Airline discounts and a free student matinee added for Juneau Tlingit opera premiere

Getting there for less

The cost of attending the first Tlingit opera in recorded history falls for out-of-town travelers and Juneau audiences alike under discounts announced Friday. Alaska Airlines is offering 5% off flights to and from the city from anywhere in Alaska, Hawaii or the Lower 48 between Sept. 9 and Sept. 23, including flights operated by Hawaiian Airlines, Horizon Air and SkyWest. Alaska Seaplanes is offering 10% off Sept. 10-14 and Sept. 17-21 with the code OPERA. The airline code is sent to the email address used to buy opera tickets.

Sealaska Heritage Institute and Perseverance Theatre announced the discounts along with pricing structures aimed at local audiences. Single tickets are available online through Perseverance Theatre's website. Groups buying six or more tickets receive 25% off with the code GROUP at checkout. Pay-as-you-can tickets will be available for some performances Sept. 12-13 and Sept. 18-19; all Sept. 20 tickets are pay-as-you-can. The two organizations are also working with the Juneau School District on a free one-hour matinee for junior high and high school students on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The opera

"Ḵutulagaaw: The Tlingit-Russian Battles" opens Sept. 11 at the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Auditorium, with performances on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons through Sept. 20. Alaska News previously covered the announcement that tickets went on sale in June. The libretto draws on historical facts and oral traditions of the 1802-1804 Tlingit-Russian War as told from the Tlingit perspective: the Tlingit and Haida united and were victorious before being forced to retreat from Sitka in 1804. Sealaska Heritage says the work "will be performed in the Tlingit language and include a score grounded in Tlingit musical and performing arts traditions."

Who made it

The institute initiated the opera, with librettist Vera Starbard, director Madeline Sayet, composer and musical director Shaakindustóow Edward Littlefield, translator and language consultant X'unei Lance Twitchell, and orchestrator Rory Stitt. Funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the First Peoples Fund, the National New Play Network and the Mellon Foundation.