Acclaimed Scandinavian Singers Come to Town

Trio Mediæval. Photo by Åsa-Maria-Mikkelsen.

Grammy-nominated Trio Mediæval will introduce the Early Music Now audience to Norwegian and Swedish/Estonian folk music when they perform in Milwaukee Saturday, January 17. Founded in 1997, Trio Mediæval is based in Oslo, Norway. Trio members are Anna Maria Friman-Henriksen, Linn Andrea Fuglseth, and Jorunn Lovise Husan.

Of Trio Mediæval’s sound, reviewer Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote “Singing doesn’t get more unnervingly beautiful. To hear the group’s note-perfect counterpoint – as pristine and inviting as clean, white linens – is to be astonished at what the human voice is capable of.” The group is currently serving a year-long residency at the University of Chicago. Their recently-released album YULE has been nominated for 2026 Grammy awards in three categories.

Trio Mediæval’s core repertoire includes sacred monophonic and polyphonic medieval music from England, Italy, and France, and contemporary works written for the ensemble. The Nordic folk songs on the EMN program have been arranged by members of the group to preserve their beautiful melodies, harmonies, and rhythmic structures for future generations of singers and listeners.

“Originally, the folk songs were all a part of daily life; people created tunes and texts for all sorts of daily events and special occasions,” the group says. “Folk music in the Nordic countries has a strong tradition of connecting a certain song or ballad to a specific place, event or even to a specific person. None of this music was composed to be a part of the concert scene nor to be performed to an audience as we understand the term today.”

Saturday’s program includes wedding tunes, lullabies, sun-prayers, love songs, and ballads from Norway, Sweden, Germany/Austria and Iceland. While some have texts dating to Medieval times, others are sung without words. Singers create rhythmic, instrumental-sounding dance music by inventing or improvising consonants in a style known as tulling, sulling, or tralling.

Trio Mediæval also will present several hymns and secular songs from the Swedish-speaking community that lived in Estonia for about 650 years. Originally, these tunes were sung freely by groups in which the more skilled singers varied and ornamented the melody. Later, they were performed by individual singers.

The singers accompany themselves using simple instruments: melody chimes, the hardanger fiddle (an 8 or 9-stringed, elaborately decorated fiddle that is Norway’s national folk instrument), and the shruti box (a portable hand-pumped instrument that creates a continuous drone).

“We would like to see this performance as our contribution to a living oral tradition,” the singers said. “Although these songs bear our musical imprint, they are coloured by all those who have performed and passed on the music before us.”

Trio Mediæval will perform at 5 p.m. Sunday, January 17, at St. Joseph Chapel, 1515 S. Layton Blvd., Milwaukee. A free pre-concert lecture begins at 4 p.m. Tickets are available online.