A Northland tour by Russian-Finnish singing star, Viktor Klimenko detoured to Wakefield last night for what was to be the penultimate concert of this tour.

Originally, the tour scheduled for September 18th through September 25^th, was to bypass Gogebic County, however, efforts were made to find a venue for this great singing artist.

Klimenko, is a well known star in Europe and has performed all across the globe. His voice and style are exceptional. We were certainly fortunate to have him perform in Wakefield. The concert was held in the All Saints Lutheran Church, which was filled to capacity.

I have been a Klimenko fan for two decades. He has beautiful and powerful voice, well suited for singing the Christian music that makes up the vast majority of his repertoire.

Thirty years ago Klimenko says that he found God. At that time he decided to change his repertoire to songs of faith. He says that the first Christian song he recorded was "How Great Thou Art" which of course is a recording for which he is famous. He sang the song last evening and his performance was incredible. He sounds even greater live than on a recording, just the opposite of many performers. To say that his concert was fantastic would be great, great understatement.

On this tour Viktor performed three concerts in Ishpeming, one in Marquette, one in Chatham, one in Iron Mountain. The tour concludes tomorrow with a concert in Duluth.

Klimenko was born in a POW camp in Svetnavalka, Russia in 1942. The Cossak family was expelled from Russia and emigrated to Finland. Viktor became a Finnish Citizen in 1973.

In 1963 Klimenko released his first recording "The Country of Thousand Lakes" (Tuhansien järvien maa).