People

New website for the Swedish-speaking job market in the New York area

Posted by Susanna at 4:48 AM, Jan 4, 2012 (Comments)

Category: People

Swede Hanna B. Jackson has launched the website http://swedishjobsnyc.com/  for employers looking for Swedish-speaking employees and Swedes looking for jobs in the Metropolitan New York area.

HANNA B. JACKSON - a 27-year old Swede from Stockholm living in New York - recently started the website http://swedishjobsnyc.com/ - for the Swedish speaking job market in the New York area.
"I was surprised that there was such a demand and many opportunities for people with a Swedish background in the New York job market. While looking for a job myself, I came up with the idea of a website, where Swedish companies and others could post their openings and Swedish speakers could look for work."

"THE GOAL is that the site will grow into a platform where Swedish companies with activity in New York and the United States, who are looking for Swedish-speakers, can advertise, so that employers and prospective employees can 'meet' directly on the site," says Hanna, who just started working on a project-basis as a legal researcher. Previously she worked as assistant editor for the online lifestyle magazine "UrbanDaddy" in New York, and also did freelance journalism work.

HANNA, who grew up in the Vasastan section of Stockholm, is married to an Australian and has lived in New York since 2008. She says her childhood dream actually was to become a reporter and writer. "My father thought I was a good writer and was supported of me becoming one, but he suggested that I studied law to get some competence that the journalists who went to university to study journalism would not have."

AFTER SPENDING 6 months in London after her high-school graduation, she started her law studies at the University of Stockholm Law School.
"The final push to study law came after a meeting with a successful lawyer at Sony in London, who was very inspirational."
Now she holds a masters degree in law, LL.M., but also spent one semester at Poppius Journalism School in Stockholm.

DURING A YEAR off, taking care of her infant son, she decided that after all she wanted to practice law. "I realized that the way a lawyer works - the different cases, the information gathering, and the problem solving - was the way I enjoyed working the most. But it proved much harder in this tough job market to start a legal career than I had anticipated at first."
"I am passionate about human and civil rights and have a great interest in immigration law, and I was looking at positions at international organizations and NGOs as well as law firms."

"I THOUGHT it would be easier for me to find a position with Swedish as a requirement or advantage, or within a Swedish company. Going through many job sites and hundreds of listings every day, was both time-consuming and monotone. I heard about other Swedes in my situation and since I was going through all these listings, I thought I might as well collect all the Swedish-related ones, and create a Swedish job site in the New York area!" she says.

HANNA LOVES living in New York. "It is a challenge and a struggle to live in New York, but there is a certain feeling of unity, that I never felt in Stockholm," she says. "It is wonderful, very inspiring, exhilarating and tough, with a fantastic social and nightlife."

"A FRIEND of mine once described living in New York as a constant battle, and I can understand what she meant. It is hard because it is full of so many talented and amazing people who all want to succeed. Rent is expensive, and no one here is going to babysit you. But with this 'battle' comes a feeling of belonging, everyone who is here is here because they want to, and the battle is worth it because of all the opportunities and incredible experiences that New York brings."

HANNA AND her husband Chad and their young son now live in Brooklyn, but they previously lived in Manhattan. She says that her closest friends are Swedish, but that she meets a lot of different people and has friends from a variety of countries, but notes that "New York is full of Swedes. I feel like I meet new ones every week!"

"AND RECENTLY I became a member of The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, New York (SACC-NY), and attended a couple of their events," says Hanna, who spends her leisure time enjoying New York's amazing restaurants, or playing chess which is a new-found obsession.

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Beautiful performance with Swedish pianist Niklas Sivelöv at House of Sweden in Washington, D.C.

Posted by Susanna at 9:30 AM, Apr 22, 2011 (Comments)

Category: People

Swedish pianist Niklas Sivelöv and press counselor Gabriella Augustsson, Embassy of Sweden

RENOWNED Swedish pianist Niklas Sivelöv (www.niklassivelov.com) did a fabulous performance - to a full Alfred Nobel Hall in House of Sweden in Washington, D.C. - on Wednesday evening, April. 20. The audience listened attentively when the Swede performed works by Johann Sebastian Bach (Partita no. 3 A minor BWV827), Robert Schumann (Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22), Franz Liszt (Tre Sonetti del Petrarca from Années de Pèlerinage II - Italy), Alberto Ginestra (Danzas Argentinas op. 2), and his own improvisions over Fredman's Epistlar by Swedish 18th century poet and composer Carl Michael Bellman.

