Petersburg Pilot -

The Alaska Music Trail

In 1948, Russian-born pianist Maxim Shapiro had a debut and reception hosted by the Governor and Dorothy Gruening. Shapiro, impressed by Alaska's beauty and his audience's enthusiasm, desired sharing good music especially with young audiences. Dorothy Gruening appointed a committee to contact interested towns and within a short time, the Alaska Music Trail was born. Over twenty years, communities from Anchorage to Canada, including Petersburg, hosted concerts. Participants were excellent musicians and hardy individuals who sometimes performed eighteen major concerts a...