On Saturday, November 17, 2018, Riley Woodford hosted a special radio tribute to the late Pat Henry in the KRNN radio studio. Pat was a musician and longtime supporter of the Juneau music community among other endeavors. He passed on October 5, 2018. Guests included Jeanie, Katie and Hiram Henry, Riley and Haley Woodford, Terry Schwartz, Tony Tengs and Libby Stringer.
There will also be a celebration of life potluck party for Pat on December 1,
2018, at McPhetres Hall, beginning at 2 p.m.
The steamship Princess Sophia sank with an estimated 350 people on board 100 years ago near Juneau. Since the sinking corresponded with the end of World War I, it received little attention at the time. For some, this lack of attention left the tragedy without a sense of closure.
Listen to the the radio version here with music:
This weekend, a collaboration of producers and artists from across the country present a new opera, “The Princess Sophia.”
In mid-September, about 100 people embarked on a boat trip to Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal — this tragedy’s ground zero.
Among the passengers was opera soprano Kathleen Wayne. She sang two songs while at the reef — literally floating above the wreckage of the Princess Sophia.
“It’s a very emotional space to be in. 350 people lost their lives — children, mothers, fathers, young people,” said Wayne.
Behind her, Vanderbilt Reef broke the ocean’s surface like a craggy land creature coming up for air. And mountains lined the sides of the massive fjord.
“You’re right above them. Singing about them. People nobody here has met. But feeling very connected with them through this music and these lyrics,” said Wayne.
Another of the opera’s singers, tenor Bernard Holcomb, was in from New York researching his part and performing for the boat trip.
“I think that this is a great opportunity to be here, to see it, to be here physically. Not just imagine it, but to be here physically and to know that there is wreckage beneath us. And that there were no survivors,” said Holcomb.
Because of extreme tides and stormy weather, Holcomb’s character, Capt. John Leadbetter, was among the Juneau people who were unable to rescue anyone from the passenger ship.
“I am accessing the feeling of guilt, the feeling of being out of control. I cannot control what is happening and that’s incredibly frustrating,” said Holcomb.
The irony of boating to a shipwreck was not lost on many of the trip’s passengers. But the weather could not have been more different from the high winds, snow, and low visibility the Princess Sophia faced 100 years ago.
“I am standing here on this clear, sunny day,” said Holcomb. “It’s so beautiful, and there’s land all around us. It seems so close. But they wouldn’t have seen that. They were in a storm. And I think it is unfair that they had to die because of that. That only increases the feeling of tension, the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of grief and sadness.”
As our modern, diesel-powered catamaran safely circled the reef, it was hard not to imagine the suffering of all those people. Imagine being stuck, on a reef, in a storm with gale-force winds, in 1918, on a steamship with little-to-no communication. Now remember that they were stranded like that for 40 hours before the ship sank.
Among the pieces Wayne sang was “Sophia’s Lullaby.”
“’The Princess Sophia Lullaby’ is about the ship actually singing to the people aboard,” said Wayne with emotion. “And I really think she is singing to the children. Lines in there, ‘sleep children, wake with the dawn, it’s beautiful here, the days aren’t very long, and the nights are lovely, so just sleep and we’ll wake with the morn.’ So I really think it’s directed to those children to just be calm and it will all be OK.”
Sadly, it was not OK. All aboard perished, and in the turmoil of the end of World War I, one of the worst maritime disasters of all time had little closure. And now, 100 years later it’s the anniversary of a tragedy. How do we honor that?
“Opera is such a large, heavy-emotion medium for expressing stories,” said the opera’s Artistic Director William Todd Hunt. “And in a lot of ways I think it’s perfect just because it can capture that depth of emotion and pull you along, especially with a sensitive composer like Emerson [Eads], in a way that I personally think you couldn’t pull off with, say, just a straight play.”
In addition to the Emerson Eads, the opera features a libretto by Dave Hunsaker.
It’s hard to say what the opera will do, or what it represents, until the curtain falls. And, like most art does, it will affect each person in a different way. Perhaps it will offer closure for some, commemoration for others. And, maybe, it’s a way to feel what those people felt 100 years ago. But, safely, from a comfortable seat in the audience.
“The Princess Sophia Opera” plays 8 p.m. Saturday, and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday at Juneau-Douglas High School. The opera is also being recorded for possible later broadcast on 360 North.
Editor’s note: The Orpheus Project is contracting 360 North to record The Princess Sophia opera and promoted it through KTOO underwriting.
http://https://youtu.be/fb8b1x5WB7Y
Rapper Samuel Johns of Copper Center goes by the name AK Rebel. He performs his song “Rise ft. Ayyu, Byron Nicholai, Aaliyah & Junya Gisa” as part of the Red Carpet Celebration Sessions, a video series featuring Alaska Native artists filmed during Celebration 2018 in Juneau.
The Red Carpet Celebration Sessions are a collaboration between Kindred Post, Trickster Company and KTOO Public Media. You can watch other Red Carpet Concerts with Lily Hope, Indian Agent, and past Celebration Sessions from 2016 in this YouTube playlist.
http://https://youtu.be/_xgFParRu_Q
Thirteen-year-old Gabrielle Shaawatgoox George-Frank of Angoon performs her song “Woochkudahaa Xaasheeyi” as part of the Red Carpet Celebration Sessions, a video series featuring Alaska Native artists filmed during Celebration 2018 in Juneau.
The Red Carpet Celebration Sessions are a collaboration between Kindred Post, Trickster Company and KTOO Public Media. You can watch other Red Carpet Concerts with Lily Hope, Indian Agent, and past Celebration Sessions from 2016 in this YouTube playlist.
Gwich’in Athabascan songwriter Daniel Firmin of Fort Yukon and Fairbanks performs “Call Me What You Want” as part of the Red Carpet Celebration Sessions, a video series featuring Alaska Native artists filmed during Celebration 2018 in Juneau.
The Red Carpet Celebration Sessions are a collaboration between Kindred Post, Trickster Company and KTOO Public Media. You can watch other Red Carpet Concerts with Lily Hope, Indian Agent, and past Celebration Sessions from 2016 in this YouTube playlist.
Tlingit and Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin from the band Indian Agent plays the song “Refined” as part of the Red Carpet Celebration Sessions, a video series featuring Alaska Native artists filmed during Celebration 2018 in Juneau. The song is from the band’s debut album, Meditations in the Key of Red.
The Red Carpet Celebration Sessions are a collaboration between Kindred Post, Trickster Company and KTOO Public Media. You can watch other Red Carpet Concerts with Silver Jackson, Chantil Dukart and Stephen Qacung Blanchett in this YouTube playlist.
