Calliope: Pittsburgh Folk Music Society

Last updated

A Calliope Concert at Carnegie Lecture Hall featuring Tom Rush on April 22, 2006 CalliopeConcertTomRush.jpg
A Calliope Concert at Carnegie Lecture Hall featuring Tom Rush on April 22, 2006

Calliope: Pittsburgh Folk Music Society is an organization that promotes folk music and folk dance in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. The Society started in the late 1960s, when performances were often held in George Balderose's house. As time went on, the Society grew and eventually began renting out other performance venues for its shows. Since 1976, Calliope has been a nonprofit educational and presenting organization that promotes and preserves traditional and contemporary folk music and its allied arts. [1] Today, Calliope sponsors various musical performances, a school of music, and now Rootz: The Green City Music Festival.

Calliope's yearly concert series features performances by many well-known musicians in various musical genres, and these performances are typically held in the Carnegie Lecture Hall, which is located in the back of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Past Calliope events have included performances by the following musicians: Jean Ritchie, Odetta, Doc Watson, the Del McCoury Band, David Bromberg, Tom Rush, Richard Thompson, Mike Seeger, the New Lost City Ramblers, John McCutcheon, Robin and Linda Williams, Roger McGuinn, Sam Bush Band, the Roches, Gillian Welch, Guy Clark, Slaid Cleaves, Chris Smither, Tommy Emmanuel, Andy M. Stewart, David Holt, Lúnasa, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Wailin' Jennys, Alejandro Escovedo, the Greencards, Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, and many others. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Philharmonic</span> American symphony orchestra in New York City

The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., and globally known as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, it is one of the leading American orchestras popularly called the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of the United Kingdom</span>

Throughout the history of the British Isles, the land that is now the United Kingdom has been a major music producer, drawing inspiration from church music and traditional folk music, using instruments from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Each of the four countries of the United Kingdom has its own diverse and distinctive folk music forms, which flourished until the era of industrialisation when they began to be replaced by new forms of popular music, including music hall and brass bands. Many British musicians have influenced modern music on a global scale, and the UK has one of the world's largest music industries. English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh folk music as well as other British styles of music heavily influenced American music such as American folk music, American march music, old-time, ragtime, blues, country, and bluegrass. The UK has birthed many popular music genres such as beat music, psychedelic music, progressive rock/pop, heavy metal, new wave, and industrial music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Lou Williams</span> American jazz pianist and composer (1910–1981)

Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records. Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of New York City</span>

The music of New York City is a diverse and important field in the world of music. It has long been a thriving home for popular genres such as jazz, rock, soul music, R&B, funk, and the urban blues, as well as classical and art music. It is the birthplace of hip hop, garage house, boogaloo, doo wop, bebop, punk rock, disco, and new wave. It is also the birthplace of salsa music, born from a fusion of Cuban and Puerto Rican influences that came together in New York's Latino neighborhoods in the 1960s. The city's culture, a melting pot of nations from around the world, has produced vital folk music scenes such as Irish-American music and Jewish klezmer. Beginning with the rise of popular sheet music in the early 20th century, New York's Broadway musical theater, and Tin Pan Alley's songcraft, New York has been a major part of the American music industry.

The U.S. state of New Jersey is located in the Northeastern United States and is part of the Mid-Atlantic region.

Maryland is a U.S. state with a musical heritage that dates back to the Native Americans of the region and includes contributions to colonial era music, modern American popular and folk music. The music of Maryland includes a number of popular musicians, folk styles and a documented music history that dates to the colonial archives on music from Annapolis, an important source in research on colonial music. Famous modern musicians from Maryland range from jazz singer Billie Holiday to pop punk band Good Charlotte, and include a wide array of popular styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Wales</span> Music associated with Wales

The Music of Wales, particularly singing, is a significant part of Welsh national identity, and the country is traditionally referred to as "the land of song".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of immigrant communities in the United States</span>

The vast majority of the inhabitants of the United States are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. This article will focus on the music of these communities and discuss its roots in countries across Africa, Europe and Asia, excluding only Native American music, indigenous and immigrant Latinos, Puerto Rican music, Hawaiian music and African American music. The music of Irish- and Scottish-Americans will be a special focus, due to their extreme influence on Appalachian folk music and other genres. These sorts of music are often sustained and promoted by a variety of ethnic organizations.

Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. It is home to many types of music.

The culture of Ann Arbor, Michigan includes various attractions and events, many of which are connected with the University of Michigan.

