THE NEWS FROM BRUNER’S BROOD-SUMMER UPDATE-TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2025

Hi everyone!

I trust all is well where you are I also hope that each of you have had a productive and busy second quarter of 2025 and that summer is giving you time to relax or become very busy over the summer musical season, depending on your line of work. It has been a busy spring season for me and our family musically, which allows me to write a short update for my Facebook pages and www.trentbruner.com. Between church music work, choirs and a busy calendar of substitute piano teaching, our house renovations are 95% finished now. We await others on summer holidays to return and finish the work in the coming weeks.

For those of you who have recently liked and followed my artist page since March 2025, I thank you publicly again for your interest and kind support as well as welcome the new followers who have come onboard. A warm welcome to you all! Please share this page with others, tell those you know that this page and website exists, and let them know that activities and events are lining up for summer 2025. Here’s the latest, starting with family achievements.

The Norwegian Traditional Folk Music Championships took place June 25-29 in Eidfjord, east of Bergen in the Norwegian interior. Our daughters, Hannah Moira and Ingrid Sofie, did very well, as well as my wife’s oldest daughter, Silje Midtbø Vevle and her fiddling partner Una Aina O’Keefe.

Starting with Ingrid Sofie, she was active in six classes between fiddle and dance through the competition, winning three of them: Junior Hardanger Fiddle (18 & under) for the first time, Junior Standard Fiddle (18 & under) for the second year in a row, and with her small group “Nøringen”, winning the junior small group class for the fourth year in a row; a musical hat trick! The large group classes with the Bergen Junior Fiddlers and the Osterøy Fiddle and Dance Troup (Adult Group) rewarded them with second and third placings, and an opportunity to dance with Osterøy’s large adult group class as well, doing a respectable demonstration for local folk dance.

With Hannah Moira, she received her second qualifying result in as many years that earned her promotion from adult hardanger fiddle to the championship class for 2026 and beyond. In addition, she won the adult standard fiddle class for the first time and received her first qualifying result towards promotion to the championship standard fiddle class. She also played in the Osterøy adult fiddle group that received third place and an opportunity to dance with Osterøy’s large adult group class as well, doing a respectable demonstration of Osterøy folk dance. She also competed with three fellow students from the Norwegian Conservatory of Music in Oslo in the Open repertoire class that performed an original waltz from cellist Line Tønnesen Norberg and an original halling in 2/4 time from Hannah Moira, with both tunes arranged by the quartet in a medley.

With Hilde’s oldest daughter, Silje Midtbø Vevle, she and her fiddle friend, Una Aina O’Keeffe, competed in the adult small group class and finished third, and Silje and Una were in the adult fiddle group that finished in third place. In addition, Silje’s youngest son, Magnus Vevle Jakobsen, aged four, performed in the 12 and under participation round Saturday, with Grandma (Hilde) and Grandpa (Yours truly) in the audience. He was very delighted to receive a chocolate of his choice after his performance, so fiddling is alive and well in the whole family from generation to generation!

As for me, I have been on a composing streak with new country gospel songs that had many ideas stored in the computer from Fall 2017 until now. When the carpenters were not at work on the house, I was able to finish 13 songs in addition to the 19 songs I have been working on over the past eight years. When late March came, ideas from family, world events and church ministry work started coming and never stopped until I was able to assemble these 32 new songs into what will be two new gospel songbooks in hard copy and PDF in August. Release details will come shortly.

As a choir conductor, concerts went well with the Tysnes Chamber Choir’s appearance in Haugesund for a choir gathering in May, and the Alvidt Manger Singers’ performance in Bergen’s Salhus Lutheran Church, with a Sunday morning service in Hosanger Lutheran Church included just before the Salhus concert as well. These choirs are on summer break and will begin a new season in September. Songs have been selected, arrangements have been created on request, and practice tracks have been recorded for the first rehearsals.

The annual Canadian fiddle tour as a house accompanist for shows, dances and competitions has some confirmed dates now and others to be announced shortly. I can declare a portion of these dates now for your calendars with more information to come. I will be back home at the Canwood Elks Hall for another fiddle show and dry dance sponsored by the Canwood Library Board on Monday, August 18th. This will feature Saskatchewan representatives attending the 2025 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition in Kamloops, British Columbia, August 22-23. I will be one of the house accompanists for the Canadian Grand Masters again with Ontario pianist Melika Lemelin. Details are at cgm2025kamloops.com and https://www.canadiangrandmasters.ca. I will also return as a house accompanist for the Pembroke Fiddle and Step Dance Contest in Ontario (pembrokefiddlestepdance.com) on Labour Day Weekend before returning to Norway. Please share these dates with all you know and invite your family, neighbours and friends to attend these upcoming events. They are family friendly, worth the price of admission, and all the musicians and organizers will be thankful for your support.

In closing, July 22nd in Norway is a day of remembrance honouring the 77 victims of the terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya Island this date in 2011. Many in Norway took time to remember this solemn day, including me. There were two victims who lived in our Valestrand neighbourhood who lost their lives. For their families, the pain of loss has not gone away, as I observed when I attended the Osterøy memorial this afternoon. May we live in a world of peace where life is treasured for all, as it is sacred, special and only happens once for each of us who have this gift. We wish everyone a wonderful, musical summer. More performance information will come shortly. Until next time, see you down the musical trail!

Musically Yours, Trent