FRYXELL, Regina

Regina Fryxell (nee Holmén) was an American organist, music educator, and scholar known for her contributions to Lutheran hymnody and liturgy. She earned degrees in music and English from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1922. She later studied organ at Juilliard, graduating in 1927.

Fryxell taught piano, organ, music theory, and French at Augustana College and also taught at Black Hawk College and Knox College. Her scholarly work focused on Scandinavian and German musical sources, particularly the works of J. S. Bach, which she adapted for use in modern American Lutheran worship.

From 1948 to 1958 Fryxell worked on Setting Two of the Service Book and Hymnal, known as the “Continental Setting” for its incorporation of Northern European Lutheran traditions, including Swedish influences. She later contributed to Setting Three of the Lutheran Book of Worship between 1974 and 1977. Through her teaching and liturgical work, Holmén helped preserve and adapt European Lutheran musical traditions for American congregations.