ReGroup seeks artists to submit art made from trash for its  Salvage Art Exhibit at the Kenai River Festival June 7-9. ReGroup is a Kenai Peninsula nonprofit educational group of concerned people interested in developing public awareness of the benefits of waste reduction, reuse and recycling through educational and citizen participation. Festival attendees will be able asked to vote for their favorites among three categories for two different age groups. Exhibit entries will be on display throughout the Kenai River Festival.

A Homer 7th grader, Jimmy Gao, won first prize in the Intermediate II Division at the Alaska Piano Competition. At the competition on May 4 for young pianists through grade 12 and sponsored by the University of Alaska Anchorage, Gao performed works by Beethoven, Schumann and Bartok. 

The judge selected his performance of Schumann’s “Mignon” Op. 68, No. 35 for the Winners’ Recital on May 5. A student of Joel Pietsch at the Harbor School of Music & Dance, Gao performs at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Mariner Theatre for the school’s end-of-year recital.

Have you ever wondered how Caesar and Cleopatra got hooked up? Find out in David McVicar’s production of Handel’s “Giulio Cesare,” the last opera of the Live at the Met in HD season. It shows at 6 p.m. May 23 at the Homer Theatre.

Some romances are a bit rocky at the start. In this production, McVicar has set the classic tale of Caesar and Cleopatra in the glory days of the British Empire. Justin Davidson of New York Magazine said in complex opera productions something always seems to go wrong.

The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival featured artists have much in common in their choice of subject — shorebirds, of course — but Mary Bee Kaufman, this year’s featured artist, stands out among them in one way: She’s the only featured artist to have an Alaska peak named after her. 

It’s that mountain that brought Kaufman up to Alaska.