Anchorage Daily News

Twenty-one of the intensely decorated "Wild Salmon on Parade" pieces, displayed around town this summer and now on display at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer, will swim off to new homes Sept. 11 at the Salmon on Parade dinner/auction.

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Bid on the big fish that tickled your fancy, or at least give them one last look. There will also be a silent auction for other items. The event benefits Alaska Botanical Garden, Anchorage Urban League and Camp Fire USA Alaska Council.

The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Anchorage hotel. Tickets are $75, $750 for a table of 10, available online at www.wildsalmononparade.com or call Jo Lamson at 257-8820.

Spread of quilts

The annual Great Alaska Quilt Show will take place at the ConocoPhillips Atrium, 700 G St., next Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12 and 13. The doors open at 10 a.m. each day. The popular event includes a small quilt auction and a raffle for a really big blanket. As always, it's free.

This year's featured quilter is Mary Lee, who came to Alaska in the 1950s and vividly recalls having to scrape for scarce materials.

"My quilting was self taught and I always did things the wrong way the first time," she said. But obviously she's improved, winning the blue ribbon at the Alaska State Fair in 1996.

Children's choir is off to Europe

The Alaska Children's Choir Touring Choir will go to Europe in July 2010, appearing in Prague, Vienna and at the Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria. A highlight will be a poignant presentation of "Brundibar" at Terezin in the Czech Republic.

"Brundibar," a short children's opera composed by Hans Krasa, an eminent Czech composer at the time, was presented by children at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in that town, where Krasa was also detained, in World War II. The camp was a peculiar Nazi showplace in which musicians and artists were confined to present a facade of humanity and cultural creativity for propaganda purposes. As the war went badly for the Axis, the camp was closed down and prisoners shipped to death camps where most, including Krasa and the children who first performed his work, were killed.

In 1994 the Alaska Children's Choir gave "Brunibar's" first postwar performances using an English translation here in Anchorage. The little opera -- more important for its historical status than for its musical content -- has since received several stagings in a reworked translation by playwright Tony Kushner.

The choir is currently scheduling auditions for singers ages 5-18. Singers come from throughout the Southcentral region and rehearsals are held in two locations, Wasilla and Anchorage. For more information, call 357-3170 or e-mail acc@mtaonline.net

Alaskan 'strips' to win sci-fi costume contest

Last month Lizzie Newell -- Anchorage skier and aspiring writer -- attended the 2009 World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal, Quebec, and came home with an odd honor: First Place for Excellence in Historical Craftsmanship Novice Class in the Masquerade Contest. One of the most popular events at this WorldCon is a Regency era ball, with attendees in period costume, a science fiction conference tradition since the early 1970s.

Rebecca Goodrich, of the Alaska Writers Guild, who made us aware of this victory, wrote, "The Masquerade is the second most highly attended event, held immediately after the prestigious Hugo awards ceremony. Contestants are given 60 seconds to show off their creations, whether science fiction or period.

Newell won for her Jane Austen-era outfit and performance (entrees are judged both on presentation and workmanship.

"During her 60 seconds, Newell removed the outer layers of her costume, (gloves, scarves, dress and petticoat), to music by Schubert," Goodrich said. "To the amusement of the audience, when she had 'stripped,' she still was wearing more than most of the 2000 people watching. She was well-covered by stays, a knee-length chemise, stockings to above the knee, and pantalets to the knee."

It took Newell two months of machine and hand-sewing to create the Regency lady's evening dress and accessories. We've posted a photo at adn.com/artsnob.

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

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