NIKLAS Sivelöv, also a composer and teacher, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, where he made his debut in 1991 as a soloist, performing Bartok's Second Piano Concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

HE CONTINUED his studies in Helsinki, Bucharest and London, and soon attracted attention for his interpretations and range of repertoire, which extends from Beethoven to Lutoslawski and Ligeti, and in addition to works by a number of contemporary Swedish composers. He collaborates with conductors such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leif Segerstam and Paavo Berglund.

Spencer P. Boyer, the U.S. State Department, and Mark Vlasic, Georgetown University, came to the Sivelöv concert at the House of Sweden.

HE OFTEN CREATES a sensation for his intense and fiery performances. That occurred in New York City, when he performed with Mark Peskanov and Sophie Shao, which was praised by The New York Times, recommending it to the public.

MR. Sivelöv has performed all over the world and given master classes in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain and other countries. His many awards include Prestigious Prizes in International Piano Competitions in Geneva and Cincinnati. He was recently appointed Professor of piano at DKDM in Copenhagen.

NIKLAS Sivelöv continues his Washington visit with a performance at the Kennedy Center on Friday evening, April 29.

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Celebrated Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson and wife, model Gate Maya Haile covered by Uptown Magazine's April "Gourmet" issue

Posted by Susanna at 2:53 PM, Apr 4, 2011 (Comments)

Category: People

THE SWEDISH, Ethiopian-born, New York-based star chef Marcus Samuelsson is everywhere in the media these days. Just last week he was honored with hosting President Barack Obama's DNC Fundraiser at his new restaurant Red Rooster Harlem. And on Wednesday, April 6, he will be at the House of Sweden/Embassy of Sweden in Washington to promote his new book, "New American Table."

In the April "Gourmet" issue of UPTOWN Magazine (http://uptownmagazine.com/2011/04/uptown-magazine-the-gourmet-issue/) in New York, the celebrated chef and his beautiful wife, model Gate Maya Haile talk to the magazine about his critically acclaimed eatery, racism in the culinary industry and what it means to make history. The magazine's front page is covered by a glamorous photo of the handsome couple, and inside the publication there are more photos to admire (http://uptownmagazine.com/2011/04/behind-the-scenes-king-of-the-kitchen/).

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Reading and book signing in New York with popular Swedish crime writer Camilla Läckberg

Posted by Susanna at 8:39 AM, Mar 21, 2011 (Comments)

Category: People

MANY AMERICANSany Americans and other nationalities are very familiar with Swedish thriller writer Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy and the movies based on his trilogy. But there is another Swedish crime writer Camilla Läckberg (www.camillalackberg.com), who also has a very strong following internationally.

MS. Läckberg - who is one of Sweden's youngest successful female writers in her genre, crime novels, and sixth bestselling novelist in Europe, ahead of both Henning Mankell and John Grisham - will be at The Swedish Church in New York for a reading, followed by Q&A and book signing on Monday, March 28, 2011, at 7 p.m.

SHE IS IN the U.S. to promote the release of the first book in her three book trilogy - "The Ice Princess" - will become available in paperback. She has been a #1 bestselling writer in France, Spain and Italy, and in all of Scandinavia. In Sweden, a country of only 9 million people, she has sold 3 million copies, and she is the most profitable native author in Swedish history. Worldwide she has sold more than 7 million copies in 25 languages.

FREE PRESS AND Pocket Books will publish simultaneous trade and mass market editions on March 29, 2011. Then in May 2011, Pegasus will publish "The Preacher" - the second book in Läckberg's trilogy.

SWEDISH SEAMEN'S Church, Inc. (newyork@swedishchurch.net and www.svenskakyrkan.se/newyork) is located at 5 East 48th Street (between Madison and 5th Ave.). The event is presented by The Swedish Church in New York and Free Press/Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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The Swedish School for Language and Culture in Vienna, Virginia, celebrates its First Year Anniversary

Posted by Susanna at 2:00 PM, Sep 17, 2010 (Comments)

Category: People

A few of the students, teachers and parents at the school

THE SWEDISH School for Language and Culture in Vienna, Virginia, began its second school year on Saturday, September 11. After class, new and returning students, parents, and teachers celebrated their school's first anniversary with traditional Swedish cake decorated with strawberries and cream.

THE STUDENTS seemed to thoroughly enjoy their recess in the beautiful fall weather and a couple of parents led them in a quick game of field hockey. All meetings at the school end with a 30-minute gathering of students and their families.

The school's founders Lena Unander-Scharin and Carina Olsson

THIS FIRST MEETING of the year was spent sharing memories of the summer. The students, ages 5 to 17, were able to use their Swedish skills within the group. There were stories about flea market bargains in Skåne (a region in southern Sweden), meetings with dolphins in Florida and bearded horses in Iceland, and other exciting stories.

FOR MORE pictures and information, visit www.swedishlanguageschool.com.

