New York, where it was disbanded. The weakness of the Association lay in its directors being chosen from such widely scattered spots that it proved too difficult for them to get together for meetings, so that the Finnish-American Music Association soon came to an end.

Meanwhile, a Sibelius Society had been founded in Pennsylvania in 1915, with aims parallel to those of the Association. The Sibelius Society, which used the composer's name with his permission, began to supply Finnish-American choruses and instrumental groups with selected music from Finland. As a result, even in Minnesota bands a greater number of Finnish compositions began to appear on concert programs. In addition, the Society published the compositions of Finnish-American composers : A. Hedman, A. A. Lump, J. R. Cult, L. Koskela and Väinö Warvikko, as well as some of the piano arrangements of K. L. Klep. Further, the Society made plans for several trips to Finland and in 1921 the tour of the Louhi Band to Finland materialized. Finally, concert artists from Finland appeared in the United States on tours also arranged by the Society, and many of these artists naturally performed in Minnesota.

Great contributions to the musical life of Minnesota were made by the numerous artists who made appearances there. The Finnish composer Oscar Merikanto made a concert tour of the United States back in the year 1900, and his example was followed by many others. For example, Jean Sibelius visited in the United States in 1914, and as a result of that visit the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, under its conductor Oberhof, became a significant interpreter of his music, a reputation it kept for decades.

To list a few of the many Finnish artists who have appeared in Minnesota, a chronological summary begins in 1905, with the first tour of Pasi Jääskeläinen, who played the kantele and sang folk songs and popular music. He was followed by Olli Suolahti, whose contributions were similar but whose success remained more limited. Just before World War I, opera singer Taneli Hurri appeared; in 1917 Elli Suokas (Mrs. Stenbeck) attracted large audiences. Immediately after the war operatic tenor Väinö Sola made the first of his concert tours in America; he had a great success on his first tour and an even greater success on his subsequent tours, when he was served as accompanist respectively by Ernest Linko or his own daughters, Marja and Peikko. Sola was followed by performers of more popular music, especially Alfred Tanner, who appeared everywhere in Minnesota where there was a hall available for him to perform in; later in the 1920s

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