“I think this was an excellent group to have at our school. It exposed a new genre of music to our students. They liked to see the instruments in action. I also got to eat lunch with the group after and they were all so friendly and it was great to meet them. ”
““We absolutely loved [it], it was our biggest attendance we have ever had. The performance was above and beyond – excellent. We were in awe of their talent!””
“Jaerv and the Minneapolis-based duo The OK Factor were nothing short of captivating and enriching. Their collaboration brought forth a vibrant celebration of traditional Swedish folk music, dance, and cultural exchange, leaving a lasting impression on both students and faculty alike. Through their collaborative efforts, they fostered a deeper appreciation for the rich tapestry of Swedish culture, sparking curiosity and inspiring a newfound love for folk traditions. ”
Minneapolis, MN-based string duo The OK Factor, and award-winning Swedish quintet Jaerv, are excited to present their program, Traditions.
Following their joint Swedish tours in the summer of 2021 and 2022 and their US tours in the fall of 2022, 2023, and January 2024, the bands are excited to share the music and camaraderie that grew from these cultural exchanges.
In 2017, the bands’ musical worlds collided after The OK Factor opened for Jaerv at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. There was an immediate connection between them, grounded in a mutual love and respect for one anothers’ talent, rhythmic intricacies, inspiring melodic ornamentation, fascinating instrumentation, and - yes, musical traditions.
After shared performances and the study of traditional Swedish and American music throughout their tour of Sweden, a natural and organic partnership has developed between The OK Factor and Jaerv that is felt, seen, and heard by their audiences, both in Sweden and in the US.
Throughout Traditions, the bands hone the art of collaboration through unique instrumentation and sensitive musical interplay, creating a palpable joy that their audiences will carry home. And for those who can’t make it to the concert, the bands are seasoned educators, and are excited to offer community outreach in a myriad of settings, including schools. Through a respect for musical tradition paired with the desire to expand its boundaries, the bands encourage their audiences to follow it not just back in time, but into the future.
Joel Hagen - flute, whistles, soprano saxophone, vocals
Markus Gustavsson - fiddle, lead vocals
Tobias Hedlund - percussion, vocals, pump organ
Harald Nilsson - guitars, vocals
Anders Bergsten - double bass, nyckelharpa, vocals
Olivia Diercks - cello
Karla Colahan - violin
MEDIA
Listen
This EP is a compilation of live recordings from their US/Sweden tours from 2021 - 2023, captured in fields of the Midwest and forests of Sweden. It reflects the bands’ respect for musical tradition paired with the desire to expand its boundaries. It is their sincere hope that every listener experiences the tangible joy that pulses through each band member, and follows their own traditions not just back in time, but into the future.
Photos
band bios
About Swedish Band Jaerv
Jaerv is an award-winning Swedish quintet, which presents extroverted, vigorous and heartfelt traditional music with influences from both jazz and pop music. Together Joel Hagen (flute, whistles, soprano saxophone, vocals), Anders Bergsten (double bass, nyckelharpa, vocals), Harald Nilsson (guitars, vocals), Markus Gustavsson (fiddle, lead vocals) and Tobias Hedlund (percussion, vocals, pump organ) have created a homogeneous, vivid sound which has established Jaerv on the traditional music scene. Rooted in several different musical traditions, Jaerv has made a global name for itself, touring in the U.S., Japan, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Finland, Norway and more. Equally recognized by their traditional music peers as from popular music press like Billboard.
“Jaerv takes the elements of traditional Scandinavian music and reflects them through a modern prism, with an all-acoustic sound that nonetheless takes a bevy of tricky turns in rhythm and harmony that makes the pleasant rural melodies ring with a contemporary complexity” (Pop Matters).
"They are singing, playing, storytelling and are so terribly good. The audience is knocked out by their performance!" (Susanne Rydén - President of the Royal Academy of Music)
"One of Sweden's most inventive folk bands." (Nordstjernan US-magazine)
Selected US-touring 2019-2020 - Cedar Cultural Center (Minneapolis), Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago), House of Sweden (Washington DC), Blackstone River Theatre (Cumberland), The Ware Center, (Lancaster), Calvin University (Grand Rapids)
About Minneapolis, MN Duo The OK Factor
Olivia Diercks and Karla Colahan - cellist and violinist of the new-classical crossover duo, The OK Factor - have one word to describe their musical connection: lucky. The almost telepathic way they respond to one another is palpable to the audiences they capture during performances, as is their spontaneity and joy. Organic and genuine, their original compositions and arrangements feel both comfortingly familiar and uniquely fresh, and have been described as "genre-bending" (Julie Amacher, MPR) and "pure magic" (Wausau Pilot & Review).
Celebrating 10 years of writing, performing, and touring, The OK Factor has honed in on ways they can impact the communities they visit outside the concert hall. Residency work has become a deep passion - sharing intimate performances, conducting outreach activities, and leading workshops for students through their education initiative, ATLAS. Olivia and Karla are also sought-after collaborators and composers-in-residence, having worked with many regional, national, and international artists, and various digital music libraries.
The OK Factor’s distinct compositional and performance style awarded them the honor of being finalists for the prestigious McKnight Fellowships for Musicians in 2018, and Artist Fellowship recipients for Scandinavian Folk Arts and Cultural Traditions through the American Scandinavian Foundation in 2020. The duo has produced five studio albums of their original pieces and arrangements: Water Street ('14), That's Enough of That ('16), Have Yourself an OK Christmas ('17), Season’s Greetings (‘20), and OKX (due to release in the spring of ‘23).