Have we finally recovered from jet lag? Will we ever run into a bear? Are we really wearing t-shirts in Alaska? Are we actually playing music out here?
The answers to all of your Akropolis travel questions can be found right here! Yesterday was a packed day of educational outreach and a fun radio interview, giving us the opportunity to meet some of the best and brightest young musicians from around the Juneau area.
To answer the most pressing question...no, we have not seen a bear. The air however is crisp and clean, with the temperature climbing to the mid 60s during the day. The refreshing breeze is accompanied with overcast clouds and sprinkles of rain throughout the day. The locals tell us we're lucky to be here while it's warming up, but that the rain and clouds never quite go away throughout the year. The mountains blend seamlessly into the clouds, creating one of the most stunning landscapes we've ever seen.
Our second day in Alaska began bright and early at 8:00 am at Juneau-Douglas High School. First period was jazz band, but most of the students played additional instruments in the school's wind ensemble as well. Of the 30 students, around a quarter of them were interested in majoring in music performance or education. Topics ranged from eye contact to breathing, blending, balancing, and encouraging the students to get involved in chamber music.
Our next educational event took place in the atrium of the State Office Building for upwards of 200 elementary school students and their parents. The event was called a Brown Bag concert because all of the kids packed their lunch and ate on the floor while they listened. We played some of our favorite interactive games, centered upon the ideas of melody and creating pictures from music.
After spending the morning with Juneau students, we headed to the local radio station KTOO where we were interviewed by host Scott Burton of Juneau Afternoon. Interested in hearing us on the Alaska airwaves? Listen to the whole interview here.
We grabbed our big meal of the day at a local pizza place called Bullwinkle's (our favorite cartoon moose), complete with complimentary popcorn. We finished our day at the University of Alaska Southeast where we gave both a group workshop and individual masterclasses for reed students of all ages and abilities.
What was the best part of Alaska today?
Andrew: I met a man who was working on building a bass clarinet out of titanium and carbon fiber. He brought it to our Brown Bag lunch concert and talked through his whole process behind building this crazy new bass clarinet concoction.
Tim: I was so impressed by the elementary school students who was selected to draw out animals, weather, and mood based on the music we played. Their upset, skydiving grasshopper was a work of genius.
Ryan: During our evening workshop at the University of Alaska Southeast, I was able to talk shop with one of the bassoonists of the Juneau Symphony.
Matt: Hearing our music being aired on the local Juneau radio station was very cool.
Kari: I had a great time helping a young middle school student finally get "over the break" on her clarinet.
Visit our Flickr page to see all of our photos from our adventure so far. We're adding tons of photos to this online album every day while we're in Alaska.
