The New Ground Orchestra Festival returns for its second annual concert at Penn State’s main campus on Friday, July 31st! Founder and conductor Rebekah O’Brien speaks with Jim Cunningham about the festival.
Rebekah created the New Ground Orchestra Festival as a supportive community for women in classical music. The festival with open with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Overture in C and closes with Dvoลรกk’s New World Symphony. In addition to the concert, the festivals rehearsals are open to the public and take place July 28th through the open dress rehearsal on the morning of the 31st.
Jim and Rebekah also listen to an excerpt of the second movement of Mendelssohn’s Italian symphony from last summer’s festival.
The festival concert is free to attend and takes place on Friday, July 31st at 7:30pm at Penn State’s School of Music Recital Hall. More information is available on the New Ground Orchestra Festival Facebook page.
Johnstown’s Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company continues their run of A Midsummer Night’s Dream this weekend in Powell Stackhouse Park. Doug Meagher, who plays Bottom, speaks with Jim Cunningham about the show.
The company celebrates their 35th anniversary this year. Doug has been with performing with them for many years and talks about why he loves Shakespeare and theater. Doug says this production has been a lot of fun to prepare and shares his favorite things about his character, Bottom. He also praises his fellow cast members and the company’s founders for their work sharing Shakespeare with the Johnstown community.
Don’t miss A Midsummer Night’s Dream tonight, July 15th, through Sunday, July 19th, every evening at 7:00pm, at Powell Stackhouse Park. Guests are encouraged to park at Westmont Elementary School and take the shuttle down to the performance location. More information is available on the Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company’s website.
Filmmaker Thomas Essig’s documentary Something Divine comes to WQED+ this Friday, July 17th! Thomas speaks with Melissa Black about the story of the film.
Thomas calls Something Divine a healing journey about learning how to love yourself and others. He drew on his own experiences–growing up religious, struggling with expression, and discovering spiritualism through yoga philosophy–to form the concept of this documentary. Thomas talks about getting the idea from a joke about Ray Cappo, lead singer of the hardcore punk band Youth of Today, who went to India to become the monk Raghunath.
You can learn more about Something Divine on the film’s website. Access WQED+ on your Smart TV, streaming services, or through your browser.
The University of Pittsburgh Bands will host their first Summer Concert Band performance! Brad Townsend, Director of Bands, and Michael Buckstein, Assistant Director of Bands, speak with Melissa Black about the concert.
This unique ensemble features Pitt students, alumni, faculty and staff, local high school musicians, and community members. Michael talks about taking inspiration from IUP’s Associate Director of Bands Jason Worzbyt to create a concert that brings together the entire Pitt community. The program is themed around America’s 250th, featuring a wide variety of American music from classical to pop.
The concert will take place at Bellefield Hall on Pitt’s campus on Saturday, July 25th at 7:00pm. Admission is free, and a livestream is also available via YouTube. More information is available on the University of Pittsburgh website.
The Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra will take the stage at Mellon Park this weekend for Bach, Beethoven and Brunch! Conductor Pierce Cook speaks with Melissa Black about the concert.
TRYPO will feature some of their string players this weekend with a program titled “Be Water, My Friend.” Pierce talks about how he came up with the water theme, which includes selections from Water Music, the African American spiritual “Deep River,” and popular songs “Rolling in the Deep” and “Shallow.” He also emphasizes the importance of fostering young musicians and praises TRYPO’s commitment to music education.
Head out to Mellon Park to hear TRYPO play at Bach, Beethoven and Brunch this Sunday, July 12th at 10:30am. You can find more information and check out the rest of this summerโs lineup on the City of Pittsburgh website.
One month on from the passing of Joe Negri, Mister Rogers’ drummer Bobby Rawsthorne remembers his friend. Bobby spoke with Jim Cunningham by phone about working on the show with Joe and more.
Bobby recalls fond memories from the set of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, including a time when Joe was suspended mid-air for a production of a children’s opera. He says he felt incredibly fortunate to be part of the show and to play with the extremely talented members of the band.
Bobby also talks about growing up in Pittsburgh playing music, meeting legendary drummer Gene Krupa, and gigging around the city.
Pittsburgh singer-songwriter Madeline Sclichter has been named as one of the winners of this year’s Write Out Loud contest! Madeline speaks with Melissa Black about the contest and teases an upcoming new single.
Madeline’s song, “Queen Bee,” which was inspired in part by Mean Girls the Musical, was one of over 400 submissions to the contest. She’ll get to travel to New York for a special recording and performance of the song. Madeline and Melissa also talk about her upcoming single, “Falling for the 412,” a love letter to Pittsburgh that will release on August 5th. Madeline is currently a student at Duquesne University, and she shares her experience pursuing medicine while working as an artist in Pittsburgh.