The music of Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, can be documented as far back as 1784, and the city has become a regional center for Western classical music and jazz. Early Baltimore was home to popular opera and musical theatre, and an important part of the music of Maryland, while the city also hosted several major music publishing firms until well into the 19th century, when Baltimore also saw the rise of native musical instrument manufacturing, specifically pianos and woodwind instruments. African American music existed in Baltimore during the colonial era, and the city was home to vibrant black musical life by the 1860s. Baltimore's African American heritage to the start of the 20th century included ragtime and gospel music. By the end of that century, Baltimore jazz had become a well-recognized scene among jazz fans, and produced a number of local performers to gain national reputations. The city was a major stop on the African American East Coast touring circuit, and it remains a popular regional draw for live performances. Baltimore has produced a wide range of modern rock, punk and metal bands and several indie labels catering to a variety of audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Fields of America</span> Irish-American musical ensemble

The Green Fields of America is an ensemble that performs and promotes Irish traditional music in the United States. It was formed in 1977 in Philadelphia, led by musician and folklorist Mick Moloney. They perform Irish and Irish-American culture with American musicians and dancers. They are named after the traditional ballad The Green Fields of America.

Carnegie Mellon University is home to a variety of unique traditions, some of which date back to the early days of its over 100-year history. Many of these traditions hearken to the university's strength in engineering, such as the buggy races and the mobots, while others are purely social in nature, such as Spring Carnival and The Fence.

The culture of Pittsburgh stems from the city's long history as a center for cultural philanthropy, as well as its rich ethnic traditions. In the 19th and 20th centuries, wealthy businessmen such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and nonprofit organizations such as the Carnegie Foundation donated millions of dollars to create educational and cultural institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Cardiff</span> Overview of music in Cardiff, Wales

The music of Cardiff has been dominated mainly by rock music since the early 1990s with later trends developing towards more extreme styles of the genre such as heavy metal and metalcore music. It, along with the nearby music scene in Newport, has brought a number of musicians to perform or begin their careers in South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Guthrie Folk Festival</span> Annual folk festival in Oklahoma, USA

The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 - the date of Guthrie's birth - in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. Daytime main stage performances are held indoors at the Brick Street Cafe and the Crystal Theatre. Evening main stage performances are held outdoors at the Pastures of Plenty. The festival is planned and implemented annually by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a non-profit corporation, whose goal is simply to ensure Guthrie's musical legacy. The event is made possible in part from a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council. Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, Woody Guthrie's younger sister, is the festival's perennial guest of honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rootz: The Green City Music Festival</span>

Rootz: The Green City Music Festival is a folk music festival sponsored by Calliope: Pittsburgh Folk Music Society in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The first annual Green City Music Festival was held in Mellon Park near Shadyside on Saturday, July 12, 2008, and featured performances by Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, Steve Forbert, Ernie Hawkins and his band, and many other performances by various local and regional musicians.

The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, more commonly known as PMEA, is the Pennsylvania state-level affiliate of the National Association for Music Education. PMEA is a statewide non-profit organization of over 5,000 members reaching thousands of students, dedicated to promoting the musical development of all Pennsylvanians, especially through music education. PMEA specializes in providing competitive venues for musical performance, and in adjudicating middle and high school bands. They are the second-largest state music educators association in the United States. They have been active since 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Schmertz (artist)</span> American architect and musician (1898–1975)

Robert Watson Schmertz was a Pittsburgh-based architect and folk musician whose music has been covered by Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill and Gloria Gaither, The Statler Brothers, The Cathedrals, Dailey & Vincent, the River City Brass Band, and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. Born in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Schmertz attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he wrote the Carnegie Tartans' fight song, "Fight for the Glory of Carnegie," and played the banjo in a jazz orchestra; after he graduated with an architecture degree in 1921, Schmertz designed buildings. He taught at Carnegie for more than thirty-five years before his retirement.

The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band is a Chicago-based klezmer ensemble. It was founded by Lori Lippitz in 1983 and is directed by violinist Alex Koffman. The band's educational and outreach focus led to the establishment of the Klezmer Music Foundation, which continues to support Maxwell Street Klezmer Band among other professional and amateur groups. Maxwell Street Klezmer Band has performed and toured across the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. Notable performances have also included those at Carnegie Hall and alongside the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2014. In addition to performing on stage, Maxwell Street Klezmer Band also plays for weddings, bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies, Jewish community celebrations, and other events.

References

  1. "Calliope: Pittsburgh Folk Music Society". Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  2. "Calliope: Pittsburgh Folk Music Society". Archived from the original on August 6, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2008.