Maestro Gregory Buchalter will lead a master class on Sunday, Aug. 19. A maximum of seven individual vocalists will receive intensive coaching.

Participants must register and pay a $25 participation fee in advance to reserve a space.

Opera auditions for "Madama Butterfly," in concert with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, will be held Sept. 29-30 for the April 4 and 6, 2008, concerts.

For more information, e-mail operafairbanks@ak.net.

Registration for DanceFestis open at Centennial Hall

JUNEAU - Registration is open now for the second annual Juneau DanceFest, Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at Centennial Hall.

The four-day festival consists of dance classes during the day and live music and dance performances in the evenings. Visit the Web site www.juneaudancefest.org for a registration form and more information.

Guest instructors from Miami, Portland, Ore., Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau will teach classes such as Argentine tango, hustle, swing, lindy-hop, salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, belly-dance, cha cha, line dance, contra dance, Tlingit dance, waltz and more.

Tickets also go on sale this weekend for the DanceFest headliner, the eight-piece Cuban band Havana NRG.

Doogan to visit Hangar to sign new book,'Capitol Offense'

JUNEAU - Anchorage state representative and former Anchorage Daily News columnist Mike Doogan will sign copies of "Capitol Offense," the second novel in the Nik Kane Alaska Mystery series, during a special event at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, in the Hangar Ballroom at Merchants Wharf.

Hearthside Books is sponsoring the evening.

"Capitol Offense" is set in the Alaska Capitol. It's a murder-mystery filled with political intrigue and places and characters that will be familiar to Alaska political junkies and Juneau residents.

For more information, visit www.mikedoogan.com.

Rasmuson individual artist grant deadline is Sept. 1

ANCHORAGE - Sept. 1 is the postmark deadline to apply for the biannual Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Project Awards.

The up-to-$5,000 grants for emerging, mid-career or mature Alaska artists are meant to accomplish specific, short-term projects that have a clear benefit to the artist and the development of his or her work. The awards fund individual artists working in any artistic discipline and whose work reflects any of the diverse cultural and aesthetic communities in Alaska.

The awards are part of the foundation's Arts and Culture Initiative, a 10-year, $20 million investment approved by the board of directors in December 2003.