You can learn more about the Write Out Loud contest on their website. Check out Madeline’s social media page, @maddiejosings, on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.
The Pittsburgh Savoyards open their 89th season with the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyleโs world-famous detective in Sherlock Holmes and the Web of Deceit, a new adaptation written and directed by Robert Hockenberry. Rob joined Anna Singer to chat about the show.
Rob talks about stripping the adaptation back to the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle texts, and modernizing Sherlock‘s language. He says the size of the performance space provides an intimate setting, allowing for high audience immersion. Rob also discusses working with the cast on dialects and highlights his favorite moments.
Sherlock Holmes and the Web of Deceit runs at the Margaret Partee Performing Arts Center from July 10th through July 25th. More information and tickets are available on the Pittsburgh Savoyards website.
RealTime Arts present their July program, Equitable Dinners, a play, a meal, and a conversation.ย Co-Founders Rusty Thelin and Molly Rice, and performer Malika Cleckley, spoke with Anna Singer live on the QED Afternoon Show about the events.
Rusty talks about the origin of the program, which began with Out of Hand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Molly goes over what to expect–she wrote the play based on conversations with Pennsylvanians about what it means to be American. The evening is meant to encourage friendly discourse between attendees. Malika relates her experience of creating in the midst of activity and preparing for such an intimate role.
Equitable Dinners runs from July 8th-31st at various small venues. In addition to the intimate dinners, a public performance will be given on July 24th at the Millvale Food and Energy Hub. Venue locations, more information, and tickets are available on RealTime Arts’ website.
Aria412 presents Anything Goes: The Music of Cole Porter on Tuesday, July 7th at 7:00pm. Co-founder Desirรฉe Soteres and emcee Kip Soteres spoke with Anna Singer live on the QED Afternoon Show about the evening.
Desirรฉe talks about starting Aria412 ten years ago, which she founded as a platform for Pittsburgh singers and artists to build a community and try new genres. Anything Goes continues Aria412’s American Songbook series, which has included music by Gershwin and Bernstein in recent years. Kip tells Anna how he prepares for these concerts, and making opera more accessible.
Kip and Desirรฉe also plug Aria412’s upcoming reading of The Odyssey on July 12th at Hop Farm Brewing Company.
You can hear the music of Cole Porter with Aria412 on July 7th at 7:00pm at Hop Farm Brewing Company, located at 5601 Butler Street. The concert is free and open to all. More information is available on Aria412’s website.
The Pittsburgh Youth Philharmonic Orchestra will tour Italy this summer! Anna Singer speaks with Executive Director Eftihia Arkoudis and Music Director Patrick Forsyth about the tour. Also hear from some of PYPO’s tour musicians.
Stops along the tour include Cremona, Tuscany, Verona, and Venice. Their touring program has pieces from Henry Mancini, Verdi, Vivaldi, and more. Eftihia and Patrick also tease the next season, and talk about working together with other youth ensembles in the Pittsburgh area. Musicians Sean and Eric Bouwers, Leona The, and Tobias Stauffer tell Anna how they’ve been gearing up for the tour, starting out on their instruments, and balancing practice time.
The musicians also performed in the WQED studio. Sean and Eric played the third movement from Reinhold Gliรจre’s 8 Duets for Violin and Cello, Leona played the Saint-Saรซns Allegro passionada for cello, Tobias played a solo from Leroy Anderson’s “A Trumpeter’s Lullaby.”
PYPO will host a farewell concert on July 8th before going on tour July 10th-20th. You can find more information about the Italy Tour and the Pittsburgh Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on PYPO’s website.
The city unveiled on Friday, June 26th a historical marker dedicated to George B. Vashon, a 19th-century abolitionist, educator, lawyer and writer. Jim Cunningham attended the ceremony, and spoke with Paul N.D. Thornell, great-grandson of George B. Vashon, and A.G. Miller, a retired professor at Oberlin College, from which Vashon. was the first Black graduate.
The ceremony took place at the site of the Vashon family’s historical home and business, which also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Thornell talks with pride about the accomplishments and contributions of George B. Vashon and his father, John B. Vashon, who was a veteran of the War of 1812. He also discusses working with Mayor O’Connor and the city’s Department of Public Works to unveil this marker.
A.G. Miller, who taught American and African American religious history at Oberlin for 27 years, represented the college at the ceremony. Professor Miller talks about George B. Vashon’s time at Oberlin, where he began his education at just 15 years old. In 1835, Oberlin began to “admit [students] without regard for color,” including John Mercer Langston, who was mentored by George B. Vashon.
The historical marker honoring George B. Vashon is located near the intersection of Third Avenue and Market Street at PPG Place in Downtown Pittsburgh.