Fairbanks arts party begins today

From now through Aug. 1, there will be a series of public performances featuring top Alaska and national talent, and workshops in music, dance, visual arts, literary arts, healing arts and ice skating.

Music is a big part of the event every year. Classes cover everything from opera to cabaret singing, string instruments to accordion. Concerts will present the Pro Arte Quartet -- one of the leading string ensembles in the world -- and OBOHIO, a double reed consort. In addition flutist Carol Wincenc and Ghanan drummer Okaidja Afroso will perform. Robert Franz, associate conductor of the Houston Symphony, will conduct several concerts ranging from classical to Celtic fare.

Online registration and a full schedule of events and classes (over 100 of them!) can be found at www.fsaf.org.

Several performers credit the festival with inspiring them to pursue careers in the arts. Here's a look at some of them:

TRUCK DRIVER TO JAZZ STAR

For Giacomo Gates, who drove truck in the Fairbanks area for 10 years, the festival sparked an interest and passion for singing that caused him to totally change careers.

It was Althea St. Martin of Fairbanks who suggested Gates attend his first festival in 1987. He took a cabaret class with Chris Calloway and "got all kinds of encouragement from all of the instructors."

A professional jazz publicist and writer befriended him and encouraged him to pursue singing as his life work.

"So I moved back to Connecticut and I started to make a little noise," he said.

He performed locally and regionally. It wasn't long before he was approached by a record company. Now he has been named best male jazz vocalist four years in a row by the Jazz Journalist Association of America; he has been nominated as Best Male Singer in the Downbeat Critics Poll the past six or seven years; and he came in first in the Rising Star Category.

He laughed at that, quipping, "I'm not 23 years old."

He now has his headquarters out of Connecticut, from where he travels to gigs around the world. This will be his fourth year teaching and performing here.

"When I went to the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, I was reinvigorated, rejuvenated," he said. "It was like all this artistic and musical energy from all over the world landed in Fairbanks. It just felt good.

"It's a fun festival," he said. "Certainly you're encouraged to do well, but it's a community thing.

"It's been a great ride," he said, as he prepared to return to Fairbanks this week from his home in Connecticut. "And it all came from that festival."

FIDDLER FROM FAIRBANKS

"When I was little, I used to go to festival," said fiddler Caitlin Warbelow, who grew up in Fairbanks but now lives in New York. "I know Jo (Scott, who founded the festival) used to like to keep it mostly for adults, but she'd have kids come and take private lessons from some of the guest artists and go to some of the concerts.

"I was very lucky to do that," she said.

Warbelow attended the festival regularly, violin in hand. She has played since she was 3 years old.

Last year festival organizers invited her back as an instructor. She is delighted to return again this year.

"What I miss about Alaska is everybody is kind and supportive and in New York, it's common for music to take a back seat to money, drama, politics," she said. "When I get back to Fairbanks, I don't feel it at all. People are just doing it because they love it. It's an amazing feeling to have when I go home."

Warbelow's style evolved into Irish music, bluegrass and "fiddle."

She will help present the festival's first Monday concert.

"It's a little scary, with no rehearsal time, but we're going to attempt this very cool collaboration between string orchestra, dancers and myself," she said. "I had the idea to get the dancers involved. One of the things about festival that I think is awesome is that they strongly encourage inter-genre collaboration. I've got some ballroom dancers, some Irish dancers."

Different dances will accompany 13 short movements, she said.

The second half of the show will feature local musicians and local contra dancers.

"I owe a lot of the experiences I've had to local musicians and dancers in Fairbanks," said Warbelow. "They supported me when I was little there. I want them to have an opportunity to perform."

WALTZING IN FROM WASILLA

Dancer Pam Burlingame works as a physical therapist and teaches dance in Wasilla. She grew up in Fairbanks and was 11 years old the first time she attended the festival.

"At that point, you had to be 12 and over, but I had letters from my dance instructors that said I could get in," she said.

She attended every year until she was 20 years old and then made sure she returned every summer from college.

"They brought awesome people from Outside," she said. "People you couldn't connect with any other way, except by traveling out of state. To have classes with those instructors was really a gift. If you can take classes from those instructors, it can expand your talent and your repertoire so much faster -- especially in dance."

She didn't realize until she was older that the festival is quite unique.

She thought there would be similar festivals in every community. She was "floored" to discover no such festival in Boston, Seattle, Anchorage or Soldotna when she lived in those places. To be asked to return as an instructor, she said, was "really one of the biggest honors."

One of her missions now is to spread the word about this unique gathering, because she discovered it is not well known outside of Fairbanks.

The confidence it inspired in her led to her success today, she said.

"That annual exposure to Outside talent was huge," she said. "I was willing to walk into any studio and take instruction from any brand new face I saw and not be intimidated."

The festival, she said, teaches life skills.

-- Profiles courtesy of Kriss Capps, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

Festival highlights

All Fairbanks Summer Arts events take place in Davis Concert Hall unless otherwise noted. More information on performances and workshops at www.fsaf.org.

Monday, 8 p.m.: Celtic Concert with fiddler Caitlin Warbelow.

Wednesday, 8 p.m.: Pro Arte Quartet and OBOHIO.

Thursday, 8 p.m.: Dance of Africa and Alaska, with Okaidja Afroso of Ghana and UAF's Inu-Yupiaq Native dance group.

Friday, 8 p.m.: Scenes from "The Marriage of Figaro" (Lee Salisbury Theatre).

Saturday, 5:30 p.m.: Ice Show (UAF Ice Arena).

July 26, 8 p.m.: Festival Chamber Orchestra concert.

July 27, 8 p.m.: Brazilian Jazz concert.

July 28, 8 p.m.: World Music and Dance program.

July 30, 8 p.m.: Choral concert.

July 31, 8 p.m.: Festival Orchestra concert.

Aug. 1, 3 p.m.: Flutist Carol Wincenc.