Augustana will honor six individuals for excellence and achievement in the performing and visual arts over Viking Days weekend.
The 2019 PVA Hall of Fame awards will be presented during the Command Performance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, at the Washington Pavilion.
2019 Augustana Arts Hall of Fame Inductees
Alan J. Berdahl ’71, Instrumental Music
A music major, Alan Berdahl was known for his willingness to jump in and “do it all” during his years at Augustana. A band and brass choir member, student conductor and tuba promoter, Al taught band in George, Iowa; Garretson, South Dakota; and Hills, Minnesota. After leaving his teaching career behind, he worked with Lutheran Brotherhood — all the while using his musical skills as an avocation. He played in the Sioux Falls Municipal Band, donning those heavy wool uniforms in the heat of the summer to play throughout the city. Berdahl was the founder of the Sioux Falls Chapter of Merry Tuba Christmas and has been instrumental in organizing and conducting the group for many years — the exception being the year he played with the New York Chapter at Rockefeller Center’s annual Merry Tuba Christmas.
Berdahl is a graduate of the Augustana Academy and, as such, organized and conducted the reunion choirs. He has sung and conducted in church choirs throughout the area and served on the board of the Berdahl-Rolvaag House.
Currently sought as a speaker, Berdahl is employed by the Dakota Lions Eye Bank as an educator. He and his son, Dr. John Berdahl, have presented eye donor talks all over the country.
Dr. James N. Berdahl ’65, Instrumental Music
Jim Berdahl was an active member of the Augustana Band where he holds the distinction of having been the Drum Major the year the “new” Nordic uniforms were introduced. Following graduation from Augustana, he earned his master's degree at the University of Iowa and his doctorate in musicology at the University of Miami. Jim had additional training at the Juilliard School and the Pierre Monteux Foundation.
Berdahl took a job as librarian for the Minnesota Orchestra in 1976 and in 1986 became the orchestra and operations manager. From 1991 until 2001, Jim was the general manager of the Houston Symphony Orchestra where he administered a $13 million budget and supervised a staff of 19. During these years he developed and led multiple tours of the orchestra to Japan and Europe, created the Houston Symphony Chamber Players and expanded education and outreach activities involving free concerts for nearly 30,000 fifth-graders.
From 2002-08, Berdahl was the general manager of the Aspen Music Festival and School, one of the United States' premier classical summer music festivals. Jim oversaw more than 400 events during the 9-week festival, as well as the educational components of their residencies and performances during the winter season. Berdahl ended his career in 2009 with a one-year appointment as the vice-president for artistic planning at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Berdahl has been nationally recognized for his work with the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Wheeler Opera House, the American Composers Forum and the College Music Society. He was founder and president of the Major Orchestra Librarians Association.
Dr. Joel ’57 and Diane (Hinsvark) Eide ’58, Art
Joel and Diane have been deeply attached to the arts at Augustana for fifty years. When Diane first came to Augustana, she found herself in a plum position working as a student assistant to theatre director Earl Mundt. She soon added work as an accompanist in the music department while studying keyboard with J. Earl Lee and Verona Rogness, and pipe organ with Merle Pfleuger. Joel and Diane met as she accompanied him both at Augie and, thereafter, as he performed opera and recitals. They worked various church music programs as organist and choir director. Both Joel and Diane earned degrees in art and design from Augustana. Joel went on for master's work at the University of Denver and a doctorate from the University of Northern Colorado. Diane earned a master's degree from the University of Northern Arizona.
Joel and Diane taught art and music in public schools and then at Northern Arizona University where Joel also served as director of the NAU Art Museum. Diane is an accomplished artist and together they own Gallery 465 in Flagstaff, Arizona. Diane’s work will be exhibited in the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery during AU's Viking Days celebrations.
Dr. Wayne Mitchell ’58, Vocal Music
Dr. Wayne Mitchell is a Sioux Falls native with degrees from Augustana College (bachelor's), the University of Colorado (master's of music) and University of Iowa (doctor of musical arts). Mitchell started his teaching career in Tracy, Minnesota. He moved to the collegiate level in 1966 and taught at Westmar College until 1983. A soloist at the Messiah Festival at Bethany College (Lindsborg, Kansas) for six years, Mitchell was the Festival conductor in 1984-85.
Early in his career, Mitchell helped launch the All-State Chorus in Minnesota. His membership in ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) is number 303. He also joined NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) while still teaching on the high school level. While pursuing his master of music degree, he studied with Dr. Berton Coffin and Aksel Schiotz. Mitchell first met Schiotz while a student at Augustana and would later become the subject of his DMA Thesis. Schiotz was considered the most important singer of German Lieder and the best Danish tenor of the WWII era.
He is a retired voice professor, having retired in 1998 from serving on the vocal faculty at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Mitchell lives today in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, with his wife, Doris.
Clive Rosengren ’65, Theatre
A South Dakota native, Clive Rosengren earned a bachelor of arts degree from Augustana, and a master's of arts from North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.
After a 13-month stint with the U.S. Army in South Korea, Rosengren spent ten years working as a stage and commercial actor in Minneapolis before moving to Cleveland, where he performed six seasons with the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, he spent a year at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, California.
Los Angeles credits include the movies Ed Wood, Cobb, Soapdish, Three Fugitives, Bugsy, Phantoms and That Thing You Do! Among his television credits are Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Ellen, Providence, thirtysomething, Beauty and the Beast, and Cheers, where he played the only person to throw Sam Malone out of his own bar.
This “recovering actor’ with a slew of recognizable film and television roles on his resume has written a new role for himself as the author of a series of detective mysteries featuring private eye Eddie Collins. Rosengren has written five books in the Eddie Collins Mystery series: Murder Unscripted, Red Desert, and Velvet on a Tuesday Afternoon. Books one and two were both finalists for the Shamus Awards, sponsored by the Private Eye Writers of America. His fourth book, Martini Shots, named for the final shot of the day during a film production (after which, elbows are bent and drinks are served). The fifth book also has an acting-insider’s title, “Frog in a Bucket,” a phrase used by background extras so not to disturb the primary actors in a scene.
Rosengren currently lives in southern Oregon, amidst a 1,000+ title movie collection and an extensive crime fiction library. He’s quite content to let the internet and Google Maps escort him around Hollywood.