The Kenai Peninsula encompasses an area almost as large as Israel. It boasts many large glaciers, and the lakes, streams and rivers created and fed by them. Earthquakes are common. Across Cook Inlet there are five active volcanoes on the northern edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire". Peninsula highways are susceptible to avalanches in winter and moose crossings all year. Many communities are accessible only by boat or plane. Wildlife is abundant, and it is common to see moose, porcupine, eagles and even bear in the midst of a town.

Native populations include: the Kenaitze Dena'ina Athabascans and the Alutiiq peoples. The Russian Orthodox Church, which came with the fur traders, is still an important part of the native communities. Additionally, there are four villages of Russian Old Believer immigrants who fled religious persecution. They maintain their
language and customs, helping to enhance the diversity of the population.

Natural resource development has long been an important part of the Peninsula's economy. A number of communities originated as gold and coal mining camps. Today, oil and gas exploration and development, tourism, and commercial and sport fishing are predominant industries.

Homer, Alaska is located at the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula approximately 225 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is the end of the road system in North America and is situated on Kachemak Bay, a finger of Cook Inlet. From almost anywhere in town there are stunning panoramas of spruce forests, Kachemak Bay, mountains and glaciers. Jutting four miles into the bay is the world's second-largest natural spit, which contains the small boat harbor and is the center for summer tourists who flock here for the spectacular views and world-class fishing. Homer, a town of only 5000 people, is considered to be a haven for artists. There are local community theater groups, galleries, writers, dance troupes, and musicians. Many who come to visit stay for a lifetime.

Mark Robinson is serving in his 21st year with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District as a choral music specialist. Mr. Robinson has been choral director for Homer High School and Homer Middle School and Artistic Director of the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra for the last 17 years. In this dual capacity he has had the opportunity to bring the orchestra and students together for a number of projects, including annual musicals, the Brahms Requiem, the Vivaldi Gloria, the Mozart Requiem, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Mr. Robinson has been invited as guest conductor of festival choirs in the state of Alaska. His honors include: the Homer Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year, Homer Rotary Educator of the Year, Who's Who of American Teachers, KPBSD Teacher of the Year. He is currently one of four finalists for the Alaska State Teacher of the Year. Mr. Robinson holds a Master of Music degree in conducting ITom Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Homer High School has a student body of approximately 500 students. One fourth of them are in the choir program, which consists of a Treble Choir, Mixed Choir and a small select Swing Choir. Homer High students are regularly honored in district, state, and regional honor choirs. Homer High routinely sends more. students to these choirs than any other school in the State of Alaska and in the Northwest Region. Homer High soloists and ensembles also routinely score superior ratings in the Alaska State Solo and Ensemble Festival. Members of the Homer High Choirs have traveled to Los Angeles, California, Honolulu, Hawaii, and New York City where they performed in Carnegie Hall and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The Kenai Peninsula Community Chorus was founded by Mark Robinson to provide adult choral musicians with an opportunity to perform choral masterworks. Members of the chorus travel great distances, often in extreme weather, in order to rehearse and perform. KPCC members range in age from 18 to 80 and represent a cross section of our community, including commercial fishers, doctors, teachers, homemakers and homesteaders. A number of the members are former members of the Homer High School choir program. The KPCC concerts are held in conjunction with the Homer High School Choirs and the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra. It is not uncommon for KPCC members to have their own children in the Homer High choir program and it has been particularly meaningful for both adult and student singers to share their love of great choral music with each other. These combined forces had the honor of representing the Alaska time zone in the Rolling Requiem, a world-wide singing of the Mozart Requiem on 9/11 2002.

La penisola del Kenai copre un'area grande quasi quanto Israele. Sono presenti numerosi ghiacciai insieme ai laghi, ruscelli e fiumi da essi generati. I terremoti sono eventi frequenti. Nello stretto di Cook ci sono cinque vulcani attivi sul bordo superiore del cerchio di fuoco nel Pacifico. Le autostrade della penisola sono spesso vittime di valanghe durante l'inverno e testimoni dell'attraversamento delle alci in tutto l'anno. Molte comunita' sono accessibili esclusivamente per via navale o aerea. La vita animale selvatica e' abbondante ed e' frequante avvistare alci, porcospini, aquile e persino orsi fino in centro citta'.

Le popolazioni native includono i Kenaitze Dena'ina Athabascans e gli Alutiiq. I Russi della Chiesa Ortodossa che entrarono come mercanti di pelli sono ancora una parte significativa della popolazione. Inoltre ci sono quattro villaggi Russi composti da credenti della vecchia generazione che, sfuggiti alle persecuzioni in patria, rimangono in questa zona contribuendo alla diversita' etnica con la loro lingua e le loro tradizioni.

Lo sviluppo delle risorse naturali e' stato da lungo tempo una parte importante dell'economia della penisola. Molte comunita' sono sorte con la scoperta dell'oro e dei giacimenti sotterranei di carbone. Oggi l'esplorazione del settore petrolifero e del gas naturale, il turismo, la pesca sportiva e quella commerciale formano le industrie principali di sostegno.

Homer in Alaska si trova nella parte meridionale della penisola del Kenai, circa 360km a sud-ovest di Anchorage. Homer è l'ultima meta stradale del Nord America ed è situata nella baia del Kachemak, un'estensione della forcella di Cook. Da ogni angolo della città si possono ammiare panorami mozzafiato e sprazzi di foreste, la baia, le montagne ed i ghiacciai. Con il suo piccolo porto è il centro estivo verso cui si affollano i turisti per la vista spettacolare ed una pesca da record. Homer, una cittadina di soli 5000 abitanti, è considerato una meta paradisiaca per gli artisti. Ci sono gruppi teatrali, gallerie d'arte, scrittori, balletti e musicisti. Molti che vengono per la prima volta in visita, ci restano per una vita.