Every year, the festival offers two weeks of study and performance opportunities in all art forms, to encourage personal growth and arts appreciation regardless of level of accomplishment. Nearly 100 guest artists will participate this year, offering approximately 125 workshops in music, visual arts, literary arts, healing arts, dance and ice skating.
“We are capitalizing on Alaskan and world-class talent of teachers and performers, to attract more participants from all over the United States,” said director Terese Kaptur, who takes over festival organization from founder Jo Scott.
The festival traditionally is home to world-famous performers such as mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, who actually got her start in Fairbanks. This year, new guest artists and instructors include Robert Franz, associate conductor of the Houston Symphony and music director for the Boise Philharmonic and Mansfield Symphony; Okaidja Afroso of Ghana, leading World Music Dance and Drumming; and four-time U.S. Figure Skating Olympic silver medalists Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov.
Even with these great instructors, it can prove difficult for busy professionals, soccer moms, etc. to give up two weeks to participate in festival classes. This year mini-workshops will provide an opportunity for even the busiest person to sample some of this professional instruction. These mini-workshops offer one- to three-hour sessions of glass fusion, glass blowing, drum circle, Latin dance with live music, photography for artists, reed making, steel drums, yoga, creative writing and Alaska Native drumming and dance.
The festival also includes concerts Monday through Saturday on both weeks of the festival and Sunday of the second week. Guest artists will perform the first week and participants will join in on week two. All take place on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and at various locations around Fairbanks.
A new outreach program is being launched to include more residents of Interior Alaska, with artists also providing instruction/performance in the Denali Borough and Delta Junction.
The festival is making it easier for people to participate by offering work-study scholarships and internships in public relations, production, administration, music library, outreach and box office management.
For more information on the guest artists, classes offered, and to find out how to register and participate, see www.fsaf.org.
Kris Capps is a freelance writer and columnist who lives just outside Denali National Park.
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