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Zahra Bayati is awarded the 2010 Agneta and Gunnar Nilsson scholarship for studies in intercultural relations

Posted by Susanna at 11:59 AM, Jun 22, 2010 (Comments)

Category: People

Zahra Bayati

DURING SWEA's (Swedish Women's Educational Association) annual Sweden dinner in Malmö, August 12, Zahra Bayati will receive the 2010 Agneta and Gunnar Nilsson scholarship for studies in intercultural relations.

MS. BAYATI is a Ph.D. student at Gothenburg University and is working on her dissertation "Construction and reconstruction of ethnicity in the teaching education from a intercultural perspective and its consequences for a lasting societal development." She was born in Tehran, Iran, but came to Sweden with her son in 1987.

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Sabine Stölting receives SWEA International's literature scholarship

Posted by Susanna at 11:55 AM, Jun 22, 2010 (Comments)

Category: People

Sabine Stölting

SABINE Stölting, who is a Ph.D.-student at the university of Freiburg in southern Germany, has been awarded SWEA (Swedish Women's Educational Foundation) International's scholarship for research in the Swedish language, literature and society. She will use the $10,000 scholarship to conduct research on 19th-century Swedish straight plays and music.

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Shima Niavarani receives Sigrid Paskell's Scholarship 2010 from SWEA International

Posted by Susanna at 3:24 PM, Jun 21, 2010 (Comments)

Category: People

Shima Niavarani

SWEA (Swedish Women's Educational Association) has awarded Sigrid Paskell's Scholarship 2010 to Shima Niavarani, a real phenomenon in the Swedish theater scene. The 10,000 USD scholarship is awarded annually to an artist in the field of singing, dance, theater and instrumental music, who is in the beginning of his or her career.

MS. NIAVARANI, who has shown an extraordinary sense of creative ideas, production and stage presence, came to Sweden from Iran when she was 4 years old. And now, 20 years later, she is one of the most talented and versatile actresses in the country. A few years ago, she showed her strength with her own production "Shima Niavarani är en Ûbermensch," in which she showed her musicality and the support of "all those who feel fat, excluded and dumb." She has sung opera for several years, created characters such as Queen Christina and Gilda, has had eight premieres during two years at Upsala municipal theater, and has been widely acclaimed for her work.

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Dr. Anders Åslund speaks about "The Current Situation in Russia and What It Means for Sweden" at a SACU luncheon in Washington

Posted by Susanna at 9:38 AM, May 29, 2010 (Comments)

Category: People

Ingrid Beach and Dr. Anders Åslund

"THE CURRENT SITUATION in Russia and What It Means for Sweden" was the topic of a SACU (Swedish American Cultural Union) luncheon with Dr. Anders Åslund as the speaker on Thursday, May 27.

DR. Åslund, who is a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, spoke about the current social, political and economic situation in Russia and the implications that these circumstances have for Swedish foreign policy. He is a respected expert in the economics of Russia and central and eastern Europe, and has served as an economic adviser to the governments of Russia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Dr. Åslund presents his new book - "Russia after the Global Economic Crisis."

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Theater Manager Kjerstin Dellert "Woman of the Year"

Posted by Susanna at 9:35 AM, May 27, 2010 (Comments)

Category: People

Kjerstin Dellert. Photo: Kerstin Alm.

KJERSTIN DELLERT, theater manager of Ulriksdal Palace Theater or Confidencen near Stockholm, has received the award "The Woman of The Year 2010" by SWEA (Swedish Women's Educational Association) International. She is being honored for her extensive work for this historical Swedish palace theater, which otherwise would have been forgotten. The Woman of the Year-award will be presented at SWEA's yearly Sweden dinner August 12. Since 1989 18 Swedish women - who in different ways have been "ambassadors" for Sweden received the honor Årets Svenska Kvinna (Woman of the Year).

KJERSTIN Dellert, who has been a force internationally in the cultural life, rediscovered Confidencen in 1981 two years after she retired from a successful career as an opera singer. She started her singing career at Stora Teatern (The Grand Theater) in Gothenburg, before joining the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where she worked for 25 years. She also toured extensively, with performances in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Moscow, Warsaw, Hamburg, Bremen, Frankfurt, Munich, Basel, Montreux, Siena, Edinburgh and Montreal, among other places. Kjerstin Dellert has previously received several honors, for example Illis Quorum and Royal Musical Academy's gold medal.

ADDITIONALLY to the work with Ulriksdal Palace Theater or Confidencen, she has also produced a training film, which can be used in old-age care.

CONFIDENCEN is part of the Ulriksdal Palace estate; one of the five official residences of the Swedish Royal Family.

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