Alf Lunder Knudsen

Dr. Alf Lunder Knudsen

Born January 21, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York to Norwegian immigrant parents Hjørdis and Alf Knudsen. He died October 10, 2026 in Everett, Washington.

At the age of 2, Alf was taken back to Stavanger Norway and was raised by his mother’s family. Germany’s invasion of Norway in World War II dashed any hopes of reuniting the little boy with his mother.

Alf was born with a love of music, teaching himself how to play the bassoon, the trombone, and the euphonium. His ‘formal’ training consisted of two 12-day music camps – Sang og Musikkkurs at Gjermundnes, Romsdalen and another at Buskerud Folkehøgskole. His instrument of choice was bassoon, which he played during three concert seasons with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

Upon reaching his 18th birthday with dual citizenship, Alf was drafted by both the Norwegian and US militaries. His passion for music led to his requesting service with the military band in each country. Given his living in Norway at the time, US service would be deferred until he stepped on US soil, with no promises of assignment. Norway’s response was not promising as he was assigned to“Kløvhest kompani Nord Norge” – the cavalry in Northern Norway. Playing the trombone, euphonium, or bassoon was difficult enough without riding a horse in freezing weather, so Alf chose a different option. As a broke, young man, he travelled to the closest American soil which was the US army installation in Frankfurt/Zweibrücken, Germany. From there he was shipped to Fort Dix, New Jersey for basic training before heading to Fort Lewis, Washington where he began his service as a Message Center Chief. Alf was discharged from the same location he entered the military, returning him to Germany in 1956.

Searching first in Norway, then with parents in Maine USA, Alf was not finding what he was looking for, so he returned to the Pacific Northwest rejoining his friends in Seattle. On the dance floor of Norway Center he met the love of his life, Alma, and they married just 5 months later March 1959. They remained devoted to each other for 67 years.

Alf first worked as Material Investigator with the Boeing Airplane Company before returning to school and pursuing his passion of music. With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of Washington, Alf created a solid foundation for his legacy of bringing music to the lives of countless individuals around the world. He would go on to earn his Masters Degree with Administrative Credentials from Seattle University, and in 1989 he would return to the University of Washington to earn his Doctor of Philosophy in Scandinavian Languages and Literature.

He played baritone in the Century 21 Exposition Band for many years including the 1962 World’s Fair Band. Alf also played with the Seattle Park Band, and the Seattle Letter Carrier Band for a number of years.

He started teaching instrumental music for the Seattle Public Schools in 1963, teaching at several levels from elementary through high schools until his retirement after well over 30 years of service. He also taught Norwegian at Ballard High School until the program was discontinued due to financial cutbacks in the Seattle School District.

Alf brought a fond Norwegian tradition of community youth bands to the US, organizing the Ballard Youth Band (BYB) Vikings in June 1968. The BYB was reputed to have the largest repertoire of Norwegian music of any band outside Norway, from folksongs to popular melodies, patriotic songs to symphonic works. In 1973 the BYB Vikings went on a concert tour of Norway spending two weeks sailing along the coast from Bergen to Oslo. Highlights included marching in Stavanger’s 17th of May parade leading the American School contingent; playing for an audience of over 2,000 in Kristiansand’s beautiful natural outdoor amphitheater; performing in one of Oslo’s most prominent concert halls as guests of the Norwegian Band Association at their 50th Anniversary Concert. appearing on Norway’s Broadcasting Company (Norsk Rikskringkasting NRK), Radio Norway, and TV; being permitted to perform in front of the Royal Palace, a stage normally reserved for His Majesty’s own Royal Guard Band, Gardens Musikkorps; and holding a concert at The Bergen International Music Festival. The Ballard Youth Band was the Official 17th of May Band, the Official Band of the Norwegian American Sesquicentennial celebrations, and greeted His Majesty King Olav V of Norway on his trip to Seattle in 1975. The BYB also represented the City of Seattle on numerous official occasions, playing at the invitation of the Music Educators National Conference at their 1977 convention, performing for several Norwegian Ambassadors, and for the Swedish Naval visit.

