Arts and Entertainment

New director takes reins at Alaska Children's Choir

The death of longtime Alaska Children's Choir director Janet Stotts on April 26 left the future of the group in doubt. Stotts had been at the helm of the choir, founded in 1979, since 1984 and operated it as a sole proprietorship.

An alumna of the choir, Jessie Eddings, has stepped in and, as of Sept. 2, is the new owner of the ACC, acquiring the physical assets and trademark -- and daunting responsibility of training the next generation of singers.

Eddings, nee Wetherell, was born in Anchorage and raised in Palmer. She received her master's degree in music from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and returned to the state three years ago. She lives in the valley with her husband, Ryan, and teaches orchestra in the Matanuska-Susitna School District.

"I've loved music since I was born," she said. She took lessons in piano and violin, playing with the Anchorage Youth Symphony in her senior year. "But voice is where my passion lies. I loved being in the Alaska Children's Choir while I was growing up, so I have a bond with it. Becoming the director is bittersweet, given the circumstances, and a little intimidating, but exciting."

Eddings is now in the process of holding auditions and planning for upcoming concerts. The legal business involved in acquiring the choir from Stott's estate has eaten up a lot of time and the fall season "is coming up really fast," she said. But she already has enough singers to be confident that the choir's annual appearance at the Anchorage Museum will take place as scheduled on Dec. 13, and expects Christmas concerts in Anchorage and the Valley Dec. 19 and 20.

Young singers interested in trying out for the choir should contact Eddings by calling 907-982-5467 or by email at alaskachildrenschoir@yahoo.com. First rehearsals start at the end of the month.

Back in town

Arctic Entries will open their new season in the Discovery Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a program that will include Anchorage twin sisters Maris Maeve O'Tierney and Bryce Quinn O'Tierney.

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Vocalist, guitarist and pianist Maris has three solo albums and received a 2015 Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award for music composition. Bryce, a violinist and poet recently received a master's degree in creative writing from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Together they perform as Maeve & Quinn. They've played from Ireland to Chicago and are now back in their hometown.

Their "genre-crossing" style is described as "a fusion of singer-songwriter, folk/pop, classical and Irish traditional." The two are working on a collaborative album and tell us that they'll be including excerpts from it at the Tuesday event.

New appointments to arts council

Gov. Bill Walker has appointed two filmmakers as new members to the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Jeffry Silverman of Anchorage and Patrick Race of Juneau. In addition to his work as a documentarian, Silverman is the deputy director of communications for the Alaska Federation of Natives and an associate editor of the Alaska Quarterly Review.

The governor also reappointed Josie Stiles, president of the Nome Arts Council, who has been a member since 2003, and Micky Becker, of Anchorage, is a public relations consultant to Shell Oil who has been a member of the council since 2006.

Poems in Place dedications announced

The next -- and we hear final -- installments of the Poems in Place project, which puts site-specific poems in Alaska state parks, will take place this month.

The dedication at Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park in Kodiak will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. Meet at park headquarters. Refreshments will follow. Prior to the dedication, Kodiak poet Leslie Leyland Fields will give a presentation titled "Kodiak and the Poetry of Place" and offer a free "Hike-ku" workshop.

The poem site at Caines Head State Recreational Area in Seward will be dedicated at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Seward Pavilion. Festivities will include a short talk by historian Doug Capra and, of course, refreshments. As in Kodiak, the dedication itself will be preceded by a "creative writing ramble" led by poets Justine Pechuzal and Aleria Jensen. It starts at 9 a.m. Sept. 19 at Tonsina Creek Trailhead; bring weather-sensible clothing.

On Sept. 20, a trek to one of the new Poems in Place sites, between North Beach and Fort McGilvray, is planned to start at 10 a.m. All of these events are free and the wilderness-and-poetry-loving public is encouraged to show up.

Poets at UAA

Poets John Morgan and Jeremy Pataky will read from their work at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14 at the UAA Campus Bookstore. Morgan's latest collection is titled "Archives of the Air." Pataky lives in Anchorage and McCarthy and is a founding board member of 49 Writers.

Worth noting, Monday will be the last day for free parking near the bookstore during daytime hours, in the South Lot, West Campus Central Lot (behind Rasmuson Hall), Sports Lot and Sports NW Lot. These free events are also available as podcasts in iTunes and iTunes U. Search UAA or UAA Campus Bookstore.

Old schoolhouse gets a birthday party

The Pioneer Schoolhouse was built the year Anchorage was founded, 1915. The Anchorage Woman's Club formed at the same time. Fittingly, the club will host an open house 100th birthday party at the school with cake and punch at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13. Festivities will include a tour of the classroom and a display of 100 years of Anchorage Woman's Club scrapbooks. The historic school is located at Third Avenue and Eagle Street.

Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham has been a reporter and editor at the ADN since 1994, mainly writing about culture, arts and Alaska history. He worked in radio for 20 years before switching to print.

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