The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion families of instruments, and occasionally including the harp, double bass, or bass guitar. On rare occasions, additional, non-traditional instruments may be added to such ensembles such as piano, synthesizer, or electric guitar.
Lorin Varencove Maazel was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in the concert halls of Europe by 1960 but, by comparison, his career in the U.S. progressed far more slowly. He served as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, among other posts. Maazel was well-regarded in baton technique and possessed a photographic memory for scores. Described as mercurial and forbidding in rehearsal, he mellowed in old age.
The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate region of New York State, geographically situated along or very near the state border with Pennsylvania. Definitions of the region vary widely, but generally encompass counties surrounding the Binghamton and Elmira-Corning metropolitan areas. This region is adjacent to the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, and both these regions together are known as the Twin Tiers.
Heinz Robert Holliger is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classical pieces, but he has regularly engaged in lesser known pieces of Romantic music, as well as his own compositions. He often performed contemporary works with his wife, the harpist Ursula Holliger; composers such as Berio, Carter, Henze, Krenek, Lutosławski, Martin, Penderecki, Stockhausen and Yun have written works for him. Holliger is a noted composer himself, writing works such as the opera Schneewittchen (1998).
Musikfest is an American music festival that has been held annually since 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the nation's largest non-gated free music festival. The festival begins on the first Friday in August, though it has been preceded since 2015 with a Thursday preview night involving the premium stage and adjacent areas. The festival ends the second Sunday thereafter.
Joseph Harold Negri is an American jazz guitarist and educator. He appeared as himself and as "Handyman Negri" in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He appeared on the 1959 children's television program Adventure Time and with Johnny Costa on the 1954 TV series 67 Melody Lane hosted by Ken Griffin.
The Sewickley Bridge is a steel continuous truss bridge spanning the Ohio River between Sewickley and Moon Township, Pennsylvania, carrying State Route 4025 and the Orange Belt. It was built by American Bridge Company and opened on October 21, 1981.
Helen Richey was a pioneering female aviator and the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a commercial airline in the United States.
James Gourlay is a Scottish conductor and tubist.
Joan Whitney Kramer, also known as Zoe Parenteau and Joan Whitney, was an American singer and songwriter.
Monsignor Carl Peter Hensler was an American Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Nicknamed "the Labor Priest" in recognition of the help and support he gave to the Steel Workers union during his early career, he also became a founding member of the Catholic Radical Alliance. Describing the alliance in 1937, Hensler said:
"We contend that the relationship between Catholicism and Capitalism is one of fundamental opposition, which cannot be removed unless the ax of reform is laid to the very roots."
The Washington Crossing Bridge, commonly known as the Fortieth Street Bridge, is an arch bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville and the suburb of Millvale. The bridge is decorated with the seals representing the original 13 colonies of the US and that of Allegheny county.
Loraine M. Heiser was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Anisha Nagarajan is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the Andrew Lloyd Webber theater musical, Bombay Dreams, and as Madhuri on the 2010 NBC television series, Outsourced.
Robert Bernat was an American composer and the founder, artistic director, and conductorof the River City Brass Band in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His musical influences included his mentor, Aaron Copland, as well as other American composers including Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, and John Philip Sousa.
The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh is an ecclesiastical territory or metropolis of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Ohio River Valley of the United States, encompassing the state of West Virginia, and the majority of the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, except for the Greater Philadelphia area and the Western part of Ohio.
Cello Fury is a chamber music rock group, established in October 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Nicole Myers (cello), Simon Cummings (cello), Cecilia Caughman (cello) and David Throckmorton (drums). Cello Fury presents a fusion of progressive rock and classical music styles and performs for a wide range of audiences.
The East Winds Symphonic Band (EWSB) is a community concert band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1981, the band's membership includes more than 80 amateur, volunteer musicians from the greater Pittsburgh area. The band has performed at national conventions of the Association of Concert Bands (ACB) as well as annual local concerts at the historic Rodef Shalom Congregation, Kennywood Park's Celebrate America series, and as part of the Three Rivers Community Band Festival.
Thomas P. Coates was a 19th-century American musician who achieved initial prominence in Pennsylvania for his performances on the cornet and French horn. The director of Pomp's Cornet Band in Easton, Pennsylvania, he was commissioned as the first conductor of the regimental band of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the early months of the American Civil War. Post-war, he became a prolific and popular composer of band music, and was subsequently nicknamed "the Father of Band Music in America."
