Alaska Native Heritage Center Opens Winter Season With World Music Festival
Anchorage, AK - The Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) is opening its winter season with a World Music Festival on October 2, 2004 from 10am to 5pm. The World Music Festival is a celebration of indigenous music around the world. Admission will be free. This event marks the beginning of the winter season when ANHC is open to the public every Saturday from 10am to 5pm with a different Native theme each week. "Celebrating Culture Saturdays" are sponsored by BP.
"Winter is a special time to connect with the Native community and the Anchorage community with programs that celebrate and perpetuate Alaska Native cultures", stated Jon Ross, President and CEO. "We have expanded our programming this year to include more Alaska Native art, dance and language classes. We are proud to present unique and educational programs each week throughout the winter."
The World Music Festival will feature special performances by Pamyua, H-3, Medicine Dream, Mt Susitna Singers and Drummers, John Anderson and the John Damberg Latin Jazz Quintet.
Anchorage's performance group Pamyua reinterprets modern traditions of the Inuit and Yup'ik Eskimo through storytelling, music and dance. Pamyua performs Yup'ik storydances that reflect the traditions of Yup'ik culture in Southwestern Alaska. The quartet also harmonizes ancient and original music that redefines the boundaries of Inuit expression. They mix R&B, jazz, funk and world music to create a unique native style. Their latest album, "Caught in the Act", received the 2003 NAMMY (Native American Music) award for best record of the year.
Pamyua has toured worldwide including performance in Canada, Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Korea. Nationally, they have performed at the 45th Annual Grammy Award Fest in New York, New York, Native American Music Awards in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Native American Film Festival Awards in San Francisco.
Canyon Records recording artists Medicine Dream are an Intertribal First Nations band that performs contemporary Native American music. The group has been together since 1996 and is based out of Anchorage Alaska. Their music has been included on numerous compilation recordings, the most recent being Canyon Record's Voices Across the Canyon # 5, which won Best Compilation at the 2002 Native American Music Awards. They have toured extensively through out the United States, recently performing at the 20th Annual Open House Arts Festival of The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and for the Peabody Essex Museum's grand reopening in Salem, Massachusetts. Other performances include the Annual National Park Service's Maritime Festival, Canyon Record's 50th anniversary concert in Scottsdale, Arizona and the group traveled to Ireland in 2001 performing for the World Peace and Prayer Day ceremonies.
The popular group H-3 will be performing. Their "island groove" reggae style earned them the best local band/musician in Anchorage's Best for 2003. Equipped with drums, bass, 'ukulele, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, H-3 has performed at various pubs in town including Moose's Tooth, Bear Tooth, Humpy's, The Alley and others.
John Damberg is a master vibist, marimbist, percussionist, composer and educator who has enjoyed a successful career in music spanning 35 years. Damberg is the leader of the John Damberg Latin Jazz Quintet, the instructor of percussion at the University of Alaska Anchorage, President of the Alaska Jazz Workshop and the Vice-President of the Percussive Arts Society Alaska Chapter. As a percussionist, Damberg has performed in a wide variety of musical settings nationally and internationally including: original Latin and jazz ensembles, recording studio dates for Motown Records, with the Detroit, Seattle and Anchorage Symphony Orchestras and Broadway touring shows. He has performed with internationally acclaimed jazz artists and performed in many Broadway touring shows including: "A Chorus Line", "The Wiz", "A Man of La Mancha" and "The King and I".
Mt Susitna Singers and Drummers were founded in 1990 and are devoted to a sober lifestyle. Their songs are primarily in the traditional style of the Northern Plains but also include some from the Southern Plains. The group embraces contemporary innovations to augment their traditional background.
John Anderson, Eyak and Mexican, is a Native guitar picker who offers a wide variety of music from the 50's and 60's. He was deeply influenced by the music of Chet Atkins and spent 7 months playing with Atkins in Nashville, Tennessee. Anderson has performed at the Governor's mansion in Nashville, Cordova Arts and Pageants, Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau, Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum and the Alaska Airman's Association Banquet.
There will be hands on classes in Alaska Native dance, language and art as part of an ongoing ANHC Cultural Education Program sponsored by the CIRI Foundation. Art and language classes will be held each Saturday and will run for 4 to 6 weeks. Language classes for the month of October will be Tlingit with Paul Marks from 10am to 12pm, Dena'ina Athabascan with Donita Peter from 12pm to 2pm and Deg'i tan Athabascan with Louise Winkleman and Martha Wassilie from 2pm to 4pm. Art classes will be Tlingit Beading with Mabel Pike from 10am to 12:30pm and Yup'ik Snow Goggles with Elaine Kingeekuk from 2pm to 4:30pm. Dance classes will begin on October 9th with Tlingit with William Jackson at 11am, 2pm and 4pm. Each dance class will last a half an hour. To register for art and language classes, call 330-8002, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. There is no registration necessary for the dance classes. All classes are free with the price of admission to ANHC.
Visitors can experience the five recreated village sites that illustrate the traditional structures in a typical village before or shortly after contact with non-Native cultures. Knowledgeable tour guides will share the history, culture and traditions at each site.