Alf’s love of music was not restricted to instrumental music. A life member of the Norwegian Male Chorus (NMC) of Seattle, he was a past President, Assistant Director, and became its Director in 1974, a position he held until his retirement from the chorus. Under his leadership the NMC doubled in active members, at one point reaching 100 singers for its centennial celebration in 1989. From 1974 until 2006 he served as Director-in-Chief or Assistant Director-in-Chief for the Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers Association (PCNSA). He also served as Musical Director for the PCNSA Concert Tours of Norway in 1981 and 1997, including performances throughout Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. In 1989 Alf was both Chairman and Director-in-Chief for the very successful Centennial Anniversary Sangerfest hosted by the Norwegian Male Chorus of Seattle. It was the first International Sangerfest ever for the PCNSA, with several guest choruses attending from Norway and the US. This was only the second time that all Norwegian Male Choruses in the United States had met for a Sangerfest. He was appointed Director Emeritus and Honorary Member when he retired from directing the chorus.

Alf believed strongly in sharing the beauty of Norwegian music on many different levels. In 1975 he organized the first “Scandinavian Night With the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.” Guest Artists were his good friend and eminent baritone soloist with the Norwegian Opera Company Olav Eriksen, along with the Norwegian Male Chorus of Seattle. Besides directing the chorus, Alf also shared the podium with Maestro Milton Katims directing the Seattle Symphony.

His appreciation of ethnic music also led to his working with a variety of groups. He directed the Alpenröesli Swiss Chorus of Seattle for several years. As America celebrated its bicentennial in 1976, Alf organized the Bicentennial European Ethnic Song Festival of Seattle and was Director-in-Chief for this memorable concert. Nine different European ethnic choruses in all, representing six different countries, joined in this unique celebration, including (in alphabetical order) the Alpenröesli Swiss Chorus, Arion German Singing Society, Ballard Youth Band, Latvian Mixed Choir, Norwegian Ladies Chorus, Norwegian Male Chorus, Runeberg Chorus (Swedish/Finnish), Svea Male Chorus (Sweden), and Swedish Women’s Chorus.

As stated in Alf’s official greetings as Festival Director, “… The singers come from all parts of the various countries, but they have found their home in America … ‘This Is My Country, Land Of My Choice’ … the goal of the groups being to preserve and present music and culture of their native land and share with others some of the musical treasures from their heritage which they have brought with them to ‘these our own United States.’ There is no intent to pass this off as professionals performing – we are amateurs; however, few professional groups perform with the enthusiasm, spirit, and desire this amateur group does.”

The concert moved from stage to stage in Seattle’s original Opera House, taking the rapt audience from one country to the next on a musical world tour as each group shared treasures of their native lands. The individual choruses joined together in one mass group for the final songs – appropriately enough being “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” “This Is My Country,” and “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic” – all sung to the accompaniment of the Ballard Youth Band. As the curtain rose for this grand finale, a collective audible gasp went up from the audience and the performers were met with thunderous applause as those gathered took in the sight of a few hundred singers on one stage, each adorned in the beautiful national costume of his or her native land. This event was so very well received and successful that it was repeated as the Ethnic Song Festival in 1986, again with Alf as Festival Director.

While he was instrumental in helping promote and host numerous Norwegian bands, choruses, dancers and soloists in their efforts to perform and tour the US, Alf was also influential in his native Norway, working with Norwegian Hardingfele virtuoso Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa and his Ole Bull Akademiet in Voss, Norway. Alf was appointed Washington State coordinator for the Exchange Year of Music Norway/USA in 1989. Dr. Knudsen, a life member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national music fraternity, is listed in Oxford’s Dictionary of Who’s Who.

It is not only within the world of music that Alf played an active role in the Norwegian American community. Under his leadership, the 17th of May celebration in Seattle became one of the largest in the US – as the late Former Consul Thomas A. Stang put it, “Syttende Mai in Seattle is no longer a celebration of only Norwegians, now the entire City celebrates with us.” Alf served two years as Chairman of Seattle’s 17th of May Committee, was an Honorary Member of that committee, and chosen Honorary Marshal for the 1990 Syttende mai parade.

