WPTS Radio outreach assistant station manager Andrew Klepeis said the station’s relationship with local artists helps bring local Pittsburgh music to campus. “We have like a pretty big repertoire of bands that we can pull from, either bands that have played live shows before or we just know them, or perhaps they’ve played shows around Oakland, and we’re just familiar with them,” Klepeis, a senior political science major, said. WPTS, Pitt’s student-run radio station, hosted their Snowed-In Showcase at Nordy’s Place in the William Pitt Union on Friday night. The event featured local Pittsburgh b ..read more

Enchanting melodies echoed through the halls of the William Pitt Union, beckoning guests to the lower lounge where the spirit of the season lingered in the air. On the cold evening of Dec. 2, Pitt’s handbell ensemble hosted their annual winter concert, serenading an audience with a symphony of holiday tunes.  Attendees heard timeless holiday classics like “Carol of the Bells,” “Let it Snow” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” filling the space with familiar melodies and festive cheer. The concert also offered glimpses into the artistry of handbell ringing, showcasing various ringing moti ..read more

The Songburgh’s fall show started with a bang — literally. The all-gender a capella group hosted a murder mystery-themed showcase on Dec. 2 in the William Pitt Union, opening with a blacked-out stage and the sound of one of their members “killing” an unknown victim. Throughout the hour-long show of a capella performances, with a progression of songs that subtly hinted at the identity of the killer, it was the audience’s mission to identify the culprit.  The student-run group hosts a performance each semester, each with a special theme. This semester’s theme was “Spyburghs,” and the perfor ..read more

For Jewish people during World War II, the violin was more than an instrument — it was a beacon of hope, a source of work and a savior. Violins that Jews played in Europe throughout the Holocaust are on display at the traveling Violins of Hope exhibit in Carnegie Mellon University’s Posner Center through Nov. 21.  The exhibit is the result of five years of work by Sandy Rosen, co-chair of Violins of Hope Greater Pittsburgh. The process was lengthy, according to her daughter, Amy Bernstein, who works as a volunteer docent at the exhibit. She said it involved raising money and organizing ov ..read more

Smooth sounds and vivid photographs of jazz music greeted the Pitt community with open arms during Pitt’s 53rd annual Jazz Seminar this past week. The Jazz Studies program — within Pitt’s Department of Music — hosted the weeklong Jazz Seminar from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4. The schedule of this year’s event included artist workshops, a student concert, film screenings and a final concert. The seminar held a number of events, including a performance by the Pitt Jazz Ensemble, two film screenings showing “A Great Day in Harlem” (1994) and “Hargrove” (2002). The seminar also featured a visiting scholar s ..read more

In the midst of the historical architecture and gleaming chandeliers of Heinz Hall, the classical music of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) swayed listeners with “The Sounds of NOW” during the PSO’s opening weekend from September 29 to October 1. The performance included Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, written in 1907, and German romantic era composer Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, written in 1845.  Mary Persin, the vice president of artistic planning for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, enthusiastically detailed the highlights of the Opening ..read more

Eli Alfieri, founder of the live music project Post Genre, believes the community is entering “the next era of Oakland music.” The project held the second installment of its “Live From Oakland” concert series in an office building on Atwood Street last Saturday night. Local bands Heading North, Histrionic and Street Prophets performed 45-minute sets to an audience of about 50 people. Performers glowed under neon lights while attendees moshed and head-banged to the driving rock music of the bands.  Post Genre and 8TRAK Entertainment created the concert through an ongoing partnership with P ..read more

Lana Del Rey performed her first show in the Pittsburgh area at The Pavilion At Star Lake in Burgettstown last Tuesday, Oct. 3. It was the ninth stop of her brief tour, which kicked off in Tennessee in September and finished in West Virginia last Thursday.  Del Rey arrived to a sold out crowd of over 22,000 fans belting her lyrics and wearing outfits inspired by her album covers, with some even wearing Waffle House-inspired uniforms. Fans adorned in flower crowns, cowgirl boots and ribbons filled the seats of the amphitheater and lawn. Before the concert began, the venue was buzzing with ..read more

Jazz music swells as iconic images of Pittsburgh in the past and present flash across the screen before cutting to the title card — “The Scene Will Never Die” in bold gray typeface over a black background. The new documentary chronicles the history of music in Pittsburgh from 1930 to the modern day.  Chloe Simpson, a Pitt junior majoring in film and media studies and urban studies, produced and directed the film with support from the Frederick Honors College. Through a series of interviews with music scholars, historians and musicians, Simpson covers the rich history of the Pittsburgh mus ..read more

“Can we just lose our minds for like 30 seconds?” shouted Chase Lawrence, the lead vocalist of COIN, to hundreds of Pitt students crowded into a stretch of Schenley Drive. The audience obliged, chanting the chorus of the band’s chart-topping single “Talk Too Much.” Pitt students bounced and belted while pop rock band COIN jammed in front of a flashing holographic backdrop and a gigantic inflated ladybug at this year’s Fall Fest in the late afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 8. Lawrence serenaded the crowd and climbed the stage’s pillar sporting a navy and gold shirt akin to Pitt’s Pathfinders. The soun ..read more