“It feels good to be dancing again,” Frank Komonaseak said. “I grew up doing it, and I’m proud of who I am.”
Arts & Culture
Minds behind the Lingít opera debuting in Juneau say itʼs a return to tradition
An entirely Indigenous cast of singers and dancers will tell the story of the Battles of Sitka while accompanied by an orchestra playing original music.
‘Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles’ to debut Friday
The first Lingít opera in recorded history debuts this Friday at the Thunder Mountain Middle School auditorium.
UAS student composes music from Juneau stream data
Ashlen Smith’s data sonification project blends science and art. The goal: convey how different freshwater habitats in Southeast feel to young salmon reared in them.
‘Love, tolerance, education, joy’: March in Juneau honors Dolly Parton’s legacy
After her recent death, Juneau residents honored her legacy of music and early childhood literacy with a commemorative march on Aug. 28.
Tongass Voices: Playwright Vera Starbard on writing a Lingít Opera
T’set Kwei Vera Starbard is an Emmy-nominated writer who has written six plays and multiple episodes of shows like Molly of Denali and Alaska Daily. Starbard is the librettist for Ḵutulagaaw — an opera about the 1802 battles between Lingít people and Russian invaders in Southeast Alaska. That means she wrote the script, which language teacher X̱’unei Lance Twitchell translated, and composer Ed Littlefield put to music. The production premiers at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Friday Sept. 11. The show runs through Sept. 20.