Hanser Lina Göransson
– the shepherdess who sang with Jussi Björling
Hanser Lina from the age she was a shepherdess, as a solist in Siljanskören and at the opera in Stockholm.
When Hanser Lina was 13 years old, the composer Hugo Alfvén heard her sing, tipped off by the big-game fiddler Gössa Anders. This led to Hanser Lina becoming Hugo Alfvén's favorite soloist in the Siljan choir and the herd-song Alfvén heard her sing became part of his Swedish Rhapsody.
In 1939 Hanser Lina made her debut at the Opera in the role of Santuzza in In Sicily, where she sang against Jussi Björling herself. The debut was described as one of the most promising heard at the opera. She continued with the leading roles as Tatjana in Eugen Onegin in 1940 and as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser the following year. But she didn't like the opera. She declined the offer of a full-time engagement. Together with her husband Erik Göransson, the founder of Orsa Music School, she continued to tour both Sweden and the United States. The couple lived in Stockholm since the late 1940´s and moved home to Orsa as pensioners in 1974.