A Brief History

The American Union of Swedish Singers (AUSS) was organized over 125 years ago at the height of the immigration years. Swedes formed choruses here in America to sing the songs that they remembered and loved from their homeland. These individual choruses came together in 1892 to form the AUSS. Their first public appearance was at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Over the years the Union has performed for kings and presidents, and sung in the major opera houses of New York, Chicago and San Francisco, as well as Carnegie Hall, New York, Orchestra Hall and Auditorium, Chicago and the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. See other convention sites.

In the early years, most songs were sung in Swedish. Today, the repertoire of most choruses is about half Swedish and half English.