Blog

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we will highlight the female composers who will have their works performed at our spring concert on May 28 at Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts. For our first post, we are highlighting Hannah Ishizaki. Hannah is a former TRYPO member and Pittsburgh native who now lives and works in New York City. She is currently in residence as a Toulmin Creator through National Sawdust and The Center for Ballet and the Arts. Hannah made history as the youngest woman ever to have a world premiere performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Her …

Congratulations to Becky Mack, winner of this season’s Young Peoples Orchestra Concerto Competition! Becky will perform the Strauss Oboe Concerto at the spring concert on Saturday, May 28, 2022, at Heinz Hall. We also want to congratulate all of our musicians who competed! Keep reading to learn more about Becky and the competition experience! Q: How long have you studied the oboe? I switched from flute to oboe in 8th grade, so approximately five years! Q: Why did you choose the oboe? I chose the oboe because it had a fuller sound than the flute, and it was much more …

While President’s Day is a great time to learn more about our presidents and what they did for America, did you know some of our most famous presidents were talented musicians? It’s true! Here are five presidents who were musically inclined. Thomas Jefferson – Even though Jefferson is most known for his work on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, he still had time to hone his musical skills. Jefferson enjoyed singing and playing the cello, violin, and clavichord in his free time. He was also quoted saying that music was “the favorite passion of my soul”. John Quincy …

For Black History Month, we want to start off by telling you a bit about two fantastic living composers – Omar Thomas and Kelijah Dunton – and what inspired them to write some incredible pieces of music. We are excited for our students to be performing these works this semester! Omar Thomas’ piece “Of Our New Day Begun” was written to honor the nine people who lost their lives to an act of hate and domestic terrorism that occurred in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015. Throughout the piece, you can hear …