Alf was elected Vice President of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of Nordmanns-Forbundet (NF) in 1975, and served in that capacity for two years – introducing the popular Torskemiddag or codfish dinner – before becoming the chapter president, a position he held for six years. His plans for NF’s first annual meeting outside Norway, to be hosted by the Pacific NW Chapter, were received favorably by both Secretary General Johan Hambro and President Paul Thyness, and led to the first NF International Conference which was held in Seattle. A Life-Member of NF, Alf was a recipient of Nordmanns-Forbundet’s Fortjenstmedalje – the Norse Federation’s Medal of Merit.

He was a Golden Member of Leif Erikson Lodge #1 Sons of Norway, and appointed to represent the Lodge on the Norway Center Advisory Board. He served as board member and eventually board president. Alf was a member of the Norwegian Commercial Club and served as trustee, board member, secretary, and president. He also served on the Education Committee and chaired the Scholarship Committee.

Alf was a founding member of Bergen Klubben, served as the Seattle-Bergen Sister City Committee’s Education & Music Committee Chairman, a Leif Erikson League’s board member and chairman of the committee to rename a Seattle school to Leif Erikson School, founding president of the University of Washington Scandinavian Department’s Advisory Board, life member of the Cleng Peerson Memorial Institute, Nordic Heritage Museum’s Norway Room committee member, Norse Home life member, life- and board-member of the Norwegian-American Historical Association, member of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies, and board member of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah IA. Alf also served as Santa or Julenissen for many a Christmas celebration, even arriving aboard the Norwegian fiskeskøyte or fishing vessel “Toy” to a waiting cart pulled by Norwegian fjord horses in Ballard.

He helped organize and served as president of the Ballard Norsemen Soccer Club for teenagers in the Ballard area, their successful existence culminating with the team competing in the 1982 Norway Cup in Oslo, Norway.

When the Western Viking’s Editor/Publisher Henning C. Boe started talking about retirement after the 100th Anniversary of the paper in 1989, his ‘hand-picked’ successor was Alf, who organized a group to purchase the paper and prevent it from leaving the area. In 1990 the Western Viking was purchased, Alf was elected president of the Board of Directors, and he was appointed Editor/Publisher effective August 1990. Alf served as Editor/Publisher until he retired in July 1997, accepting the title of Editor Emeritus.

Among the honors and awards presented to Alf over the years are the State of Washington Ambassador of Good Will by Lieutenant Governor John A. Cherberg, Ballard Chamber of Commerce’s Stan Boreson Award, and the Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Award.

While he was genuinely touched and honored to receive each and every one of the awards presented to him throughout his life, from crystal statues ceremoniously presented by organizations to handwritten letters pressed into Santa’s hand by a shy little child sitting on his lap, 1995 would prove to be a year without comparison. In the presence of family and friends, Alf’s good friend Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad was ‘on a mission’ as His Majesty’s Representative. In recognition of Dr. Alf Lunder Knudsen’s immeasurable efforts to strengthen the ties between Norway and America, His Majesty King Harald V of Norway bestowed upon him Ridder av Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden – Knight of The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit. The country of Norway had recognized and publicly acknowledged something that countless people had the privilege of experiencing first-hand the invaluable touch of a master’s hand on their life, thanks to this Norwegian American musician.

Alf is survived by his wife Alma; children Kathleen, Lisa Ganung (Jeff), and Alf Knudsen Jr (Susan); grandchildren Chloe Knudsen and Curtis Ganung (Taylor Sullivan); cousin Sissel Lilledal and family; and numerous family members in Norway.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 14, 2026 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (215 W Mukilteo Blvd, Everett WA 98203). Interments will be held at a later date in Tahoma National Cemetery (Kent, Washington) and in Norway.

Memorials can be made to the Mayo Clinic (online at www.mayoclinic.org/campaign or by mail to: Department of Development, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester MN 55905) or to the charity of your choice.