Traditional music and dance
The traditional music of Alaska is above all that of its native populations: Inupiaq, Aleuts, Tlingits and Yupiks. Among the latter, as in many Amerindian ethnic groups, dance is at the heart of spiritual and social life. The shaman plays the role of mediator between the human world and the world of the spirits, with dance serving to maintain the balance between the two. During the dance, a precise choreography is put in place. The men are in the front, kneeling or sitting in suits and the women standing in the back, sometimes with fans, all proceeding to the rhythm of the drums. The dances can last for several hours or even days.
A similar dance exists among the Inupiaq, but with some variations: the dancers stand rather than kneel, the women dancers do not hold fans and the "staging" is more ceremonial.
Despite the essential role they play in Native American cultural identity, these dances were resented by the U.S. government, which banned them even in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. This could explain why these traditional dances are not presented more on stage. The Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center in Bethel, which organizes Yupik dance evenings and Athabascan fiddle concerts, and the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, which has a rich program of dance and drumming performances, are not confidential either. There is also the Cama-i Dance Festival, a celebration that began in the mid-1980s and is held each spring in Bethel, hosting Native American dancers from across the country.
It's impossible not to mention the famous powwows. If they are traditionally a shamanic - and therefore religious - gathering or a festive celebration of warrior exploits, the Amerindians are now trying to keep the tradition alive by organizing more modern powwows, but just as festive. It is an opportunity to reconnect with one's culture and to share. If you have the opportunity to go to the Midnightsun Intertribal Pow-wow in Fairbanks, it will be the occasion to discover the Athabascan traditions through music, dance, and even gastronomy!
Each generation of American Indians is deeply attached to their music and dance, and each generation has its own important artists. Among the most important, Pamyua comes first. This Yupik music group from Anchorage bases its compositions on traditional Yupik, Inuit and Greenlandic songs reinterpreted in modern styles and using traditional instruments such as the cauyaq drum.
A big success in national sales, Byron Nicholai is nicknamed the "Justin Bieber of Alaska". Of Yupik origin, as the title of his first album I am Yup'ik claims, Byron Nicholai composes a music full of traditions that he tries to modernize with rap, r&b or electronic influences.
Popular music
Although remote from the rest of the country, Alaska has sometimes produced artists who have managed to make themselves known to a large number of Americans. The most famous is Jewel Kilcher, better known as Jewel. Somewhere between pop (very mainstream) and country, Jewel found her formula that allowed her to conquer many listeners around the world, including France, and to sell almost 30 million albums during her career. A true ambassador of Alaska to the world.
Classical music
Alaska is a great land but... not for classical music. That said, the state does have several symphony ensembles, the largest being the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1946, it was directed for a long time by Randall Craig Fleischer, who developed it to its current size. As for opera, the Anchorage Opera is currently the only professional company in the state. Although opera is not an Alaskan discipline, the region has a great voice: mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, born in Fairbanks. She is very popular in the roles of Rossini and Handel and has performed on stages all over the world, including France (she is a French speaker).
Another name to know is John Luther Adams, a contemporary composer whose music is steeped in natural landscapes - especially those of Alaska. His orchestral piece Become Ocean won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2014.
Fancy a good classical concert? The Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival is a nearly two-week annual event that features, as the name suggests, formal and informal concerts of classical and jazz music. Alternatively, Alaska also hosts a major chamber music festival, the Sitka Summer Music Festival, with an international program.
Current music
Of all the musical genres in the state, rock is possibly the most popular. The first big wave of rock - at the time more punk and alternative - came in the early 1980s with the arrival of bands like Skate Death, The Clyng-Onz and Psychedelic Skeletons, which were truly local successes but set the stage for Alaskan rock. They were followed in the 1990s by The Drunk Poets and their frontman Chris Watkins, who greatly influenced the Alaskan music scene. The heyday of this rock scene came in the early 2000s with bands like 36 Crazyfists (metal) or Portugal. The Man (more experimental rock) whose success is international.
Other local artists are very appreciated in the whole state (and sometimes outside) like Marian Call or Libby Roderick, two generations of folk singers, Macy Rodman, who is inclined to electro-rock, the rapper Khleo Thomas or the singer Halie Loren and the bassist Marcus Shelby, two personalities of local jazz.
Two interesting events to approach the new Alaskan scene: theAnchorage Festival Of Music, specialized in the support and promotion of young artists since 1956, and the Dawson City Music Festival, considered by many as an exciting meeting point for current music.
