ABERDEEN, S.D. – Marla Fogderud, associate professor of music at Northern State University, was recently elected to a second term as president of the International Edvard Grieg Society (IGS) at the organization’s 2025 General Assembly in Bergen, Norway. The society promotes the research and performance of music by Norway’s most famous composer and oversees 22 national and regional Grieg societies worldwide. Fogderud is also the founder and president of the Edvard Grieg Society of the Dakotas.

At the biennial conference, held Nov. 5–7, Fogderud presented “How Can You Forget Old Norway?—Norwegian Musical Influence in the Upper Midwest.” The conference theme, “Crossing Edvard Grieg: Two Hundred Years of Music and Migration,” served as part of the 2025 bicentennial commemoration of the beginning of Norwegian migration to North America.

A specialist in Norwegian music, Fogderud has helped bring numerous concerts to audiences across the Dakotas, including several hosted on the Northern State University campus. In December 2024, she performed with Norwegian pianist Oda Voltersvik, who has served as artist-in-residence with the Edvard Grieg Society of the Dakotas since October 2023.

Fogderud is in her 13th year at Northern, where she teaches voice, opera-related courses, and Music Theory III and IV.

For more information, contact Northern State University School of Fine Arts at 605-626-2497.