How Swede it is: Free concert coming to Augie

Acclaimed Swedish folk musicians Jaerv and American classical crossover duo The OK Factor will perform Thursday at 7 p.m. at Augustana College’s Gävle rooms in The Gerber Center for Student Life, 3435 9 1/2 Ave., Rock Island.

The free concert is co-sponsored by the American Scandinavian Association at Augustana, the Quad City Arts Visiting Artist Series and Augustana College.

This event follows the American Scandinavian Association’s yellow pea soup and Swedish pancake dinner at 5 p.m.

Minneapolis, Minn.-based string duo The OK Factor, and award-winning Swedish quintet Jaerv, will present their program, Traditions. In 2017, the bands’ musical worlds collided after The OK Factor (cellist Olivia Diercks and violinist Karla Colahan) 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 another’s talent, rhythmic intricacies, inspiring melodic ornamentation, fascinating instrumentation, and musical traditions, according to a tour release.

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 U.S. The artists performed this past weekend at Bishop Hill.

The two acts are the current Quad City Arts Visiting Artists this week. For more information on Jaerv, click HERE. For more on OK Factor, click HERE.