new opera, “Adriana Mater” by Finnish composer, Kaija Saariaho.
With a formal training in opera from the Mannes College of Music, and ongoing voice lessons with Mignon Dunn, he has sung in several operas and choirs. His career highlights include Rodolfo in La Bohème, Ruggero in La Rondine, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, besides performances in Handel’s Messiah and Coronation Anthem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
Arthur is the winner of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant for 1999, and a scholarship recipient of both the Tanglewood Institute and the Mannes College of Music.
Along with his Finnish wife, he has traveled extensively in Finland and sung at music festivals and in recitals there, thus developing a special bond with the Finnish spirit as reflected in its music.
For more information, go to his website: www.arthur-shen.net
Jane C. Pejtersen - Actress
Award Recipient 2005
Jane Pejtersen came to NYC in 2002 from Copenhagen, Denmark on a scholarship to further her studies at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute as a singer and actress. She keeps her in touch with her Danish roots and through the Danish Consulate she has taken part in several cultural events. Jane is actively involved in the arts in New York and she's excited to live in a diverse city which offers inspiration and growth. Visit website: http://www.pejtersen.biz.
Sanni Orasmaa - Jazz Singer/Composer
Award Recipient 2005
Sanni Orasmaa is a native of Helsinki, Finland, currently residing in New York City. She is an active singer with a strong nordic influence as well as a composer and an educator. You can catch her unique northern sound in various downtown clubs and restaurants, Sanni has appeared at venues such as the Knitting Factory and the Rainbow Room, Sweet Basil, Detour and the Cornelia Street Cafe. Her most recent projects include performances with Charlie Hunter - Bobby Previte Duo and Kirk Nurock's "Cross-Species" Ensemble.
Visit website: http://www.iki.fi/sanni.orasmaa.
David Coucheron - Classical Violin Player
Award Recipient 2005
Brilliant Norwegian violin prodigy, 20 year-old David Coucheron, has given concerts throughout the USA, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Austria and in Norway and has won a range of national and international awards.
Visit website: http://www.coucheron.com.
Sarah Cameron Sunde - Theatre Director
Award Recipient 2005
Sarah Cameron Sunde is the Artistic Associate/Managing Director of New Georges, the OBIE-winning theater company now in its 12th season. In 1997, she co-founded Spindrift Theatre Makers in southwest England, where she created and directed a variety of work, including Sleep With Us, which won critical acclaim at the 1998 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In New York, she has directed new work by playwrights such as Carson Kreitzer, Steven Gridley, Kerry McGuire, Christy Hutchcraft, Alexandra Tolk and Christopher Dunkley for New Georges, HERE Arts Center, The Cherry Lane Studio Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source, Spring Theatreworks, Altered Stages, and The John Houseman Studio Theatre.
Visit website: http://www.[ ].com.
MIKA POHJOLA – Jazz musician, composer, producer
Award Recipient '96
I came to New York in 1995 after studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. I knew very few people in New York back then. After a few lucky encounters, I received an award a year later from the American Scandinavian Society. Certainly the money was welcome, since it enabled me to go forward with two album projects which were underfunded. But the biggest benefit was to meet so many people who became aware of what I do. It was as if I got a fan base as the award. That was more valuable and long lasting than money could buy. Since then, I have released a total of twelve CDs, toured every year, have become a Steinway artist and have collaborated in many interesting contexts. But one thing remains clear: The American Scandinavian Society trusted me and my music at a critical time; before I got recognition from a larger audience. Visit website: http://www.mikapohjola.com.
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