Title: Beth Hoven Rotto collection
Inclusive Dates: 1882-2022

Creator:

• Rotto, Beth Hoven, 1956-

Unique Identifier: mml041

Quantity: Collection includes: papers, newspaper clippings, photographs, journals, newspapers, concert flyers and programs, tunebooks, audiocassettes and CDs.

• 1 Linear Feet
• 2 document boxes, 1 CD box

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mills Music Library

Archival Location:

UW-Madison Libraries, Mills Music (Map)

Abstract:

The Beth Hoven Rotto collection contains journal and newspaper articles, concert flyers and programs, correspondence, research papers and sound recordings related to Beth Rotto's career as a fiddler, music teacher and researcher of Norwegian-American folk and old-time music from the Upper Midwest.

Language: English .

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mus-mml041

This collection includes no known access restrictions.

Gift of Beth Hoven Rotto, 2022

Organized into five series: 1. Articles, II. Flyers and Programs, III. Correspondence, IV. The New Ole Hendrick Orchestra, V. Sound Recordings.

Beth Hoven Rotto is a fiddler and researcher of Norwegian-American folk and old-time music from Decorah, Iowa. Beth began playing violin in school and then at Luther College in Decorah. Her interest in Scandinavian fiddle music developed in the 1980s, and in 1988 she began an apprenticeship with Bill Sherburne at the Highlandville Dances. She formed the band Foot-Notes in 1991 to continue the dance tradition.

Foot-Notes released the albums "Decorah Waltz" and "My Father Was a Fiddler..." in the 1990s, and performed at the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folklife in 1996. Beth has continued to collect and teach fiddle tunes and dances, and has collaborated on projects highlighting the music of Norwegian-American musicians such as Ole Hendrick and John Arndt Mostad.

In the spring of 2022, Beth Hoven Rotto became the musician-in-residence at UW-Madison, working with the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures and at the Mills Music Library to study the university's collections of Upper Midwest Scandinavian music.

[Title of item], [Name of collection]. Mills Music Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Beth Hoven Rotto Collection is stored in 2 document boxes and 1 box of audiovisual recordings. It is divided into five series covering articles, flyers and programs, correspondence, the New Ole Hendrick Orchestra papers and sound recordings.

Series I contains articles from newspapers and journals related to Beth Hoven Rotto's musical career and the history of Scandinavian-American music in the Upper Midwest.

Series II contains flyers and programs for live concerts featuring performances by Beth Hoven Rotto, and by musical groups including Foot-Notes and the New Ole Hendrick Orchestra.

Series III contains correspondence.

Series IV contains papers associated with the New Ole Hendrick Orchestra project, and a tunebook created by Ole Hendrick in the 1880s.

Series V contains a variety of CDs and audiocassettes, including albums released by Foot-Notes, interviews, and live recordings of Beth Hoven Rotto and other folk musicians.

Collection materials may be subject to laws governing rights. Researchers are solely responsible for determining the rights status of the materials they use. Permission may be required for some uses such as publication or reproduction.

ViolinistsNorwegian Americans -- Iowa -- MusicFoot-Notes (Musical group); The New Ole Hendrick Orchestra (Musical group); Blagen, Ellen; Clark, Thea Arndt; Ellingson, Gust; Hendrick, Ole; Johnsrud, Orvin; Mostad, Johan Arndt; Munkel, Arnold; Sherburne, Bill

I	Series: Articles, 1992-2022
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 1	"Shaking the schoolhouse floor" by Erica Gilbertson, p. 10-11. Luther College Clips 1992-04-16
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 2	"Why are all these people dancing?: ruminations on the 20th season of Highlandville Dances" by Bill Musser, p. 10-11. Trapeze. Vol. 1, No. 1, Winter 1994
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 3	"Teaching the nation to schottische: Smithsonian welcomes Foot-Notes to Festival of American Folklife" by Carole Engelhart, p. 16-19. Luther Alumni Magazine. Vol. 30, No. 1, Fall 1996
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 4	"Songs that last forever: Beth Hoven Rotto preserves old time Scandinavian tunes for posterity" by Lori Erickson, p. 26-27. The Iowan. Vol. 47, No. 4, March/April 1999
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 5	"Norwegian-American fiddlers, part I: Beth Hoven Rotto" by Julane Lund, p. 16-19. Fiddler Magazine. Vol. 15, No. 3, Fall 2008
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 6	"'Dance with the trolls' at Nordic Fest", by Julie Berg-Raymond, p. 1-6. The Decorah Journal. Vol. 150, Iss. 30 2015-07-23
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 7	"States of America: Beth Hoven Rotto, Decorah, Iowa" by Sara Friedl-Putnam. Inspire(d). No. 53, Spring 2018
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 8	"Steps back in time: Foot-Notes Scandinavian music keeps dancers turning at Highlandville Schoolhouse" by Kristine Jepsen. Inspire(d). No. 58, Summer 2019
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 9	"Musician making a connection: Beth Hoven Rotto immersing herself in folk music history" by Roz Weis. Driftless Journal. Vol. 4, Iss. 17 2022-04-26
II	Series: Flyers and Programs, 1991-2021	⇧
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 10	Concert flyers, 1991-2021
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 11	Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife. Program, 1996
III	Series: Correspondence, 1989-2022	⇧
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 12	Blagen, Ellen J. Letters and newspaper clippings 1989
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 13	Rue, Anna. Invitation to Spring Dance featuring musician-in-residence Beth Hoven Rotto 2022-04-18
IV	Series: New Ole Hendrick Orchestra, 1882-2019	⇧
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 14	The New Ole Hendrick Orchestra. Photograph, flyer and historical documents 1924-2019
Box [89109122606]   1   folder 15	The New Ole Hendrick Orchestra. Research notes, 1935-2019
Box [89109127464]   2	Ole Hendrick tunebook, 1882
V	Series: Sound Recordings, 1965-2005	⇧
A	Subseries: Audio Releases, 1996-1998
Box [89109122648]   3   Disc 1	Foot-Notes. Decorah waltz. COMP DISC 33688. Foot-Notes, 1996 Physical Description: 1 audio disc : digital, CD audio ; 4 3/4 in.
Box [89109122648]   3   Disc 2	Foot-Notes. My father was a fiddler... COMP DISC 33686. Foot-Notes, 1998 Physical Description: 1 audio disc : digital, CD audio ; 4 3/4 in.
B	Subseries: Interviews, 1997	⇧
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 3	Conversations with Beth Hoven Rotto. 1. Orvin Johnsrud at his home in Spring Grove, MN ; 2. Arnold Munkel in Spring Grove, Minnesota 1997-07-07 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
C	Subseries: Live Recordings, 1965-2005	⇧
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 4	From Orvin Johnsrud's collection: his favorite fiddlers (local) (historic), 1965-1980 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 5	Gust Ellingson and Jimmy Jenson, 1965-1980 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 6	Oliver "Gust" Ellingson and Thea Arndt Clark play Johan Arndt Mostad, 1965-07-29 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 7	Historic recordings from Ellen Blagen (local), 1974 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 8	1. Highlandville Dance ; 2. Lesson with Bill Sherburne, 1988 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 9	1. Foot-Notes on KUNI ; 2. Foot-Notes on Down Home Dairyland, 1997-03 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette
Box [89109122648]   3   othertype 10	1. Sprakteigen, April 2005 ; 2. Folkemusikktimen, 8 May 2005 Physical Description: 1 audiocassette