Berne Swissfest, Minnesota, USA

The Charm of an Old World Festival, Family Entertainment at its best!

The guest biographies

2011 guest biographies   
  The 2011 featured entertainer will be Toni Blum Seitz. Toni is a 6th generation Swiss whose descendants came from the towns of Bilten and Hatzingen in the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. Toni began her interest in yodeling when very young. She had 3 older sisters who took lessons from world-renowned yodeler and flag thrower, Robbie Schneider

2010 guest biographies  

 

 Peter Rosenast

Peter Rosenast came to the United States from Switzerland in 1970. He farms near Corvallis Oregon raising cattle and milking cows. He has been the lead Yodeler for a Swiss yodel club, Jodel Klub Edelwyss, since 1983 in the Vancouver WA area.  Swissfest 2010 will not be Peter's first time entertaining at Swissfest but this will be the first time that he will be joined by his three daughters.  They will sing and yodel with Peter and also perform some songs as a group named "The Farmer Girl Trio". 

2009 guest biographies 

 

Annelies Caprez 

Annelies Caprez was born in Bilten, Canton Glarus, Switzerland. She acquired a love of singing from her mother and an ear for music from her father who was a hobby musician. In 1959 she immigrated to Washington State and later sang with the Seattle "Alpenroesli". She participated in two "Jodlerfests" in Switzerland; 1992 in Glarus and 1995 in Dietikon, ZH. When Starbucks opened in Zuerich, Annelies was asked to represent Switzerland with a yodel at their corporate headquarters in Seattle. Annelies loves to sing "Natur" yodels in the traditional style. For the past 20 years she has been a charter member of the Enzian Swiss Ladies Choir. Also Annelies and an Enzian member, Lisa Pozzi, formed a duet to sing at different occasions.

Annelies has been asked numerous times to yodel at funerals for departed members of various Swiss Clubs in the Tacoma area. Last July she participated at the twenty-sixth Pacific Coast Swiss yodeling and singing Festival in Portland, OR with solo yodels and in the mass choir as well as in duets. For the last 10 years she helped out at the "Kids Swiss Kamp" in the Tacoma,WA area teaching kids Swiss songs in the hope to instill some of the musical traditions.
 

2008 guest biographies 

 

The Yodelling-Duet of sisters, Iren Kiser and Hedy Hodel, has performed since 2000 at a wide variety of events and has received top performance marks at local and federal yodelling contests. They have appeared on TV and radio, singing with their groups and together on compact discs. This past year they produced their own CD “Wunder vom Augeblick” which means miracles of the moment. Hedy and Iren will be accompanied on the button accordion by Manuela Kiser, Iren’s oldest daughter. 

 

Woodcarver, Roman Räss learned the profession of Weisskufer and woodcarver in Appenzell. He studied in Brienz and worked for one of the famous companies there. He now carves on his own producing traditional Swiss milk buckets and wood sculptures.
 

 

 Scherenschnitte Artist, Erika Hager, made her first appearance at the Berne Swissfest last year. She specializes in the typical traditional Swiss style of scissor cutting showing farmers, animals and country objects. Her cuttings include little birds, flowers, rabbits or squirrels everywhere being produced on a folded sheet of paper.


edited June 6th, 2010 2008 by  William Andrist       Copyrights by its authors