“The Search for America”, or “Jakten på Amerika” in Norwegian is a performance for kids between the ages of 6-12. It was created by Magnus Wiik and Laura Ellestad in 2016 with a grant from Valdres Folk Museum, and produced by Vegar Vårdal and Thomas Oxem. It debuted on Riksscenen in Oslo early 2018, and has since been performed hundreds of times in festivals, venues and schools in Norway. Original music and lyrics by Magnus Wiik, combined with traditional tunes.

The production is an audiovisual feature, where animations and moving pictures are regularly displayed on a screen as the music and narrative is performed. It tells the stories of three fiddlers who emigrated to America from Norway, Bendik i Nø’n, Oscar Hamrey and Trond Eltun. The performance exists in both Norwegian and English.

The production has been played with Magnus Wiik on guitar, banjo, fiddle and vocals with various fiddling vocalists; Laura Ellestad, Johanne Flottorp, Selma French Bolstad and Guro Kvifte Nesheim have all been touring regularly with the production. 2024 sees an album production of the music from this performance, as well as a new performance using the same concept presenting emigrating fiddlers from Telemark created by Wiik and Flottorp.