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A diverse team of mainly Alaska Native talent spent nearly nine years building the operatic version of a historic battle in the early 1800s. “Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”, a combination of music, writing, anthropology, and culture, is now on stage in Juneau, offering audiences a Tlingit perspective that is frequently dismissed in historical accounts. The presentation in the high art of opera adds a uniquely dramatic setting to a conflict that forever defined commerce, colonization and Tlingit autonomy in Alaska. We’ll hear from some of the talent behind the opera as well as the events from more than 200 years ago that inspired it.
GUESTS
Madeline Sayet (Mohegan), stage director for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”
Vera Starbard (Tlingit and Dena’ina), writer and librettist for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”
Shaakindustoow Ed Littlefield (Lingit), composer and musical director for “Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles”
Dr. X̱’unei Lance Twitchell (Lingít, Haida, Yup’ik, and Sámi), professor of Alaska Native Languages at the University of Alaska-Southeast, translator and cultural consultant
Break 1 Music: First Battle (song) Ed Littlefield (artist) Kutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles (album)
Break 2 Music: Everywhere On Earth I Roam (song) Courtney Yellow Fat (artist) The Lost Songs of Sitting Bull (album)
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