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The Berntsons (The Kennedy Center)

The Berntsons

Around 1900, a Norwegian immigrant named Bernt Berntson Bradskerud purchased a violin in a northern Wisconsin logging camp and gave it to his ten-year-old son, Bennie. Bennie began learning Scandinavian folk tunes from fiddlers in his rural Wisconsin immigrant community, especially his musical uncle and cousins. For the next thirty years, Bennie played all night long at house parties and community dances that featured Scandinavian waltzes, schottisches, and square dances.  These tunes became the backbone of the repertoire for the Berntsons.In the 1930s, Bennie Berntson’s son Maurice and daughter Eleanore joined the family music circle.

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Watch Past Performances

The Berntsons 12/3/09: The Berntsons

The family musicians play Scandinavian folk tunes on instruments that have been handed down by three generations: the 1916 Beckwith family pump organ, the 1920s B & D tenor banjo, and the late 1930s L 5 style guitar. Part of the Homegrown: The Music of America concert series.

The Berntsons

The family musicians play Scandinavian folk tunes on instruments that have been handed down by three generations: the 1916 Beckwith family pump organ, the 1920s B & D tenor banjo, and the late 1930s L 5 style guitar. Part of the Homegrown: The Music of America concert series.

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